Reading at Foxhill

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.”— DR Seuss

At Foxhill Primary school, we believe that the ability to read confidently, fluently and with understanding is an essential life skill, which will not only empower the individual to make sense of his or her world, but will also grant access to a vast realm of experience and knowledge that would otherwise remain out of reach. It is our mission to ensure every child develops an enjoyment of reading and can employ a range of independent strategies to self-monitor and improve. It is important that a positive attitude towards reading is encouraged amongst all our pupils in order to foster self-confidence and a sense of achievement. Children with Special Education Needs will have the curriculum adapted according to their needs and in consultation with SENDCO where needed.

Reading in Action

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

Early Reading in Reception and Year 1

Phonics and Early Reading

In Reception and Year 1 children use the Big Cat Little Wandle Reading Books which are fully decodable and matched to the Little Wandle programme of progression. Books are matched to children’s phonic knowledge based on data from half termly assessments using the Little Wandle Assessment Tracker.

These books:

Exactly match the Little Wandle phonics progression
Present only GPCs that have been taught
Include only tricky words that have been taught

Reading sessions in Reception/Year 1 follow the three read model:

Session 1 Read Segment and Blend to Read / Reading fluency
Session 2 Read Reading Fluency/Prosody
Sesion 3 Read Reading Fluency/Comprehension

Reading practice sessions are:

Timetabled three times per week
Taught by a trained teacher or teaching assistant
Delivered in small groups

How can you help at home?

The same book that has been read in school for one week is sent sent home each Friday to work on fluency and comprehension. In Reception children begin with wordless books. Reading books with words are sent home as soon as your child is ready. Whilst they have a wordless book please enjoy talking about the story with your child and spotting the letters (phonemes) on the pages. Please see further recommendations in your child's reading record. Children also take home a reading for pleasure library book each week. The library book should be used for book talk, familiarisation of authors and a love of reading.

'Little Wandle Fluency' Reading in Year 2 and Year 3

In Year 2 and 3 children will transition from the decodable Little Wandle Big Cats to our fluency reading books. Sessions focus on word reading, reading aloud, prosody and comprehension.

Sessions are timetabled for three times per week, where children read in small groups with a trained adult. The children will bring home the book they have been reading each Wednesday. They will need to re read the chapters they have already read during the sessions in school. It is vital the book is back in school the following Monday for our next reading session to run smoothly.

CUSP Reading

The teaching of whole class reading is done using the CUSP Reading programme and follows their outlined literature spine.

These texts have been mapped carefully to ensure a breadth of experiences, authors, texts and themes is addressed across the Primary years. In addition to these texts, there are core poems that each year group will study in detail. Other texts that will be studied in part will be outlined within the curriculum. This spine represents the core texts for depth study only. The literature spine has been harmonised with the wider curriculum, where applicable. Please see each class 'Text overviews' below: