At Highbury Primary School and Nursery we aim to immerse children in a rich reading environment and give them the opportunity to explore a wide range of quality texts. This supports word recognition, comprehension and vocabulary development.
How will my child be taught to read?
We follow a systematic and synthetic phonics programme, Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, in Nursery, Reception and Key Stage 1. This programme is a DfE validated phonics programme, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, working through the phases of learning during phonics lessons, made up of ‘revisit, learning, practise and apply’. We will also use this programme for those pupils in Key Stage 2 who need further phonic support. Regular assessment of children will identify those who have gaps in their phonetical knowledge and timely interventions will be put in place to support them. Throughout the week, children will read a range of phonetically decodable books, that fully match the programme of study set out by Little Wandle. During these reading sessions, children will only read books with sounds they have been taught so far. There is considerable research to show that children who enjoy reading and choose to read benefit not only academically, but also socially and emotionally. At Highbury Primary School, we also teach Little Wandle alongside regular shared reading of stories and books, to help instil an early love of reading.
When will my child take home a reading book?
As soon as children start in Reception class they will take home a book to enjoy with you at home. Research shows that daily reading to or with your child will improve their language and progress at school. We believe reading at home should be a pleasurable experience for both adult and child. Start by reading the story books to your child and encourage them to join in on the parts they remember.