Reading | Overview
Mayflower is passionate about reading. Reading is the gateway to all areas of the curriculum. It is much harder to fall in love with learning without being able to read. When you can read, a life of knowledge, fact finding and adventure opens up. We want every pupil to not just be able to read, but to also find their preferred style of reading. Some people like facts and many enjoy just sitting back and losing themselves in stories.
Children at Key Stage 1 develop an understanding of communication through speaking, listening, reading and writing by exploring their own lives as well as those close to them. The curriculum develops the basic skills around phonetical awareness to allow children to express their thoughts and ideas. Oracy skills are used to help our children communicate their ideas effectively and as a result become confident speakers. A wide experience of genres allows our children to become imaginative, creative storytellers and writers whilst ensuring they are exposed to varied, rich vocabulary.
As children move into Key Stage 2, the concepts remain key to speaking, listening, reading and writing. Oracy, through all areas, enables children to communicate effectively with greater sophistication. Language development remains vital and a broad range of genres (through reading and writing), ensures children experience a wide range of rich vocabulary.As they build on the skills learnt previously, children will use these to effectively present their ideas and learning, applying their speaking, reading and writing skills across the curriculum.
Our aim is to develop articulate speakers, inspired writers and avid readers, who can apply their knowledge of English, to communicate successfully in an ever-changing world.
We have built a reading offer that provides pupils with a menu of reading experiences to choose from.
Frequency of Reading Experiences
- Whole class end of day reading sessions, every child with a book in chorus style reading, eyes and pencils tracking, 20 minutes
- Daily 1-1 reading after school club
- Daily small group reading after school clubs
- Saturday School reading sessions
- Daily own choice “Reading for Pleasure” sessions
- Remote reading through e-books - Bug Club
- Remote storytelling creating online audio stories
Own Broad Library
- Community Book Shop
- Block Reading for Pleasure areas
- Project/topic based and reference texts in classes
- Carefully assessed, decodable phonic phase matched home reading books and a Reading for Pleasure book will be sent home
- Outdoor reading areas
- Book swap opportunities
- Remote reading through e-books - Bug Club
Educated Network of Support
- TA 1-1 reading after school reading club
- Parent Reading Champions
- Parent Phonics Champions
- Reading Role Models Community Support
- Teacher Reading CPD sessions
- TA Reading CPD sessions
- OU/UKLA Teacher Reading Group
- Reading community workshops
Targeted Interventions
- Target Readers 1-1
- Phonics Support
- Bug Club Group Readers
- Reading Comprehension
- Saturday School Reading
Real Life Experiences
- Reading within the community e.g. local Retirement Home and Church
- Reading at the local library
- Community Bookcase Project
- Community Reading sacks/Reading Boxes
- Community Reading Calendar of Events
- Reading Padlet
Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension is specifically taught using the Mayflower Reading Strategies. These strategies are introduced with immersion in Year One, with the browsing, skimming and scanning, finding key information, underlining lining and transferring the information. These strategies are imbedded throughout the Academy and are finally used to support the statutory testing in Year Six, giving the pupils secure knowledge of how to access reading comprehension papers in their secondary years.
