Reading For Pleasure
At Ladypool, we believe that children deserve a rich curriculum which encourages them to read a wide range of books to inform them and entice them into learning more, remembering more and doing more! Actively encouraging children to read for pleasure is a key aspect of our reading curriculum because we know that extensive reading and exposure to a wide range of quality texts make a huge contribution to our pupils’ educational achievement. So, how do we ensure reading is made fun for everyone, regardless of background or attainment?
Reading Aloud
We ensure that teachers across the school read aloud to their class frequently and regularly. We do this in many ways, including:
- Daily 15 min story time from Nursery to Year 6.
- Modeling reading of words and sentences in our Little Wandle Phonics sessions.
- Modeling prosody and fluency during our reading practice sessions in KS1 and EYFS.
- Reading aloud model texts as a regular part of our writing sessions.
- Shared reading of texts during guided reading sessions in KS2.
- Whole class reading sessions in KS2.
Not one, but two libraries!
Our school libraries are stocked with good quality, appropriate books that we are regularly adding to. As reading for pleasure is an absolute priority for us, we insist on our children visiting the school library at least once a week. We are extremely lucky to have two libraries within our school and a dedicated librarian who always ensures they are kept up-to-date and ready to use by the children. Our scanning system helps the children to experience choosing books, taking books out and returning them a week later. Teachers are always on hand to discuss book choices and make well-informed suggestions.
Reading Corners!
Every class has its own dedicated reading corner where children can access both fiction and non- fiction texts as well as newspapers and comics. These areas have been carefully thought out to ensure they are places where the children are able to relax and choose what they’d like to read. We also believe that all adults at Ladypool should be ‘reading role models’ and we ensure that they share their favourite texts with the children too.
Celebrating Reading
We are always thinking of new ways to celebrate reading. We have a ‘Star Reader’ competition which runs each half term. Teachers pick readers that are the most enthusiastic about books, talk about them, share them and also make a real effort to read every single day! All winners receive books of their choice!
On days like World Book Day, we find a day just isn't enough so we always plan a week of activities! This year, we timetabled in:
- Teacher swap - children loved listening to a range of adults read.
- Reading assemblies where adults shared their favourite books and poems.
- Children from KS2 reading with our younger children.
- Drop and Read - once a day, at an unknown time, the children would be asked to drop what they were doing and simply read!
- An author visit.
- A Scholastic book fair where children loved browsing through the different titles.
Please have a look through some of the pictures of us reading !
