St Aidan’s Church of England Primary School understands the importance of reading in the process of developing children into independent learners. Reading is central to our ability to understand, interpret and communicate with one another. In order to access the wider curriculum, children must be confident readers who can understand, interpret and apply what they read to other areas of learning. Furthermore, success in reading is critical in developing children’s self-confidence and motivation to learn. We believe in nurturing children’s pleasure for reading as pupils who read on a regular basis, in school and at home, have a higher chance of fulfilling their academic potential and achieving success in later life. We believe that success in reading opens doors to a world of knowledge. The teaching of reading is to be given a high priority by all staff.
Our aims in our approach to the teaching of reading are:
- to instil a passion for reading in children, which they will carry on into subsequent education and their later life.
- to develop a range of reading skills and strategies: decoding, fluency, accuracy, comprehension and response to a wide range of texts.
- to read and enjoy a wide range of high-quality texts, including classic and contemporary fiction, non-fiction and poetry, from a range of sources (texts studied in English lessons, guided reading, class book corners and library, ICT).
- to create a strong, embedded reading culture through a rich language environment within classrooms, school library and through shared and guided reading.
- to deliver a structured and consistent whole-school approach to reading.
- to recognise the value of parents/carers as essential partners in supporting and developing children’s reading skills and love of reading.
- to rigorously monitor and assess children’s progress in reading and identify those who require extra support and intervene at an early stage.
From September 2021, we are now using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised to teach phonics in Early Years and KS1. Please see the below information about this phonics programme as well as parent guides on how to pronounce and form the graphemes in Phase 2.
- Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Overview
- Autumn 1 Phase 2 Grapheme Information Sheet
- Autumn 1 Phase 2 Grapheme Information Sheet
Further information and videos are available on this website for parents, including how to pronounce the sounds https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
Please download the documents below to find out more information about how we teach and support children’s reading in school and at home.
Information, Support and Advice for Parents
Nursery-Y3 Phonics Overview
Primary Reading Policy – Formatted
Please also see below the Common Exception Word lists for Year 1 to Year 6. Children must learn to read and spell these words:
Year 1 Common Exception Word Lists
Year 2 Common Exception Word Lists
Year 3 Common Exception Word Lists
Year 4 Common Exception Word Lists
Year 5 Common Exception Word Lists
Year 6 Common Exception Word Lists