English
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
― Dr. Seuss
Reading is the foundation of a child’s education. It unlocks doors to fantastical worlds and introduces them to a wealth of people and creatures far beyond their own personal experience. It enables them to access and understand scientific and mathematical equations and formulae and it helps them to discover and appreciate how and why things are.
Studies show that children who are read to every day have a larger vocabulary than those who aren’t read to at all. Not only does being read to enhance a child’s language, and help them learn how to read and write, but reading aloud to children also helps them to understand different topics about the world and everyday life. Equally, reading for pleasure is more likely to determine whether a child does well at school than their social or economic background. And, children who are read to daily are likely to do better when they start school and be better behaved.
At St Bernadette’s, our children are exposed to a wide range of high quality texts and picture books across the curriculum and reading skills are taught explicitly in all year groups. Alongside simple decoding and understanding, we teach the children to develop inference, deduction and prediction skills so that they can gain a deeper understanding and enjoyment of the text.
Our ‘Whole Class Reading’ programme and the discussions that evolve during these sessions encourage the children to think as readers and to become more confident in articulating their opinions
Writing is taught through a range of stimuli which includes books, film clips, artefacts, visitors and real-life experiences. Teachers model the writing process and demonstrate the ambitious high standards expected of all children.
If we use a rich vocabulary when talking to children and we talk about language and its etymology, the children will use this knowledge and it will help them bring their writing to life.
Basic skills and non-negotiables underpin writing in all areas of the curriculums so it is absolutely imperative that children acquire the skills that are relevant to their curriculum stage of development.
What does this look like in our classes?
In Years R-3 (dependent on the individual child) pupils read books with coloured book bands. Please see this website for further details.
As they develop and progress as readers Year 2 pupils will start to read their own books and books from school reading areas/libraries.
Each class in both key stages has its own 'Book Spine' which acts as part of their class library. This spine contains books which the teachers feel children should experience by the end of the year.