Reading Overview

At St Augustine’s Catholic Primary School we recognise that being able to read is one of the most important skills children will learn during their early schooling. We believe that a child’s ability to read is of paramount importance to their future education and success in life. We therefore consider the teaching of reading to be of central importance within the curriculum and high priority throughout the school.

Mrs Armstrong

Reading Co-ordinator

Read Write Inc

As a school we follow the ‘Read Write Inc’ phonics programme which begins in Nursery and continues until children are confident speedy readers, who decode accurately and read for meaning. Some children will have completed The Read Write Inc. Programme by Year 2 and others will remain on the programme until Year 4.

During Read Write Inc lessons children will:

• Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple picture prompts.
• Learn to read words using Fred Talk.
• Read lively stories featuring words they have learned to sound out.
• Show that they comprehend the stories by answering questions.

When using RWI to write the children will:

Learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent 44 sounds.

Learn to write words by saying the sounds in Fred Talk

Write simple sentences

Please watch the video below to find out how you can support your child at home or have a look at the RWI YouTube channel for parents and carers.

Reading Plus and Lexia

We use two reading intervention programs suited to the reading ability of our children, both of which our children work through at their own pace either in school or at home.  Children following The Read Write Inc Program in school use Lexia Core5 Reading which is a fun computer-based program.  Children complete activities to develop reading skills in six areas: phonological awareness, phonics, structural analysis, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

When children have completed The Read Write Inc program they move onto using Reading Plus which helps them develop the skills they need to be proficient readers and lifelong learners.  Regular Reading Plus practice helps reading become easier, comprehension skills increase, and meaningful connections between reading and learning are made.

Home Readers

All of our children take home a reading book to practise reading skills and develop independence. Home reading books work alongside class reading books allowing children to comprehend them easily and read with pace and fluency. Children who are confident with reading a specific text enjoy returning to that text and by doing this will build on skills like expression, self-correction and a higher level of comprehension.

In Reception and Key Stage 1 children take home ‘Read write Inc. Book Bag Books’. These books are closely matched to the phonic level at which the children are working. We encourage children to read these books at least 3 times during the week to develop fluency, pace and understanding of the text.

Children in Years 3 to 6 children have access to the KS2 Reading Centre where they choose a reading book matched to the language and phonic level at which they are currently working. Children regularly change these books and they are brought into school at least once per week so reading can be monitored.

When reading with your child at home you might find it useful to ask some of the following questions:

Phonics Screening Check

The National phonics screening check is a statutory assessment of the phonic knowledge of all Year 1 pupils. The check is carried out during summer term of Year 1 and comprises a list of 40 words which children read 1:1 with a teacher who the children are familiar with. The list is a combination of both real and made up ‘nonsense’ words which rely on phonetical knowledge to decode.

Guided Reading

At St. Augustine’s we are committed to developing the skills needed for reading through teacher led guided reading sessions. These sessions are aimed at supporting and challenging the children in their ability to read and comprehend a range of texts. Guided reading sessions consist of a small group of children reading a text with their class teacher. The teacher’s role is to support the children in developing their fluency, pace and understanding of fiction and non-fiction texts. Whilst one group reads with the teacher other groups within the class will be working through a carousel of activities aimed at enhancing their Literacy skills. Through these sessions each child’s reading is assessed giving the class teacher a clear picture of the child’s ability and understanding and enabling them to challenge and support effectively.

In Year 5 and 6 our children are ready for whole class guided reading sessions which are undertaken daily. These sessions focus on immersing children in a wide range of texts, deepening vocabulary and development of specific reading skills. These lessons use class novels as a stimulus for deeper thinking and link a range of fiction and non-fiction texts to these in order to further develop contextual knowledge and understanding.

Reading for Pleasure

We encourage all of our children to read widely for their own pleasure, enjoyment and information. To ensure every child is exposed to good quality literature, we have developed our own literature spine. These books have been chosen as key texts and children are be introduced to these books throughout their time at St Augustine’s Primary School. These books are read daily to children from Nursery to Year 6.

Click the links to see the books read in each year group:

In addition to this we have close links with Gateshead Library Service and all of our children from Nursery to Year 6 visit our local library ‘Leam Lane Library’ at least twice per month. The children can borrow a book of their choice to share at home.

As a school we regularly host reading events, these include author visits, annual whole school reading challenges, World Book Day and reading incentives.

Useful Links

Here are some useful websites and apps your child might enjoying using to support them in their reading: