Phonics and Reading

Reading: Reading for Pleasure

At Outwoods, we believe that a strong reading foundation begins before children embark on their journey to learn to read. From their earliest experiences, our children are immersed in a wealth of high-quality texts. They have the opportunity to listen to a diverse range of captivating books, allowing them to explore rich language and story structures that enhance their language development. We ensure that the classics, modern tales, traditional stories, and poetry form the cornerstone of our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum.

Understanding that reading for pleasure is the single most significant indicator of future success, we carefully instil a love of reading in all our children. Each year group’s timetable includes dedicated time for children to stop, relax, and engage with high-quality literature, recognising the profound social and emotional benefits that come from being engrossed in reading. During read-aloud sessions, teachers refrain from interrupting the flow of the narrative with unnecessary questions, thus allowing the story to captivate the children.

Our reading for pleasure spine has been thoughtfully curated to expose children to a diverse array of books. This collection aims to broaden their horizons, instil our core values, provide opportunities for exploring social and moral issues, and introduce them to a multitude of authors and writing styles they may not have encountered before. Through this comprehensive approach, we strive to cultivate a lifelong passion for reading in every child at Outwoods.

In addition to class-wide reading sessions, children are given opportunities to browse and read in our well-stocked library; they are taught about and introduced to new authors and different genres in these sessions as well as taught key skills needed to find the right book for them. Outwoods children love these sessions and delight in bringing home a book that they have selected.

These library sessions are extended into lunchtime, so that children have additional time to visit the library and immerse themselves in a good book. Furthermore, a book library is replenished weekly in our outdoor quiet area so that children have countless opportunities to read across the school day.

Our inviting book corners feature a limited selection of high-quality texts for borrowing. All of these approaches ensure that reading remains an important part of our school identity.

At Outwoods, we understand that reading is incredibly important; it’s the gateway to all future learning. Developing strong reading skills allows children to access a wider curriculum, making it essential for their academic success. We’re committed to fostering a genuine love of reading, as we believe this will help nurture lifelong learners.

We use the high-quality systematic synthetic phonics programme, Read Write Inc. (RWI), which has been part of our teaching approach since October 2024. This programme enables us to create excellent teaching and learning opportunities, ensuring that every pupil learns to read fluently and confidently, regardless of their background, needs, or abilities. Our goal is for all children to have completed the phonics programme and become fluent readers by the end of Key Stage 1, setting them up for future success. Daily reading lessons then continue, exposing children to a diverse range of literature while encouraging them to read with fluency, whilst developing their comprehension skills.

In our Nursery, we start by teaching the first 26 sounds to all children as a whole cohort before introducing the concept of ‘Special Friends’. 

We assess sounds taught regularly and address any gaps with targeted recap sessions. We do however recognise that each child learns at their own pace, so our groupings from Reception become flexible as they progress through school. This flexibility allows children to progress through sounds and reading materials at a speed that suits them, helping to build their confidence and skills.

Every day, children engage in:

• Learning new sounds, which include the 44 sounds and their corresponding letter or letter groups.

• Reading words using sound blending techniques, known as 'Fred Talk.'

• Practising spelling words that feature the sounds they are learning.

• Reading decodable books that match their current abilities.

Each storybook is read three times with a partner in class. This repetitive reading helps improve both comprehension and fluency. We have a clear focus for each reading session: the first read emphasises decoding words accurately, the second focuses on reading speed, and the third centres on understanding the text.

We assess children regularly to inform future teaching strategies and to ensure that every child’s learning needs are met. Daily assessments within the classroom also enable staff to swiftly identify any students at risk of falling behind. If a child isn’t making the expected progress, our skilled reading team provides one-to-one tutoring and uses 'pinny time' interventions to help them overcome any learning barriers and make accelerated progress. We monitor the effectiveness of these strategies closely to encourage ongoing progress.

Our reading lessons are further enriched by continuous professional development (CPD) for our teaching staff. The reading team participates in regular training and accesses the RWI portal to maintain high-quality instruction, ensuring all pupils benefit.

We’ve seen children’s enthusiasm for phonics grow, and they take great enjoyment in reading fully decodable books. This has resulted in significant boosts in confidence, which we proudly celebrate within our learning community.

At Outwoods, we believe in the power of strong communication with parents and carers about each child's learning journey. We know that when we work together, children can make rapid progress. We encourage children to read daily at home and provide video tutorials from RWI to support families in this vital area. Children take home a fully decodable book they’ve read in school, allowing them to showcase their newfound skills to adults, along with a book bag book.

As a parent or carer, you can support your child at home through various fun activities. Using 'Fred Talk' when pronouncing words will help your child practice blending sounds. Spotting 'Special Friends' in words and listening to your child read every day are great ways to reinforce their skills. Regularly reading to your child, while using pure sounds, will also enhance their ability to blend effectively.

In summary, at Outwoods, we’re dedicated to nurturing confident and enthusiastic readers. Together with our families, we aim to build a brighter future through the power of reading.

At our school, we have adopted a comprehensive approach to whole class reading, beginning with children in Year 2 once they have completed their Read Write Inc (RWI) phonics programme. This crucial phase marks the transition from learning to read, to reading to learn. As children continue to develop their fluency in whole class reading, we place a strong emphasis on enhancing their comprehension skills through high-quality book talk. These discussions encourage exploration of the texts we study and allow students to engage with the material on a deeper level.

By the end of Year 6, we aim to empower our students to become independent readers, preparing them for their next stage of the educational journey. Our vision is for our children to grow into fluent and confident readers, who are well-versed in a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts, comprehending their structures and language features.

In our whole class reading sessions, children have the opportunity to delve into our thoughtfully curated reading spine. By exploring selected excerpts and sections from these texts, they are able to engage with a variety of narratives and themes. The enthusiasm displayed by our students during these lessons is palpable; our children cite that they enjoy exploring a narrative from start to finish; that they are invested in these stories and actively look forward to their next lesson to find out what happens next.

Each reading lesson follows a consistent, predictable structure. Initially, students are allocated preparation time to familiarise themselves with the text. Often this will involve exploring the tier 2 vocabulary they will encounter. This vocabulary is introduced, explored, and internalised before they encounter it in the text, thus developing their comprehension and understanding. The preparation stage can also involve many other activities such as pre-learning about the historical or geographical context of the text or brainstorming a given topic or idea. 

Our skilled teachers will then model reading the passage, employing a variety of strategies that support fluency such as choral, echo, or partner reading. Whether carrying out an extended or closed read, there will always be an opportunity to react to what is being read.

The structure of sessions then varies according to the text being examined; for example, children might engage in deeper exploration of the passage. This may involve high-quality discussions centred around a thought-provoking question, which helps them develop key reading skills, develop a deeper understanding of concepts and themes and promotes their development of essential oracy skills. Alternatively, they might spend time processing the text, resulting in written reflections such as diary entries or poems, or even role-playing character motivations. At times, the focus will solely be on developing fluency, with children gauging their progress against our established fluency rubric and striving towards set targets in developing either their expression and volume, phrasing, smoothness and/or pace.

Additionally, we explicitly teach essential reading skills such as retrieval and inference through direct instruction and modelling, utilising school-devised success criteria. Whilst we dedicate more time on developing book-talk to engage our children and promote a general love of reading, we also appreciate that our children need to be specifically taught reading skills that can support them as they progress through their education. Through our dedicated approach to whole class reading, we strive to cultivate not only proficient readers but also passionate, engaged learners.

Careful consideration has been given to our reading spine, ensuring that the selection of books is progressive. We intentionally move away from picture books and incrementally introduce more ambitious and complex chapter books. While some connections have been made with our wider curriculum, our book selections are primarily based on literary merit, consistently reflecting recurrent themes and the core values of our school. By offering a diverse selection of texts, we aim to broaden our children’s minds and experiences and facilitate empathy for the world around them.

Through using daily formative assessment strategies, we continually respond to the needs of our children to ensure that any gaps in understanding can be addressed in the moment. We want our children to achieve the very best possible results and leave Outwoods ready for their next stage in education. For those who may struggle with reading, we implement the EPATT initiative, ensuring that every child's needs are met through tailored assessments and targeted interventions. This evidence-informed intervention supports these readers in making accelerated progress with their fluency, which in turn supports their growing comprehension.