Reading

At Ranskill Primary, we want our children to leave school being able to read easily, fluently and with good, secure understanding, but also to develop a pleasure for reading widely and often.

 As soon as children enter Nursery a daily rigorous programme of Phonological awareness is taught following the progression set out in phase one of the Letters and Sounds document.  Children are taught how to listen to and recognise different sounds and patterns in the words of our spoken language. It involves auditory discrimination, the ability to recognise sequences of sound and also holding and storing sound sequences in memory.

Children entering the main school at the start of their Reception year continue to follow the progression set out in the Letters and Sounds document using Jolly phonics resources as support. EYFS children and Key Stage One use a phonics based reading scheme produced by Pearson Books called Phonic Bug.  The scheme includes fiction and non fiction books.  The school recognises the importance of linguistic knowledge in developing good comprehension and children in the EYFS are taught new vocabulary using the “word aware” programme.  In LKS2 banded books are used to engage and motivate readers within a structured progression.  In UKS2, Accelerated Reader is used to manage, monitor and foster independent reading. The internet-based software assesses reading age, and suggests books that match pupils’ needs and interests. Pupils take computerised quizzes on the books and earn AR points as they progress.

Ranskill recognises that comprehension skills develop through pupils’ experience of high-quality discussion with the teacher, as well as from reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non-fiction. As such all pupils are involved in daily reading involving a variety of teaching strategies.   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.  This is enhanced at Ranskill by a broad and varied curriculum, a well stocked library, themed literacy based days, books clubs, book fairs and community events.