Porters Grange Primary School & Nursery, Lancaster Gardens,
Southend on Sea, Essex, SS1 2NS
01702 468047
Chikamu chePortico Academy Trust.
kuvhura magonhi, kuvhura mukana
Reading at Porters Grange
Our vision is that every child, by the end of their Porters primary education, can read with ease, fluency, confidence, and joy and have a good understanding in any subject and genre. Every child should have the aspiration and gratification to continue reading beyond their primary years both for pleasure and purpose.
Phonics
To ensure children reach an age appropriate level of reading, synthetic systematic phonics is taught daily from Nursery to Year 1 summer term.
Our Porters Phonics Programme (PPP) is rigorous and taught with fidelity. We aspire for all our children to be confident fluent readers as early as possible in their school career. Carefully selected decodable books are provided to match children’s phonics knowledge for their daily phonics lessons, one-to-one reading and reading at home, setting them up for success and ensuring the opportunity to practise at home.
Children are regularly assessed; if needed they receive additional phonic intervention or daily one-to-one reading. For children in KS2 who are decoding, relevant decodable books are provided until they reach the required level of fluency.
To ensure that we have a strong home-school partnership for reading, we provide our own bespoke family reading workshops. During these workshops we explain the importance of reading aloud, teach pure sounds so parents can reinforce at home and demonstrate how to share a decodable book. Their children join in so parent and child can practise together and receive advice and tips. All our family workshops end with a fun story time!
Layered Reading
Towards the end of Year 2 and across KS2, children have 2-3 layered reading lessons a week. These are carefully selected texts of varying genres that link to the English curriculum or our curriculum topics. The texts are both challenging and age appropriate.
Each lesson includes:
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a short summary of the text so far
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technical vocabulary teaching
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partner reading
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modelled reading by the class teacher
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a discussion on what children have read
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comprehension questions
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reading for prosody
Any child in KS2 that is reading a decodable book receives a phonics intervention during this time until they move onto Porters Pick (real books).
Also, class teachers look for opportunities to embed reading and comprehension skills across all subjects in the curriculum.
In addition to our family workshops our Reception families are invited weekly to read a story with their child or listen to their child read their individual book.
Individual Reading Books
Nursery children regularly choose a library book which they take home for families to read and share with them. Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 take home a decodable book that matches their current phonic assessment so they have time at home to rehearse and apply their phonic skills. These year groups also take home a library book which they choose themselves. We encourage them to share these with their family.
Across KS2, or once children have completed our decodable books, they can select from our wide range of real fiction and non-fiction texts. The children are given a band for guidance. Children have the autonomy to choose with guidance from teachers and LSAs. We promote Porters P.I.C.K to empower our children to find their ‘right’ read:
P is for Purpose
Why do I want to read this? Is it an author I like? Was it recommended to me? What do I think of the front cover? What information could I learn from this? Is it about a subject in school that I have enjoyed? Is it in my band?
I is for Interest
Does this book interest me? Do I like the sound of the blurb? Do I like this type of genre or subject? Do I fancy the length of this read?
C is for Comprehension
Do I understand what I am reading? Do I understand the blurb? Do I understand what is happening? Do I understand most of the words?
K is for knowledge
Do I know most of the words?
Read a page of the text…
Five Finger Rule:
5 or more too tricky – find a different read!
3 – 4 a great challenge
1 – 2 just right!
0 - too easy – find a different read!
Across the school, children regularly read to LSAs and teachers. Children identified as needing additional support read daily with a teacher or LSA. In addition to this, teachers listen to children read daily in phonics (EYFS and KS1) and 2-3 times a week in layered reading (KS2).
Reading for Pleasure
At Porters we know reading for pleasure is a vital part of children’s education. We have created an environment where all children have choice, can read at their own pace and are exposed to a wide range of exciting and stimulating texts. They have time to discuss books with their peers, creating a network of social readers that goes beyond their primary years.
Daily Protected Read Aloud Sessions
Every class hears a story at the end of each day. These books have been carefully selected to build a love of reading.
Many of our children say they love it when their teacher leaves them on a cliffhanger…The books are from a broad range of authors, illustrators and genres, filled with rich language and exciting plots! We have been mindful to select books that reflect the diversity and experiences of our families. For our younger children, we plan a wide range of enjoyable texts, both classic and current fiction, with lots of rhyme and repetition.
Many of our children say they love it when their teacher leaves them on a cliffhanger…The books are from a broad range of authors, illustrators and genres, filled with rich language and exciting plots! We have been mindful to select books that reflect the diversity and experiences of our families. For our younger children, we plan a wide range of enjoyable texts, both classic and current fiction, with lots of rhyme and repetition.
Weekly Protected Reading for Pleasure Sessions
In KS1 and KS2 children have a designated weekly ‘reading for pleasure’ session. This can be held anywhere in the school, including our library. During this session teachers:
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model being a reader themselves
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enable time for children to talk about reading so they can find ‘texts in common’ and recommend to each other
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support the children to find their next read
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provide time for children to get absorbed in their current read
Instead of a set time in Nursery and Reception, staff provide reading for pleasure through the environment by having a designated reading area and books in most areas of provision.
KS2 have an additional session at the end of the week to give time for children to get ‘stuck in a book’ which we promote for them to continue to read at home!
Reading Environments
At Porters we have a beautiful and extensive library filled with a wide range of texts. Children access our library regularly and borrow books. Part of our prefects’ and Reading Ambassadors role is to help keep the library tidy and organised so it is accessible at all times.
In every classroom there is a designated ‘micro-library’ where class teachers promote a love of reading and where children can access their next read. In Early Years, in addition to their reading area, children have books in continuous provision which they can access during play. In KS2 there is a variety of genres and texts that reflect the classes’ interests and the range of reading levels.
Reading Ambassadors
Our Reading Ambassadors help us to build a love of reading at Porters Grange. They are a voice for their class to represent what our children want to read. Our Ambassadors promote and model Porters P.I.C.K and are responsible to organise our library and micro-library. We also will set them reading challenges through the year...so watch this space....
Book Clubs
We run regular book clubs which reflect children’s current interests.
On Wednesday lunchtime there is a reading club for children to attend. They read books together, discuss books they have read, write book reviews for other children, take part in book scavenger hunts and enjoy other book related activities.
We also have child-led book clubs. They meet weekly to chat about their current read, share favorite extracts and complete fun activities.
Family Library Time
We open our library each Thursday after school so all our families can access our amazing collection of books with their children. They use this opportunity to browse, read together, gain advice and recommendations and borrow books to share together at home.
Book Fairs and Second Hand Sales
Throughout the year we host book fairs and second hand book sales. This is a great opportunity to fundraise and acquire new books for school. Recently, we purchased Marcus Rashford’s books which are inspiring our children to see the link between reading and success.
Book Week
Each year we celebrate World Book Day by extending it into a whole week of fun! Children enthusiastically involve their parents by inviting them to our after school book fairs where they can browse and grab a bargain!
During the school day, exciting activities are planned around a school book and children even hear different teachers read to them through class story swaps. The week culminates with each class proudly decorating their door around the theme of their class book.
