Being able to read is crucial for every child. It is the key to developing much of their potential. Not being able to read well means children will not benefit from all the opportunities a good education has to offer. They risk leaving formal education with poor qualifications and struggling in the world of work. – Literacy Trust
The policy has been composed with due consideration to our whole school commitment to the Rights of the Child and our accomplishment of being a Rights Respecting School. It is written in accordance with Article 28 of the UNCRC ‘Every child has the right to an education’ as well as Article 29 ‘Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full.’ Although direct reference to this is not continuously made, the policy has been written with full consciousness of our responsibility and commitment to pupil’s rights.
In accordance with the National Curriculum, Lady Margaret believes:
Reading is a significant life skill and the development of reading strategies will enable our children to read and write confidently throughout their school career and on into adult life. Evidence suggests, that children who read for enjoyment every day, not only perform better in reading tests than those that don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures.
In fact, there’s evidence to suggest that reading for pleasure is more likely to determine whether a child does well at school than their social or economic background. At Lady Margaret Primary School we passionately encourage and require our children to read every day and aim to nurture a love of reading through carefully selected texts, which inspire and motivate pupils to become life-long readers.
Pupils learn to read easily and fluently through daily phonics in Key Stage one, following the letters and sounds scheme. They read regularly to adults through either daily supported reading, whole class reading or one to one reading. In addition to this, they also have Recommended Reads, core texts, library books and home reader books (Big Cats or Oxford Reading Tree scheme).
Pupils develop skills in reading through the understanding of core texts. Our curriculum coverage maps are tailored to meet the needs of our pupils and have been designed in collaboration with the CLPE. In essence, pupils study a book, related to their half-termly topic. They often study books which are more challenging than those which they might not be able to read independently. They will use this book as the basis for reading, writing, speaking and listening tasks and links to foundation subjects.
Pupils are encouraged to read widely, through our use of differing class texts, library visits, high-quality texts, Recommended Reads and home reads. Our classrooms and school reflect a literature-rich environment. Pupils are encouraged to read for pleasure using reading partners, quiet reading time and enjoying story time.
Reading is taught through whole class reading lessons. At LMPS it is expected that children are taught the reading skills and strategies through whole class and supported reading. Reading is taught across all areas of the curriculum with all lessons having an element of reading aloud.
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