Reading
INTENT
Reading at MJS expands pupils’ experiences, challenges their opinions, helps them to make informed choices and thrive in our ever-changing world. Our reading curriculum inspires pupils by providing them with enriched experiences that enthuse pupils to develop knowledge and be creative. Pupils are not only taught the skills to tackle ever more challenging texts, but are taught to read for pleasure, meaning, understanding, purpose and learning. By the time they arrive at the KS2 end point they will have been exposed to an approach of quality, representational literature which challenges, expands and broadens pupils’ ambitions so they are well prepared for secondary school and their future.
At MJS we strive to ensure:
- Pupils learn to read with confidence, fluency and understanding, providing them with the skills required to achieve a lifetime of enjoyment through reading.
- We foster a love of books and reading for pleasure.
- That all of our pupils have an opportunity to read independently, read aloud and be read to during the school day.
- Pupils have access to a range of texts which opens their minds to ideas, experiences, places and times they might not otherwise experience.
IMPLEMENTATION
Pupils and staff are enthusiastic readers and we endeavour to foster a love and passion for reading in our pupils.
We implement our reading curriculum through:
- Using the learning philosophies of De Bono’s Hats and Bloom’s Taxonomy through our questioning and comprehension activities.
- A range of aspirational texts that link to the wider curriculum means that learning is interleaved. Aspirational texts for our pupils that are in augmented groups.
- A coherent whole school strategy to ensure our pupils learn to read well using ‘Oxford Reading Tree’.
- The online reading scheme, ‘Bug Club’ that supports parents and carers to help their children reading at home. This includes phonics books to support children that are not fluent readers.
- Reading interventions and tiered reading, Nessie, Precision teaching for sight vocabulary and sound linkage; thus supporting the needs of the lowest 20% of pupils at MJS.
- Weekly comprehension and activities related to the year group inspirational texts.
IMPACT
By the time pupils leave MJS, they are competent readers who can recommend books to their peers, have a thirst for reading a range of genres including poetry, and participate in discussions about books, including evaluating an author’s use of language and the impact this can have on the reader. By using representational literature pupils are empowered to recognise pride in achievement, self-confidence and demonstrated resilience. They feel safe to express their cultural identity; they know how to keep themselves mentally and physically healthy. Through our ambitious and immersive curriculum, alongside challenging text choices, we aim to inspire our pupils to believe that anything is possible.
Based on 2019 data, 85% of pupils left KS2 at the expected level in reading and 42% were at greater depth. This has been an upward trend in the last 3 years and the school has been consistently above national outcomes.
Click here for top tips on how to support reading at home.
50 Recommended Reads:
https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-1
https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-2
https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-3
https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-4
https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-5
https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-6