Reading and Phonics

What does reading look like at Dore Primary School?

Reading is a high priority at Dore Primary School, it is woven into every lesson. Children recognise that reading is essential in all that we do, whether we are choosing what to have from the lunch menu or pondering the morning maths challenge; our children are reading to understand the world around them.

Early Reading and Phonics

All children in Foundation Stage and KS1 have a daily phonics lesson. At Dore Primary School, we believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers. This is why we teach reading through ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds’, this is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme.

Click here to find out more about our phonics programme including videos demonstrating how we teach key elements of reading and information about books which children take home.

Click the links below for further information about Phonics and Early Reading at Dore Primary School:

Phonics, Early Reading and Reading Policy

Phonics Programme Overview for Reception and Year 1

Pronunciation guide 1, Pronunciation guide 2

Watch these videos to hear the correct pronunciation of the phonemes: Phase 2 (A), Phase 2 (B), Phase 3

Glossary

Reading Practice Sessions

As well as the daily phonics lesson, we teach children to read through reading practice sessions.

Foundation Stage 2 and Year 1 reading ; 

• all children will read with their teacher and a teaching assistant 3 times per week (in a small group).
• reading books are changed on a Monday and Thursday (banded books and library books).
• targeted children will have additional reading practice sessions 1:1.

Year 2 reading ; 

• children will continue to read in a group with their teacher and teaching assistant 3 times per week until they are a 'fluent reader' (past phonics phase books). Children have a daily 'reading practice session' where they will complete this reading, book study or further reading activities independently.
• targeted children will read 1:1 daily with a teaching assistant or teacher as well as accessing 'Rapid Catch Up Phonics'.
• reading books are to be changed independently by the children on a Monday and Thursday (banded books and library books). 

Each reading practice session has a clear focus, so that the demands of the session do not overload the children’s working memory. The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills:

• • decoding
  • prosody: teaching children to read with understanding and expression
  • comprehension: teaching children to understand the text.

In Year 3 and above, we continue to teach reading in this way for any children who still need to practise reading with decodable books, this is usually 1:1.

Book Study

Children in KS2 benefit greatly from participating in Book Study. This is time for children to sit back and enjoy listening to a teacher read a rich and powerful text. Teachers are experts at reading these texts in a way to entice children into the story and leave them wanting more. Then together, as a class, children study and analyse snippets of the text, all learning and reflecting together.

Reading Spines

We love reading at Dore Primary and want all children to share in the fun, so we have handpicked 9 books for each year group. We call this our ‘Reading Spine’. We know sharing and discussing high-quality books binds our community together.

We have copies of the books for our year each year group in our reading corners. You may also want to enjoy them at home by purchasing them or borrowing them from a library (Totley Library have many copies of each of these books and our reading spines on display). There is a picture of each book in each child’s Reading Log. Children can read the book at home or school and then rate each book, this enables school staff to further discuss reading preference with your child and suggest books/authors they might like! 

• Reading Spine Pre School
• Reading Spine Reception
• Reading Spine Y1
• Reading Spine Y2
• Reading Spine Y3
• Reading Spine Y4
• Reading Spine Y5
• Reading Spine Y6

Promoting a Love of Reading

We are passionate about promoting a love of reading at Dore Primary School. Here are just some of the extras we do to provide children with opportunities to enjoy reading:

• Story time for all classes every day
• World Book Day
• Book Fairs
• First News (newspaper) delivered to Y2 – Y6 classrooms
• Access to our school library and changing of a reading for pleasure book weekly. 
• Reading corners in every classroom
• Daily 'reading for pleasure' sessions in KS2 after lunch 
• Additional events such as 'book vent' (infants) and 'book club' (Y6).

Statutory Phonics Screening Check Data

• In 2024 88% of Y1s passed the phonic screening check and 96% of pupils had passed this check by the end of KS1.
• In 2023 93% of Y1s passed the phonic screening check and 97% of pupils had passed this check by the end of KS1.

ENGLISH – INTENT, IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPACT STATEMENTS:

Intent, Implementation and Impact in English