Reading at Perryfields
Reading at Perryfields
When children start at Perryfields Junior School, we endeavour to strengthen the positive experiences that they have already had, at home and at infant school, by immersing them in the amazing world of great quality children’s literature. We use ‘Big Cat Collins’ reading scheme books which are matched to children’s comprehension level, to track reading whilst exposing all children to a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts, building cultural capital for every child. These books also support phonics teaching and build a secure sight vocabulary. Children read a variety of genres within a band before moving on to ensure they are exposed to a wide breadth of texts.
All children read their books at school to an adult every two weeks (minimum) and this forms part of the assessment process. For those children who experience difficulties, an intervention of daily reading will be set up to practise fluency and expression, as well as comprehension skills. As children become more confident readers, books will become more challenging to ensure progress is rapid.
We encourage children to develop a life-long love of books and reading. Being a successful reader underpins all areas of learning so the children are expected to read in all lessons. We have a well-stocked library, which is audited and maintained regularly by both staff and Reading Ambassadors, that the children enjoying visiting weekly, choosing a book to take home to share.
Reading for Pleasure
Reading for pleasure and purpose is at the heart of our school’s learning. Children are supported by Library Monitors and staff when choosing books for pleasure and as a school, we enjoy ERIC time fortnightly (in rotation with reading assemblies) where children are given the opportunity to read for pleasure, discuss their books and make recommendations to their peers.
Reading assemblies are a much-loved tradition to Perryfields. Children enjoy listening to teachers reading a range of short stories from a variety of authors and cultures.
Every class also enjoys a class book every term, which class teachers read to the class for 10 minutes each day, before children write a recommendation and create pieces of writing inspired by these texts. These books cover a range of genres and often make links to PSHE, allowing children to carefully consider real-life issues surrounding themes such as identity and disabilities.
This year, Perryfields have also introduced our ‘Reading Challenge’. Children have been challenged, over the year, to read books from their year groups recommended reading list. For every three books read, they receive a certificate at the end of term assembly. At the end of the year, the child/children who have read the most books will be entered into a prize draw where they can win an exciting prize for all of their effort!
Reading Ambassadors
Every year, a selection of Year 6 children are given the opportunity to become a Reading Ambassador. Their role involves listening to Year 3 children read their reading scheme books. They discuss the book with them and help them select new ones. At the end of the session, the Year 6 children read their chosen book to their Year 3 child, modelling effective use of expression whilst reading.
Reading Carousel
From 9:00am to 9:25am (four days a week), we have our reading carousel slot, which sees children completing a range of different activities across the week using their reading skills: a teacher led comprehension where children infer details from a text that is revealed line by line; two independent reading comprehensions (used as an opportunity to explore our writing genres) using VIPER skills and reading their reading scheme book (children have an opportunity to read aloud to their
Reading Comprehension lessons
Once a week, on a Tuesday, we have a reading comprehension lesson, focusing on teaching different VIPER skills. These sessions are whole class comprehensions and usually inspire our writing topics as they expose children to a range of authors/ genres. The class teacher will model reading the text, questioning and discussing tier 2/3 vocabulary as they read before modelling the VIPER skill they are focusing on and giving the children an opportunity to practise with talk partners before setting them off for independent practise. As an additional challenge, once children have completed the focussed questions, they have an opportunity to practise a range of mixed questions which encompass all of the VIPER skills, giving a wonderful opportunity to revisit and consolidate previous learning.
How can parents help at home?
Here at Perryfields, we understand that reading at home is an invaluable part of a child’s learning journey. Our home-school agreement outlines the expectation that children will read at home, which is monitored in homework diaries weekly. This partnership between school and home is integral when supporting children with reading and so additional support is offered to parents through a yearly PCTS (Parents Communication and Training Session). In addition to this, the links below provide question stems for each VIPER skill for every year group, which will guide parents when questioning their children about their reading.