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Reading at CCA

At Christ Church Academy, we believe that reading should be at the heart of our curriculum. Reading provides the key foundation to ensure that pupils make the necessary steps towards becoming life-long learners, and enables children to gain the skills needed to enjoy success in their academic life.

We will ensure:

  • Children become confident, fluent readers.
  • They enjoy reading and take pleasure in choosing, discussing, and analysing texts.
  • Children can cultivate their views about the books they have enjoyed.
  • Children will have access to a wide and varied range of texts.

To enable confidence and skill in reading:

  • We will provide a sharp, focused approach to early reading skills meaning that children can access reading at an early age.
  • We will provide skills and strategies to develop as readers through rigorous, sequential teaching.
  • We will use assessment and questioning to ensure that gaps in learning are identified and addressed.
  • We will provide children with levels and targets so that they know how they can improve.

 

Reading is of utmost importance, and our children will leave CCA having developed a love and understanding of the importance of reading.

Nursery and Reception:

In Nursery children are prepared for the RWI programme. They will practice sound discrimination games and begin to recognise letters and their sounds. Read Write Inc is taught daily to each child in reception. They will learn the letter sounds and how they link to reading simple words, this includes spelling. Children are assessed on a half termly basis and taught in groups according to level.

In reception  children will read 1-1 with an adult every day where ever possible. Their school reading  book will link to the RWI programme and will be appropriate to their current level. They will also have a home reader which will link to the book band. This book we call a skills book.

Children are taught in ability groups and assessed half termly using the RWI assessment tool. Immersive reading is planned out within provision. We expect the children’s books to change three times a week and children to be reading with an adult at home.

As an incentive, children who are regular home readers, (5 sessions) are presented with a book mark at the end of the week and we also choose a child each week to be a star reader. This will be a child who is making good progress through regular reading at home. The star reader has a certificate to take home and their photograph in the star reader frame.

Stories play a huge part in our curriculum and story time takes place at least once a day. The children have access to stories in provision and the staff plan for small world and role play activities through stories. We have had a very successful reading breakfast in January and plan to make it a regular event.

Children can also take home a library book from our Early Years lending library.

Key Stage One:

Reading is hugely important in KS1 and the children should be doing it at least 4 times a week if not every night. From September children in Year 1 and Year 2 will be working towards achieving their own reading collector badge. It is expected that every child reads at least four times a week at home and has their reading log signed each time. If you read four times a week and have your reading log signed at home by the end of the week you will receive a sticker for your individual badge. Collector badges are a great way for pupils to save their mini sticker rewards: They can attach the badge to their uniform and wear their collection with pride. Children’s badges will be displayed on a pin board in the classroom. Only when the badge is full does the child get to wear it with pride before getting a new colour badge on the pin board.

 

Click here for our KS1 Reading information letter:Reading at Home 1

Key stage Two: 

In Reading in Key stage two, children are expected to read daily in class and begin to build an independence when reading at home. Key stage two are participating in the Accelerated reading program, which will provide children with a level and comprehension questions on book they have read. The children choose a book at their own level and read it at their pace, when finished, the children take a short quiz on the computer and are tested on their understanding of the text. Accelerated Reader (AR) gives both children and teachers feedback and can inform target for planning key skills. We recommend the children read at least 20 minutes a day in school and a further 15 at least at home.

In school competitions are based on Accelerated Reader, each child add stickers to stars in class based on quizzes they have passed. Each class also has a word count updated daily to help motivate and inspire children to read more.

A guide to Accelerated reader

Reading skills sessions take place on a six day cycle in Key stage two as follows:

Reading skills in Key stage Two