Reading and Phonics

Learning to read is the most important thing your child will learn at school. Everything else depends on it, so we put as much energy as we possibly can into making sure that every single child learns to read as quickly as possible. We want your child to love reading – and to want to read for themselves.

Reception & KS1

In Reception and KS1 we teach reading through the Read Write Inc. Phonics programmeWe start by teaching phonics to the children in the foundation stage. This means that they learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. This is essential for reading, but it also helps children learn to spell well. We teach the children simple ways of remembering these sounds and letters. Ask them to show you what these are. The children also practise reading (and spelling) what we call ‘tricky words’, such as ‘once,’ ‘have,’ ‘said’ and ‘where’.
The children practise their reading with books that match the phonics and the ‘tricky words’ they know. They start thinking that they can read and this does wonders for their confidence.

KS2

In KS2 we teach reading using the Destination Reader programme - a pedagogical based approach to teaching reading for KS2, where daily, structured reading sessions are backed up with partner work and independent reading to teach children to read with greater understanding, enjoyment and purpose.

Must Reads

Each class has a set of ‘Must Reads’; an exciting selection of high quality texts recommended by the Tower Hamlets Schools Library Service. Children are challenged to read all 10 Must Reads over the course of the year.

Home Reading

All children from nursery through to year 6 are expected to take books home regularly to develop a love of books, practice their reading skills and explore different genres. Each child has a book bag and a reading record book that they bring to school every day. We ask parents to listen to their children read and read to them each evening. We understand that for some parents this may be challenging if English is not their first language. We are happy for other family members or siblings to support children and we also encourage parents to use their first language to discuss books as this supports learning.

Year Group	What you can expect from school	What we expect from home
Nursery	Children will change their book twice a week. They will choose picture books to share with a parent.	Parents should share picture books with children daily. No reading diaries
Reception	Children will choose 2 books (one picture book and one RWI book). They will change the picture book 2 x week and the RWI book once a week. An adult at school will check their reading diary weekly.	Children read a minimum of 10 minutes daily and an adult at home makes an entry in the reading diary 5 x week.
Y1 / 2	Children will have their books changed at least once a week. An adult at school will check diaries weekly and write comments in the progress box once a fortnight.	Children read a minimum of 15-20 minutes daily and an adult at home makes an entry in the reading diary 5 x week
Y3 / 4	By this age, many children are on chapter books, so books will be changed when the child has finished his/her book. Children who are not reading chapter books will have their books changed weekly. An adult at school will check diaries weekly and write comments in the progress box once a fortnight. Comments will be linked to Destination Reader strategies.	Children read a minimum of 20-30 minutes 5 times a week. Children can write their own comments using DR sentence stems.
Y5 / 6	By this age, many children are on chapter books, so books will be changed when the child has finished his/her book. Children who are not reading chapter books will have their books changed weekly. An adult at school will check diaries weekly and write comments in the progress box once a fortnight. Comments will be linked to Destination Reader strategies.	Children read a minimum of 30-40minutes 5 times a week. Children can write their own comments using DR sentence stems.