St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School

Reading is a fundamental life skill and as such we place a huge amount of importance on the development of good phonological knowledge and the acquisition of early reading skills.

Phonics

Here at St Cuthbert's, we have chosen to follow the LIttle Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised phonics programme.  This is a DfE validated SSP programme (systamatic, synthetic phonics programme) to ensure the teaching of phonics is consistent and of high quality throughout the the school.

In the Early Years (Nursery & Reception) and Year 1, daily systematic, synthetic phonics sessions are taught to all children.  Initially, these sessions are for 10 minutes, building up to 30 minutes in Reception and year 1.

Children are screened regularly to allow for keep-up sessions to be taught to ensure conitnued progress is achieved.

We timetable daily phonics lessons for any child in year 2 and above who is not fully fluent at reading or did not passed the phonics screening check (PSC) in year 1. These children urgently need to catch up, so the gap between themselves and their peers does not widen. We use the Rapid Catch-up assessments to identify the gaps in their phonic knowledge and teach to these using the Rapid Catch-up resources – at pace.

The pupils in years 2 to 6 who are on-track with their phonological development are taught age-appropriate spellings, which are sent home each week.

For any advice on how to support your child at home, please speak to your child's class teacher.  You can also visit the parent section of the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised website.
 

https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/

Reading in the Early Years & Year 1

Children in Early Years read to an adult team member at least once a week. Picture books and library books of interest are sent home weekly. 

Reading books linked to their weekly phonics are sent home when the teachers feels the child is ready to access the books in relation to their phonological knowledge.  These books will be read three times in class, with the teacher/teaching assisstant.  They are then sent home to continue reading practise.

Reading in Year 2

All children are heard read at least once a week by an adult in class during the week. 

Adult volunteers also attend school regularly to listen to readers but we encourage parents to listen to their child read every day and record what they have read and how they have read in the reading journals.

Reading in Years 3 to 6

All children are heard read at least once a week by the class teacher in Guided Reading sessions and at least once every half term on an individual basis.

Adult volunteers also attend school regularly to listen to readers but we encourage parents to listen to their child read every day and record what they have read and how they have read in the reading journals.

Guided Reading

Guided reading takes place in Year 2 - Year 6 each week, taking place outside English lessons.  These sessions, either small group or whole class, are designed to teach children the necessary skills for reading well and to assist teachers in monitoring children’s progress in reading.

The school has a subscription with First News, a children’s newspaper, which is published each week. Classes have access to the newspaper at different times throughout the week.

The School Library

Our school library is now a welcoming place where children want to come and read!  It has recently been moved to its own dedicated room with access available at both playtime and lunchtime. 

It now houses all our fiction and non-fiction reading books. The library reference books have been catalogued using the Dewey system and library skills training is given to all children so they can learn to use the library properly to support their learning. All classes are encouraged to use the library as regularly as possible to engage children in the wonder of books and the joy of reading.