At QMPA, to enable our children to become automatic readers, children are taught to read using phonic skills through the systematic teaching of phonics using the Sounds-Write scheme. We use phonically decodable books to develop decoding and fluency skills with a variety of other texts being used to extend and deepen their learning and range of vocabulary. Through our whole-class reading and group reading, as well as our Talk4Writing, we show our children how important reading is by providing them with opportunities to enjoy reading and for high-quality discussion with their peers and adults. Whole-class and group reading teaches children reading comprehension skills using VIPERS (vocabulary, infer, predict, explain, retrieve, sequence/summarise). We also use a whole-class reader for sharing with the children at the end of the day, which is used to further extend vocabulary and enthuse the children about reading.
Reading is a priority for Queen Margaret Primary Academy. Early reading starts in EYFS with a focus on phonics teaching. In Key Stage One, early reading is taught using a Sounds-Write approach which all of our staff have been trained in. The focus is saying the sounds and reading the words – both for learning the initial sounds and those that are in the extended code (two letters one sound).
We have invested heavily more recently in specific books for our early readers that are matched to the children’s phonic ability and time is spent ensuring that children are successful before they move onto the next book. We use Dandelion Readers/Launchers and Sounds-Write books for this. We also use these books further up the school where needed as well as project X books to supplement where appropriate.
The children are read to in class daily using curriculum learning and stories shared at the end of the day. Children are taught to develop reading skills in school beyond phonic sessions through English lessons based on a Talk4Writing approach, as well as group reading in KS1 and whole-class reading in KS2. The children have access to a wide range of high-quality reading materials.
Reading for pleasure is a vital part of our day and we encourage all children to read a range of books, as well as having a class reading session at the end of the day, using an age-appropriate, high-quality text. Our teachers select books from our own Queen Margaret Reading Spine or Queen Margaret Poetry Spine.
Whole-class reading is a very important part of our curriculum in KS2. It allows our pupils to enjoy what we call a ‘cover to cover’ experience of a range of texts throughout their QMPS journey. Our children tell us they enjoy sharing these texts with their peers and with adults in their classes. More information about the texts that we read during whole-class reading can be found in the downloads area below.
Children take reading books home daily and work hard towards their ’40 Reads’ certificates which is where we rely upon and values ‘shared’ approach to reading with parents who support children by encouraging them to read at home.
In order to further make links with home and school we are using a virtual library and Bug Club to support this.
Below is a link to our virtual library, which can help provide reading books for you and your child while they cannot attend school.
Our school has recently acquired a reading programme called Bug Club that we’d like to share with you.
Below you will find key information about the scheme. We hope that you and your child will love these books and enjoy reading them at home.
Bug Club is a finely-levelled reading scheme, which matches to our reading book bands in school and ensures that all children can read online books at exactly the right level for them within their personalised reading world.
If you have access to an internet connection, your child can enjoy reading Bug Club books online, as well as in print. Each child has a unique homepage and can log into it by following these steps:
We allocate books to your child according to their reading levels. These books will appear in the ‘My Stuff’ area of their personal homepages.
Throughout the books there are quiz questions for your child to complete. To answer a question, just click on the bug icon. Your child does not need to finish all the quiz questions in one sitting and can come back to a book later.
When your child has finished all the quiz questions in a book, he or she will earn ‘ActiveLearn Coins’. By reading more books, your child will earn enough coins to ‘buy’ a reward in one of the many reward schemes. The answers to the quiz questions will be sent back to our teacher site so that we can see how your child is progressing. We will also be able to assign more books for your child to read if the virtual book bag is running low.
When your child has finished a book, it will move to ‘My Library’. Children can read these books again if they want to, or they can choose new books from ‘My Stuff’.
Until they are fluent readers, younger children will benefit from reading aloud to you as often as possible. By the time they are in Years 5 or 6, many children prefer to read silently to themselves. Create quiet opportunities for them to do so, but then talk to them about the book they are reading.
When sharing a book with your child, try to take opportunities to talk about the book – before, during and after reading.
Look at the book cover and talk about your child’s expectations. Is the book likely to be fiction or non-fiction? Have you read other books together about these characters or by this author? What does your child think the book is going to be about?
Support your child when unknown words need tackling: you can sound them out, split them into syllables, or identify suffixes and prefixes. Remind your child to listen to the words while reading them, to make sure that they make sense. Have a ‘meaning check’ every now and again to ensure that your child understands the text.
Talk about the book. What was it about? Did it match your child’s expectations? Ask questions beginning with the words how and why to check that your child has been able to read between the lines. Ask whether anything seemed puzzling. Then ask your child to explain what the best and worst bits of the book were, and why.
If your child is having trouble using the pupil world, help can be found in the Help Section of ActiveLearn Primary (in the top right-hand corner of the website).
Please note: We strongly recommend using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox web browsers with ActiveLearn. If you prefer to use Internet Explorer, please check you have at least IE9 in order for everything to work as it should.
