Reading

Intent

At Cronton, reading is a priority and encouraging and ensuring a love of reading is at the core of everything. All pupils deserve a rich curriculum which encourages extensive reading of whole books and other types of text and poetry. Reading is a core part of every pupil’s educational entitlement, whatever their background or attainment, because extensive reading and exposure to a broad range of texts contribute widely to each pupil’s educational achievement. Our intent is for all pupils to be confident, competent readers, appropriate to age related expectations, and be able to access a range of reading strategies. All pupils will have the opportunity to develop their spoken and written vocabulary, across the curriculum through exposure to quality texts.

'Through reading, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know.' 

NATIONAL CURRICULUM IN ENGLAND: ENGLISH PROGRAMMES OF STUDY

Our motto is:

Everyone is a reader:

Everyone wants to read,

Everyone can read.

Reading VIPERS

Vipers is a range of reading prompts based on the 2016 reading content domains found in the National Curriculum Test Framework documents which can be found online
here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keystage- 2-english-reading-test-framework  

What are Vipers?

VIPERS is an anagram to aid the recall of the 6 reading domains as part of the UK’s reading curriculum.  They are the key areas which we feel children need to know and understand in order to improve their comprehension of texts.

VIPERS stands for:

The 6 domains focus on the comprehension aspect of reading and not the mechanics: decoding and fluency etc. As such, VIPERS is not a reading scheme but rather a method of ensuring that teachers ask, and students are familiar with, a range of questions. They allow the teacher to track the type of questions asked and the children’s responses to these which allows for targeted questioning afterwards.

Key Stage 1

In Key Stage One children reading skills are taught and practised using the VIPERS during whole class reading sessions.

Key Stage 2

In Key Stage Two children reading skills are taught and practised using VIPERS during whole class reading sessions.

Cronton's Whole Class Reading Book Overview

Please take a look at the books each class will read and enjoy during each year group. We have a variety of books for fiction, non fiction and poetry to enjoy each year. 

Accelerated Reading

To support reading we use a program called Accelerated Reading. When the children are ready for AR, your child will complete a reading assessment online which has given them a ZPD (Zone of Proximal development) point score. In independent literature-based reading, ZPD is the range of books that will challenge a child without causing frustration or loss of motivation. Your child will receive a ZPD range after taking the online reading test.  It’s important for children to read with a high degree of comprehension and within their ZPDs. This will help your child choose a book to support their learning. Once they have read the book, they will then take an online quiz which will assess their understanding of the text.

We will allocate time for reading in school. These books will also go home as home reading books to continue to read at home. We have provided a reading journal so your child can record their understanding or any new vocabulary to clarify if they wish to. They will be able to read through this before they take the online quiz.

Reading Rewards

When a child reaches ten 100% quizzes they are rewarded with a new book. We have had so many already. 

Reading challenge

Cronton C of E Primary School are continuing to run the Reading Ninja Challenge. The children will be rewarded with ‘Reading Belts’ in the form of a certificate. To gain a belt they will need to read 25 times. For a 'read' to count towards a band your child needs to share a book with an adult for at least 10-15 minutes. This could be their school reading book, library book, book from home or a comic.

An adult must sign their reading record book and only one read per day counts (so there is a maximum of seven reads per week). Older, confident readers may read to themselves but must still have their reading record signed by an adult.  We recommend a period of a minimum of 15 minutes for a signature in their reading record. Class teachers will ask for your child's reading record every week to total and record the number of reads for each child. As they gain more signatures, they will progress through the coloured belts. We hope that this will be an exciting way of encouraging the children to read at home every day.

The belts:

This year we will start collecting dates from Friday 9^th September

CRONTON’S TOP TEN

These are Cronton’s top ten reads for each class.

Choosing books to read aloud to children and for them to enjoy

The decisions we make about how we educate our children are rooted in our beliefs and attitudes. The challenge is to reflect them in the stories and non-fiction children listen to and, later, in what they read for themselves.

Literature is probably the most powerful medium through which children have a chance to inhabit the lives of those who are like them. All children need to imagine themselves as the main protagonist in a story: celebrating a birthday, going shopping, being ill, having a tantrum, having their hair cut, worrying about a new sibling, being the superhero, going camping, visiting the seaside and having adventures.

Children also need to learn about the lives of those whose experiences and perspectives differ from their own. Choosing stories and non-fiction that explore such differences begins to break down a sense of otherness that often leads to division and prejudice.

The books have been chosen for their enjoyment, diversity and many aspects of our life in a multi-cultural and global community.