Harold Court Primary School

Reading at Harold Court

 At Harold Court Primary School we use Rigby Star and Bug Club, published by Pearson, as our structured reading scheme. The children follow the structured colour banded system from EYFS until they are fluent, confident readers when they select books to read at their level with guidance from their teacher.

Shared Reading is a daily lesson where the teacher explicitly models the strategies and skills of proficient readers by reading the text with fluency and expression. The class discuss the text including key vocabulary and focus on developing comprehension skills. 

Children in EYFS and Key Stage one are assigned Read Write Inc e-books through Oxford Owl which corresponds to the ones they are reading in school each week. All children are also able to access our on-line reading programme Bug Club. Both of these programmes consolidates reading skills, linking together home and school learning.

 Individual children’s reading progress and attainment are rigorously monitored through termly assessment tests and teachers continuous assessments. We also use the Hertfordshire Reading Test to monitor children’s reading age in relation to chronological age and gaps are quickly addressed. Attainment levels are reported to parents at our termly parent’s consultations where progress is discussed. Children are encouraged to read at home as often as possible and our Reading Challenge initiative encourages all children to gain recognition for their effort. We work closely with our parents, using the children’s planners to as a two-way communication to record reading success. 

What / How will your child read in school?

Your child will experience a variety of reading activities in school:

• They may be given opportunities to read individually from reading scheme books
• They will read with the class during the ‘shared’ part of the daily Literacy lesson
• They will read with the teacher or teaching assistant in a group during ‘guided reading’
• They may read during quiet reading sessions, where they may be encouraged to read silently or share a book with a partner
• They will also be given the opportunity to read during other curriculum areas

At every occasion when your child reads in school there will be an emphasis on their understanding of what they have read, as well as fluency. It is also important this is encouraged at home.When hearing your child read it is necessary to ask them questions about texts as they are reading. Encourage them to look back at the pages of the book to find information. 

 At Harold Court we want to encourage all of our children to have a love of reading the following links are recommend reading lists for all year groups. 

EYFS: 100 Picture Books to read before your 5

Year 1: Suggested reading list for Year 1 children - age 5- 6 years old

Year 2: Suggested reading list for Year 2 children -  age 6-7 years old

Year 3: Suggested reading list for Year 3 children -  age 7-8 years old

Year 4: Suggested reading list for Year 4 children  - age 8-9 years old

Year 5: Suggested reading list for Year 5 children - age-9-10 years old

Year 6: Suggested reading list for Year 6 children - age 10-11 years old

Hints on helping with reading at home

As a parent, you  play an important role in helping your child learn to read. Research shows that children who are helped at home make better progression school. Reading with your child can be fun and very rewarding. It also shows that you value his/her efforts. If children enjoy reading, it will benefit their whole education. They are also more likely to carry on reading as adults. 

Choosing what to read

Choose any books that appeal to your child, for example, stories or information books on hobbies/interests such as football or animals. Vary your reading together. It doesn’t have to be school books. Newspapers,magazines, recipes, games instructions can be read together and still be part of the process of learning to read with enjoyment.We hope that you will also borrow books from the school library and from the local library to read together.Your children may keep choosing the same book because it is a favourite. This is all part of learning to read.Children enjoy being read to even when they are fluent readers. 

How can I help?

• Find a quiet, relaxing place away from distractions such as TV
• Sit comfortably in good light and talk to your child about their book
• Read for about 10 minutes; a regular short time of quality is better than a long session which happens only occasionally
• Ask why they have chosen the book
• Talk about the cover and title and what the story might be about
• Ask them to tell you who wrote the book or point to the author
• Look at the pictures and ask them to tell you where the story takes place
• Ask who they can see in the pictures (especially in simple caption books)
• Try to be supportive and positive during the reading time
• Encourage your children to look closely at the print
• Read the first page or two together until your child is ready to continue alone
• Encourage your child to point to each word as they read aloud Where possible wait for your child to decode words
•  Encourage the use of clues such as the look/sound of the letters, what would make sense and the illustrations
• Do not sound out words which are not phonetic e.g “because”
• When a mistake is self-corrected or a previously unknown word is recognised, praise highly
• Encourage expressive reading by drawing attention to punctuation
• Help understanding by talking about the story or text – the setting, the plot, the characters
• Discuss the kind of people the characters are and the way they behave
• Talk about the kind of story it is (adventure, fantasy, science fiction, myth…)
• Encourage your child to refer to words and passages in the text to justify opinions
• If your child is finding a book difficult, help out by reading it together
• If they get stuck on a word, you could:

                                Let them read on so they can work out the word themselves from the context point to a picture if it will help them guess the meaning, give them

                            the first or last sounds to help them read along with them then pause, prompt, praise if they get it righto read the word for them (especially if it is

                            a Proper Name). When they are confident with sounds, let them sound out unknown words – break longer words down in to syllables

Remember – Practice, with praise, makes perfect.

Please remember that the purpose of the ‘Reading Record’ book is to give your child’s class teacher feedback on how well your child is reading at home. If you have any concerns about your child’s reading please contact the class teacher by letter or in person. A bank of helpful phrases to use can be found below when reading with your child;