We Are Reading

At St Luke’s we put reading at the heart of our curriculum.  We believe it is the key to open our minds and help us learn through challenge and enquiry.

 

 “The more that you read the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” – Dr Seuss.

 

We are committed to provide a positive reading culture within our broad, creative curriculum and encourage reading for pleasure and enjoyment as well as learning.

We have an amazing, newly refurbished library here at St Luke’s opened by the award-winning author Peter Lynas. Each class can visit on a weekly basis to select/exchange books for home reading. The space is inviting and enticing and has created a place where children want to be to snuggle up with a book, relax and read in St Luke’s Secret Garden.

Reading areas in each class have been designed and created with the children and look fantastic! We love to see how the children use the space. Whether it be a story telling chair, a sofa for two, book boats outside or a reading garden, we ensure if children want to read there is a space for them to be. We are finding more of our children wanting to read a wider selection of texts and hold annual sponsored reading events to keep our reading material current and fresh.

How do we teach reading at St Luke’s?

It is explicitly taught in all classes starting in the Early Years Foundation Stage right the way through to Year 6. If a child can decode and read print that’s great but there is so much more to reading. We strive for all our pupils to become confident, fluent readers. Skills for reading need to be taught so children can infer, deduce, analyse, interpret, comprehend, empathise and so much more. Here is just a snapshot of how reading is taught in our school.

Reception

• Phonics – Letters and Sounds program
• Shared reading of big books
• Story & Rhyme time
• Access to reading material in continuous provision linked to a topic/children’s interests
• Access to phonics decodable reading material for home reading and engagement.
• Active Reading – adult led directed teaching and learning in small group. Children discuss the front cover, illustration, go on a book look through the selected text, listen to the story being read, respond through questioning, comments, shared experiences, discuss the text, locate HFW/Tricky words. This then progresses to Guided Reading in preparation for Year 1.

Years 1 & 2

• Phonics – Letters and Sounds program
• Shared reading of big books
• Story & Rhyme time
• Access to reading material in continuous provision linked to a topic/children’s interests
• Access to phonics decodable reading material for home reading and engagement.
• Guided Reading – teacher led activity in small groups. Teacher modelling reading and children using and applying phonics knowledge to decode and read simple sentences and comprehend what they read.

Years 3-6

Guided, Shared and Whole Class Reading continues in Key Stage 2 with Letters and Sounds being taught for children that still require access to phonics to decode and become fluent readers.

With all of this in mind, we pledged as a school to our local Lancaster and Morecambe cluster and played an active role in planning and organising a Reading Festival in 2019. The festival was a huge success and we are keen to keep the momentum going working alongside other primary schools in the Lancaster/Morecambe area bringing our children and families together in a shared love of reading. Further events to follow.

Here are some of the events we at St Luke’s promote and ways you can get involved as a family:

#getcaughtreading

Look for a Book

Snuggle up with a book

Ready, Steady, Read

Teddy Bear’s Read and Picnic

And of course, the biggest event of the year “World Book” day so get your thinking caps on and start planning those amazing book character costumes to celebrate in the month of March.

“If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books”. – Roald Dahl

 

If we are passionate about reading, our children will be too!

Please feel free to make an appointment with your child’s class teacher or myself if you would like to make any further suggestions or ask any questions.

Mrs. K. Goodwin
(English Lead, EYFS Lead, Reception Class teacher)