Holy Trinity CofE Primary School

Holy Trinity C of E Primary School

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Reading

At Holy Trinity, we work to emphasise the importance of books and literature in enabling children to become confident, happy and enthusiastic readers and writers, with all the benefits this brings.
 
We understand that reading underpins success across all of the curriculum and opens up many doors for children for life. We are committed to valuing reading across the curriculum.
 
We prioritise engaging children with reading and developing a life long love for reading literature through the reading curriculum through Guided Reading lessons and by embedding a culture of reading for pleasure. All staff at Holy Trinity are responsible for promoting a love of reading and sharing this with children every single day.
 
Holy Trinity's Reading Culture
  • Inviting and well stocked book corners in every classroom
  • Class novels
  • Reading ambassadors in Year 6
  • D.E.A.R (drop everything and read) 
  • Books as prizes
  • Scholastic Book Fairs
  • Yearly Book Week
  • Book related dress up days (World Book Day)
  • Visits Wimbledon Book Festival
  • Reading and book workshops
  • Author visits
  • Visit to Merton Libraries
  • Paired reading between year groups
  • Role-play/drama used to bring books to life
  • Free read books 
  • Model a love for reading by staff
  • Reading Journals (Years 5 and 6)
  • Star Reader celebrated at the end of each term
  • Reading volunteers who come in to read with children
  • Book talk
"Reading is prioritised throughout the school. Library visits, author workshops and book weeks help to promote the value of reading. The school provides a diet of classical and contemporary fiction, poetry and non-fiction texts. Teachers, volunteers and pupil reading ambassadors provide many opportunities for pupils to read. Pupils at the early stages of reading develop secure phonic knowledge. The curriculum has been carefully planned and leaders check how well children have learned it, identifying gaps in their knowledge and tailoring teaching to address those gaps swiftly and effectively. Pupils receive timely additional support where needed." Ofsted, July 2024
Guided Reading
 
Guided Reading lessons take place from Spring Term in Year 2 to Year 6 over several sessions a week.  The  following structure is used: 
  • prior knowledge task
  • pre-read a text provided at their level/pre reading task 
  • part of a small guided group with the teacher 
  • complete a follow-up task. 
 
Reading Scheme
 
From Years 2-6, the children follow the reading scheme 'Accelerated Reader'. They are assessed by their class teachers and the Accelerated Reader programme and are provided with a code relating to books at their comprehension level.
When they have completed a book, they complete a quiz to see how well they could deduce, infer and interpret the book.
Accelerated Reader results are used to inform teacher overall assessment of reading alongside Guided Reading lessons and termly formal assessments as we take a multi-assessment approach to reading.
 
Reading at Home
 
At Holy Trinity we expect children to read regularly at home and record their reading in their Reading Record or Reading Journal (for Years 5 and 6). Children will be given books to take home but we actively encourage children to read their own books or other library books which can be recorded in their Reading Records/Journals.
 
It is recommended that child reads 15+ minutes a day at home, we encourage a mixture of independent reading, child reading to an adult and an adult reading to a child. Even in KS2 a child benefits from hearing an adult read as it helps them to develop a strong reading voice with a focus on pronunciation and expression which in turn improves their reading fluency. 
Reading at HT An Overview
Our School Library
 
At Holy Trinity we are extremely fortunate to have our own school Library and Librarian!
 
The library is regularly kept up to date with the latest releases and is managed both with our librarian and Year 6 Reading Ambassadors who help put away books and make the very important decisions on what new books we should stock in our library.
 
Each class should have the opportunity to visit the library twice a week, Years 5 and 6 may only visit once as the books the pupil’s read will become longer and more complex. Children should have the opportunity to visit the library and choose their own books at least once a week, due to timetabling and staffing it may be that an adult chooses the book for a child on one of the visits, particularly in the younger years as we cannot accommodate large groups of children who are not yet familiar with the library system (Years 5 and 6 can out away their own books which speeds up the process) and to avoid parts of lessons being missed, especially in the morning when core subjects are taught (Maths and English).
 
Children take out an Accelerated Reader book and a 'free reader' (a book of their choice not associated with the Accelerated Reader scheme)
 
Lower attaining readers may be given the opportunity to read more quiz books and complete more quizzes as a form of intervention, these books would not go home and be read in class with an adult.