Reading and Phonics

We believe in igniting a love of reading and introducing a wide world of literature.

At our our schools, we give the children a strong command of the spoken and written word, while developing their enjoyment of literature through widespread reading.

We aim to ensure that all children become fluent readers as soon as possible, to allow them to properly comprehend a wide range of texts. We introduce the children to the world of books, and guide them towards forming the habit of reading regularly both at home and in school. The children learn about our rich and varied literary heritage, while developing their own writing skills through their access to inspirational authors.

Once children have finished the Read Write Inc program they move on to Accelerated Reader which maps their progress and gives them access to a wide range of books. Children are encouraged to read at home through our popular Round the World Reading Challenge (soon to move to Round the Universe Challenge as many are nearing their final destination). We also have the Millionaire Club where the amount of words a child has read is recorded - the aim is to get to a million.

All our classes have a engaging reading area with a range of fiction and non-fiction books to encourage curiosity and enjoyment. In our Celebration Assembly, reading is celebrated and classes share information about their class read and books that have caught their imagination.

Through our approach to reading, We aim to provide our children with the experiences and scaffolding they need to be able to write inventively for themselves. They are equipped with the rich language and skills that they need to produce their own high standard of writing, for a wide range of purposes.

We want your child to love reading - and to want to read for themselves. This is why we put our efforts into making sure they develop a love of books as well as simply learning to read.

Early Reading

At North Petherwin and Werrington, we follow the Read Write Inc programme from Reception, until children reach a good level of reading fluency.

We initially teach children the single letter sounds, and how to blend them together. We then begin to look at ‘diagraphs’ and ‘trigraphs’- where two or three letters make a new sound when put together.

We teach children to read a new story every week in school, which contains the sounds that they have been taught so far. This ensures that the children are able to read the book, and that they experience success when doing so. By the time your child brings home the story book that they have been learning to read in school, they should find it easy! This is something that you can celebrate and enjoy together.

The children are assessed every half term to see what level of fluency their reading is at, and to see how many sounds they know and can apply to their reading. The children are then put into groups based on this information, which allows us to tailor our teaching and support directly to their needs.

You can support your child through their Read Write Inc journey by listening to them read several times a week at home, and recording it in their reading record. It is helpful to practice the ‘speedy green words’ and ‘red words’ in each book before starting the story. There is also a range of comprehension questions in each book, which you can discuss together.

Our 7 Areas of Reading .docx