Rationale

Reading is a vital skill that will support children’s learning across the whole curriculum. As a school, we will ensure that our children are taught to read with fluency, accuracy and understanding through a variety of discreet and cross-curricular learning opportunities. Above all, we want children in our school to become enthusiastic, independent and reflective readers. Essentially, we want children to enjoy reading.

In order for our children to fulfil their potential in reading we need as much parental support as possible and our aim, with this policy, is to demonstrate how school and home can work together.

Our Teaching Philosophy

The development of reading cannot be seen in isolation from writing, speaking and listening/drama. The best readers are the best writers - we read as writers and write as readers! Strategies for writing, speaking and listening/drama therefore form an integral part of this reading policy.

In our school, we will strive to give pupils a stimulating environment, where reading materials are presented in an attractive and inviting way. Furthermore, within literacy lessons we create an environment that stimulates the generation of ideas from texts where all ideas are accepted and valued.

Teachers will act as role models in their enthusiasm for both reading and writing by keeping up to date with current children’s literature.

Aims

‘We shouldn’t teach great books we should teach a great love of reading’

^{B.F. Skinner}

We will develop children’s reading within an integrated programme of writing and speaking and listening/drama.

Our aims for reading are to:

• Instil children with a love of reading that lasts for their lifetime, share with them an enthusiasm for children’s literature and help children to recognise the value of reading as a life skill.
• Encourage children to become enthusiastic and reflective readers by introducing them to good quality books, from a variety of cultures and in a range of different styles and formats.
• Develop our children’s understanding of a variety of text types including non-fiction, fiction, poetry and drama.
• Develop children’s confidence, fluency, and independence when reading for different purposes.
• Develop children’s abilities to reflect on and have an interest in what they have read and the language and punctuation choices made by the author.
• Use drama and role-play, where appropriate, to immerse children in the text.
• Ensure our children have sound phonic awareness and use a phonics first approach to reading.
• Use ICT systems to access and locate texts.