Reading and Phonics
At Delves Lane Primary we believe that being able to read and write is an essential life skill that enables us to express ourselves and a one which opens the door to the rest of the curriculum and life opportunities. We want our children to leave our school with a firm grounding, armed with not only the technical skills of reading and writing but also with a lifelong love of literature.
Phonics
Our early teaching of reading and writing within the school is based around the Sounds Write Programme. This begins early in Reception and continues until a child is a competent and confident reader and speller. Sounds Write is used around the world and is graded “Outstanding” by Ofsted.
Reading
All of our children take part in individual, guided and shared reading sessions. Once a child has transitioned into a reader they take part in guided reading sessions led by an adult. These sessions focus on developing inference and deduction. During these sessions children may work on a story, newspaper article, poem or any other text relevant to their learning.
Everyday all classes take part in a D.E.A.R session (Drop Everything And Read). These enjoyable sessions allow children to sit back, take pleasure and really understand the meaning of a text.
We encourage all children to read at home. Once children have transitioned from Sounds Write readers our Home Reading Books incorporate several schemes including Big Cat, Dandelion, Bug Club and Oxford Reading Tree.
From Year 2 children take part in Accelerated Reading sessions. Accelerated Reader is a computer program that helps teachers manage and monitor children’s independent reading practice. Your child picks a book at his/her own level and reads it at his/her own pace. When finished, your child takes a short quiz on the computer – passing the quiz is an indication that your child has understood what has been read. Accelerated Reader gives both children and teachers feedback based on the quiz results which the teacher then uses to help the child set targets and ongoing reading practice.
Writing
One of the benefits of the Sounds Write programme is that children link sounds and symbols straight away.
At Delves Lane we base writing on engaging and stimulating texts. Children learn to internalise a text through oral rehearsal and the use of story maps and writing plans help children imitate, innovate and invent new pieces of quality writing.
Children evaluate their own and others work through success criteria. Teachers quality mark longer pieces of writing – children know ‘green is good’ and ‘pink is to think’. At Delves Lane we work closely with other schools to moderate writing termly.
