Reading at Bearbrook

Curriculum Implementation

• We promote our school philosophy by ensuring that the books we share with our children are diverse, inclusive and of high quality.
• All children have weekly visits to our school library, which is well stocked with a wide range of different styles, genres and authors.
• Our enthusiastic staff are expected to keep abreast of current quality texts so that they can recommend and share these with children, thereby promoting the ethos of Reading Teachers (teachers who read and readers who teach).
• There is regular ‘book talk’ within each classroom. Here the children are encouraged to talk about books, developing the confidence to offer ideas and then reshape them in the light of other contributions. This develops oracy skills and helps children to deepen their understanding, shift their ideas, think together as a group and move their comprehension forwards. The children are encouraged to develop criticality: questioning what they read, making links and connections to other books or experiences, identifying what they find puzzling and giving reasons for what they like or dislike.
• The ‘5 a day’ Read Aloud Challenge. Each teacher aims to read aloud to their class 5 times a day. This could be a class novel; poetry; authentic texts in science, history or topic; news items and their whole class book in literacy.
• Children’s vocabulary development is enhanced by regularly exposing them to higher level vocabulary in the classroom.
• Strong home-school links with dedicated Family Friday reading sessions and daily reading at home.
• Within each classroom, identified readers are listened to daily to further develop fluency and comprehension.
• Whole class and small group guided reading sessions. These occur daily and have planned and purposeful teaching with clear intent, in order to develop deeper reading comprehension skills and strategies.

Many approaches are used:

• Teachers model being a reader. Here, thoughts are verbalised aloud to show how the teacher comprehends a text in order that pupils can identify and then use these strategies independently.
• Reading VIPERS is used to focus questioning on the key areas of vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval and sequence or summarise.
• Questioning is differentiated so that there is challenge for all 

In KS2, Pearson Rapid Readers are used to support those struggling readers who did not pass the phonics test and need additional support.

• A library of Barrington Stoke books (high interest, low reading age) is available to support struggling readers in KS2.
• The Reading Journey app and curated book collection (with online challenges, bookshelf and reading journal that can be accessed at home and in school) is to become available in the spring term.

Reading Fluency

Reading Fluency is defined as the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. In order to understand what they read, children must be able to read fluently whether they are reading aloud or silently. When reading aloud, fluent readers read in phrases and add intonation appropriately.

Our expectations are that:

• Every pupil will learn to read
• We monitor carefully any child reading below ARE (lowest 20%)
• We use a sequential approach to the reading curriculum that runs alongside our phonics program
• Children are exposed to a range of text types used to develop vocabulary, language comprehension and continuing enjoyment of reading.
• There is ongoing assessment that should be frequent and detailed. Gaps should be addressed quickly with targeted support

In progress

At Bearbrook we use BoomReader to log the children’s reading in school and at home. This digital reading record is an excellent tool to enable improved communication around reading and an efficient way to monitor reading habits across the school.           

Boom Reader - Parental Reading TipsBoom Reader - Guide to using the app

We are living in what has been termed by many to be ‘a golden age of children’s literature.’ While this means that there are the most amazing children’s books available to us, it also means that sometimes the choice can be quite overwhelming.

We have created a guide of 50 recommended reads for each year group, to highlight some of the many outstanding books available. Included is a diverse range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. We are delighted that all of the books in these lists are available to borrow from our school library, with some also being available within the classroom libraries.

Websites to help you search for more quality books are at the end of each document, but do please ask your child’s teacher if you would like more guidance.

Enjoy sharing these books with your children, and as always, many thanks for your support with encouraging your child’s reading journey.

Preschool

Reception

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Sharing books with your child can be one of the most special and rewarding times. As well as being a fun and magical experience, sharing books together can be the start of a life-long love of reading. This is so important as it is widely recognised that children who read for pleasure improve their life chances, not just in education, but in their mental wellbeing and social relationships. Through reading, children can explore, learn, imagine, develop a sense of their own identity and an empathy and awareness of others.

Reading with, and engaging your children with the books that you are sharing, is vitally important. It’s this talking together and questioning about the books that really gets the children thinking about what is happening in both the written and visual texts, and can spark their interest and imagination. Below are links to some fabulous sites that are full of great suggestions about how to do this. As well as including videos and multilingual leaflets with tips on how to read with your children, some of these sites are also regularly updated to include newly published book recommendations

In school we use VIPERS as a basis for asking questions about what we read. At home, you could also enjoy reading with TRUST:                                                           

T - Take turns to make predictions

R - Recap to check ideas and understanding

U - Use encouragement and praise

S - Share prior knowledge and past experiences

T - Tune-in and listen.

Be curious with your child. Above all, have fun discovering new books and supporting your child on their reading journey!

Tips for reading at home

Reading Strategies for Parents

Parents Guide to Reading with your child