Intent

At St Breock School, we believe that reading is at the heart of learning. Through reading, pupils develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually, while gaining knowledge and a deeper understanding of the world around them. Our aim is to equip all pupils with the skills and confidence needed to become successful readers. We are committed to ensuring that every child at our school develops the strong foundations necessary for future success across the curriculum and beyond.

Aims

Through high-quality, systematic teaching, we aim to:

• Build reading fluency so that all pupils can focus on understanding, interpreting and enjoying what they read.
• Develop a love of reading by enabling pupils to access and engage with a wide range of high-quality texts.
• Foster confident, independent readers who can apply their reading skills across all areas of the curriculum.
• Ensure that every child leaves Key Stage 1 with secure phonics knowledge and the skills needed to become a fluent, lifelong reader.
• Provide targeted support and intervention for pupils who require additional practice, ensuring all children can achieve their potential as readers.

By nurturing both the skills and enjoyment of reading, we aim to inspire a lifelong passion for books and learning.

How do we teach early reading?

At St Breock School, we teach children to read through a systematic synthetic phonics approach. Pupils learn to recognise the relationship between the sounds of spoken English (phonemes) and the letters or groups of letters that represent them (graphemes). They use this knowledge to decode words by sounding out and blending sounds together, enabling them to read with increasing accuracy and fluency. Alongside phonics teaching, we promote strong comprehension skills through rich discussion and exposure to a diverse range of stories and non-fiction. We encourage all pupils to read regularly at home and in school, providing opportunities to practise and apply the skills they have learned while developing their vocabulary, language and enjoyment of reading.

We teach phonics through the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme. Phonics is taught daily across EYFS and Key Stage 1. Children are grouped according to their stage of phonics development and are assessed regularly, with groups reviewed and adjusted each half term to ensure rapid progress, build fluency and develop confident readers. Intervention is provided to children who require extra support to ensure that they keep up, not catch up.

Support

We hold Year Group Reading Meetings for parents and carers at the start of every academic year as well as additional, smaller meetings throughout the school year to provide more tailored advice and support at each stage. The Ruth Miskin website (founder of Read Write Inc. Phonics) and Oxford Owl (the publisher for all of our Read Write Inc. Phonics resources) provide a wealth of information for parents on their websites. Please see below for the links.

Useful Websites

Ruth Miskin – guidance and support for parents

Oxford Owl – guides and resources for parents