Reading

Introduction to how we teach reading at Air Balloon Hill Primary

In Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 (for the first two terms), phonics is taught on a daily basis for at least 20 minutes every day. The sequence of lessons follows the progression of Unlocking Letters and Sounds.

In Reception children begin to learn the main sounds heard in the English Language and how they can be represented, as well as learning ‘Common Exception’ words for Phases 2, 3 and 4. They use these sounds to read and write simple words, captions and sentences.

Actions and images phase 2 and 3

In Year 1 children start from phase 4 consolidation then move on to learning alternative spellings and pronunciations for graphemes and additional Common Exception Words in Phases 5.

In Year 2, phase 5 is revisited to ensure children are secure in reading and spelling alternative sounds for graphemes. Any child who does not meet age related expectations will continue to receive support to close identified gaps.

For further details please see the Unlocking Letters and Sounds progression:

Unlocking Letters and Sounds Progression Overview

To ensure no child is left behind at any point in the progression, children are regularly assessed and supported to keep up through bespoke 1-1 interventions. These include GPC recognition and blending and segmenting interventions.

Reading Scheme:

At Air Balloon we promote a ‘phonics first’ approach in both our guided reading sessions at school and in the books children take home. The texts are very closely matched to a child’s current phonics knowledge so that every child can experience success in their reading. When reading decodable books children’s progress can be tracked through the phase levelled books they are reading.

These decodable books are ideal for a child to read independently to their adult at home. To further promote a love of reading, children also take a ‘Shared Reader Book’ home. This book is to be read by both adult and child.

Once children progress beyond decodable texts, they move onto our book scheme so that they can continue to develop their decoding, fluency and comprehension skills.

Reading schemes and progression YR-6

As well as books being regularly sent home, children can also access appropriately levelled books on our online reading system BugClub.

For information about how to access Bug Club, please click here:  Bug club letter to parents

To access Bug Club, please visit the Bug Club website and log in with the details sent to you by your class teacher.  If you have any problems, please email the school – airballoonhillp@bristol-schools.uk

Supporting Reading at Home

We appreciate your continued support by reading at home with your child at least 3 x a week

When supporting your child, the aim is to make reading an enjoyable experience. Consistency is essential if progress is to be made. Try to:

• Practice regularly
• Set aside a specific time for reading
• Read for between 5 and 10 minutes
• Use a comfortable and quiet area
• Make it fun and interesting
• Be encouraging – there is no need to correct every mistake if it still makes sense.

Remember that reading is a complex skill. Decoding, fluency, retrieval, vocabulary and inference all contribute to deepening your child’s understanding of what they are reading. For more information about these skills please see below. Here are some ideas to further promote some of these skills whilst reading at home:

To practise your child’s fluency you could reread a book or section of a text. You could also model a section of the text with good expression and get your child to copy you.

To develop your child’s vocabulary you could bring their attention to repetitive and/or interesting letter and sound/ spelling patterns and discuss the meanings of words- discussing associated words and synonyms.

To explore inference when reading you could ask your child about what a character might be thinking or feeling or what is going to happen next in a story. Make sure to ask them to explain their answers using clues from the text.

Teaching Reading:

Reception – As well as the daily teaching of phonics, children have a weekly 1:1 and guided reading sessions with their teachers.

Year 1 – As well as the daily teaching of phonics, at the beginning of the academic year children have weekly guided reading session with their teachers. Towards the end of the academic year, Year 1 start Whole Class Reading lessons.

Year 2-6 – Whole Class Reading is taught daily for at least 30 minutes. Teachers provide the children with a variety of challenging text extracts from books and teach them how to appreciate and understand these texts by focusing on the following skills:

We are using different breeds of dogs as a simple metaphor to describe the different skills needed to really comprehend what children are reading. Ask your children about them!

Teachers constantly assess the needs of their class and where necessary teachers integrate phonics into these sessions to further support children’s next steps and make the texts accessible for all. If your child needs extra support they will also receive extra 1:1 reading sessions with their teacher.

Teachers also promote reading for pleasure by visiting the library every week, sharing class books using ‘The Reading Spine’ and allowing quiet, individual reading to take place.

Story Telling

At Air Balloon we have put story telling at the heart of our English curriculum. Therefore, each year group has a core of key books called ‘The Reading Spine’, which all the children will experience.

The ‘Reading Spine’ has been developed as not only do we want every child to be exposed to rich, challenging texts, we also want to provide children with the opportunity to explore a variety of complex issues through literature at the same time as representing all of our community in the books we read.

Miss Giles – Reading Leader

Year 2

Traction Man is Here by Mini Grey

Tadpole’s Promise by Jeannie Willis

Look Up by Nathan Byron

Meerkat Mail by Emily Gravett

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Book? by Lauren Child

The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield

Dr Xargle’s Book of Earthlets by Tony Ross

The Worries by Jion Sheeban

Not Now Bernard by David McKee

Tuesday by David Wiesner

The Flower by John Light

Gorilla by Anthony Browne

Emily Brown and The Thing by Cressida Cowell

Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel

The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson

Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl

The Hodgeheg by Dick King-Smith

Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown

​Year 5

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Allen

Varjak Paw by SF Said

A kind of Spark- Elle McNicoll

Jaz Santos Vs the World- Pricilla Mant

Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver

Street Child by Berlie Doherty

The Midnight Fox by Betsy Byars

Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce

FArTHER by Grahame Baker-Smith

More Tips

For more help and tips on supporting your child to read at home, we would recommend reading this article on the BBC website: BBC Bitesize – Top Tips to support reading