English

At Atkinson Road Primary Academy, we recognise that a sound grasp of reading and writing skills form the foundation on which all other learning is built. We, therefore, place a great emphasis on developing a love of books, along with the rich vocabulary that the English language offers.

Reading is necessary for learning, so instilling a love of reading at an early age is the key that unlocks the door to lifelong learning. Reading aloud presents books as sources of pleasant, entertaining, and exciting experiences for children to remember. Children who value books are more motivated to read on their own and will likely continue to hold that value for the rest of their lives.

Instilling a love of reading early gives a child a head start on expanding their vocabulary and building independence and self-confidence. It helps children learn to make sense not only of the world around them but also people, building social-emotional skills and of course, imagination.

Each child’s journey begins in Nursery and Reception by learning and practising Phonics. By the time their primary journey ends with us, each child will have read and explored a wide range of texts from many genres. Our children progressively learn a range of key skills in reading using a variety of different strategies:

• Word reading – systematic phonics, learning GPC (Grapheme Phoneme Correspondence), developing the skill of blending, sharing high-quality texts, developing fluency
• Comprehension – drawing on linguistic knowledge and on knowledge of the world, read widely across a range of genres, develop a love of reading, increase pupils’ vocabulary, develop reading for pleasure
• Making strong curriculum links – all pupils are encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, and to gain knowledge across the curriculum.

Our Reading Journey

Our teachers have carefully planned out the books that they are teaching and reading with their children across the year to expose children to a variety of books and authors which link to other areas of the curriculum. 

Our EYFS children begin their reading journey by exploring and sharing a wide range of books, poems and songs. Initially, they focus on their recognition of initial sounds and their ability to develop rhyme and rhythmic patterns. They are immersed in a wide range of reading experiences to develop a love of books and storytelling.

As they continue their reading journey, all children in EYFS and Year 1 complete the Read Write Inc phonics programme. Children continue RWI in Year 2 and into Key Stage Two matched to their individual needs. Using synthetic phonics, children quickly learn to blend letter sounds together following a fun and effective programme. Phonics provides children with the building blocks needed to become successful readers.

All of our KS2 children participate in the Accelerated Reader program. Accelerated Reader is a computer program that helps teachers manage and monitor children’s independent reading practise. Children pick a book at their own level and read it at their own pace. When finished, they take a short comprehension quiz receive feedback on their progress.

Across KS1 and KS2, children are explicitly taught the skills of reading through narrative and non-fiction journaling activities which include:

• Inference 
• Predicting
• Explaining
• Retrieving
• Sequencing (KS1) or Summarising (KS2)