Our ethos about reading
We believe that children learn to read by reading, reading and more reading. Our school has a strong book culture; books spill out from every corner of the school and every area of each classroom. We have a cosy beautifully resourced book corner with a wide range of fiction both contemporary and traditional, information books, poetry books, newspapers, magazines, puppets, story sacks, large books, miniature books, pop up books and many many more. We also have a beautiful library which is well maintained and well used by all children. Every week children borrow library books and experience a library skills lesson to support their understanding of book language, retrieval of books, how a library works and of course a love of books. We have authors, poets and illustrators who work with children to share their expertise. In this way our children bump into books at every opportunity all around the school. From our very first meeting with our new parents we stress the importance of a rich, exciting and varied experience of books right from a young baby.
Letters and Sounds Phonics Programme
Every child receives a good quality 20 minutes phonics lesson every day. We follow the Letters and Sounds Phonics Programme which was introduced by the Department of Education in 2007. The programme is detailed and systematic and consists of 6 phases for teaching phonics from Nursery/Reception with the aim of children becoming fluent readers by the age of seven. At Wood Street we ensure the session is interactive and lively with lots of movement. We provide a range of high quality resources to engage and interest children. More details about the programme and free downloadable resources for schools and parents can be found at www.letters-and-sounds.com
Key Word, Phonic Books and Spellings
YR children take home the key words that the children are learning as well as the sounds they are learning. To support children to learn key words and phonics we also have Card Master Machines which children use regularly as well as lots of games both indoors and outdoors. In KS1 children have weekly spellings which they take home for parents to support spelling skills.
Home Readers
Children have the opportunity to change their home/school reading book every day. Parents are invited to support this task each morning. Parents complete the reading diary as a record of what each child has read and an opportunity to write comments to the teacher.