Becoming a fluent reader:

At St Vincent’s School we place a very high importance on learning to read. We do not have one reading scheme but a mixture of books from a variety of sources to cater for all abilities and interests.

All our books are colour coded with a wide range of choice in each colour band. As well as reading books we encourage our children to read newspapers, magazines, and electronic media. All children have a reading record and are read to and asked questions weekly by school staff about their individual reading book. Please do not forget to sign your child’s reading record.

The school has a library and book corners in each class, where children can borrow books to read at leisure or support their learning in a topic.

All children at St Vincent’s come in at 1pm everyday to read for 15 minutes and undertake reading activities and challenges.

How can you help?

·         Try to make time to listen to your child read

·         Talk to your child about their book

·         Ask questions so that your child has to think about what they are reading

·         Let your child see how important reading is by reading yourself, whether it is books, magazines or newspapers

·         Read to your child, whether it is a bedtime story or a funny/interesting article in the newspaper

What is phonics?

There is no one ‘right way’ of learning to read but we know that being able to recognise the sounds that letters make and how sounds go together to make words is really important. This is called ‘phonics’. We use a combination of resources to teach phonics which includes the scheme – ‘Letters and Sounds’. Some children also have access to online phonics and spelling through a fun, engaging support programme called ‘Nessy’.

In Early Years Foundation Stage children learn phonics together. As the children move into Years 1, 2 and 3 children sometimes work in smaller groups depending on their ability. This means that they may be working with children who are older or younger than themselves. Our phonics sessions take place every day. In Years 4 to 6 children have a variety of activities which include phonics, spelling and grammar work and can be incorporated into their other subject lessons as well as English.