How do we teach reading?

Our Reading Mission: we want every child to become a confident reader and to enjoy reading.

The reading curriculum begins in our pre-school where children are exposed to a huge range of stories, books, rhymes and songs. Children are given the opportunity to revisit favourite books as many times as they want! Re-reading favourite stories is a wonderful way to build a deep love of stories and to develop confidence in story language.
Phonics
Children are taught to read words through the careful, systematic teaching of phonics. At Long Moutain we follow 'Phonics Shed' which provides the structure and progression of our phonics programme. Children have daily phonics sessions in EYFS and KS1, with emphasis being placed on the application of phonic knowledge to support reading and spelling. Careful planning ensures excellent progression through the phonics phases. By learning the sounds (phonemes) that written letters (graphemes) represent, children can swiftly learn to decode words to read them. They are taught to blend phonemes together e.g. to know that t-a-p blends to make the word tap. 
Reading books are carefully matched to the phonics that children are confident with. Children are not given reading books to read by themselves until they have the phonic skills needed to decode the words in that book. However, children are encouraged to choose 'sharing' books - books which families can share at home (an older sibling, parent or grandparent reading to a young child, for example).
Accelerated Reader
As children move through school, they will begin to use a resource called Accelerated Reader. AR (Accelerated Reader) enables children to take quizzes about books they have read. It also enables children to choose from a selection of books which are carefully matched to their ability. Children complete a 'Star Reader' quiz (online) and this gives them a ZPD (zone of proximal development). Their ZPD is used to find books which will help them make rapid progress as readers (just enough challenge to move them on). 
Individual Reading Time
Children at Long Mountain have regular times in the week when they read. They will have opportunities to read by themselves, to read to a range of adults (including their class teacher) and to share books with classmates. 
Taught Reading Lessons 

At Long Mountain we teach reading using the John Murray approach to guided reading. From years 2-6, children have five guided reading sessions across the week.  Using a chosen text, pupils will focus on orientation, vocabulary and reasoning building up to a final application. This approach helps the children develop and embed core reading skills and become more confident readers. The children don’t just read the given texts, they unpick them with the support of the adult leading the session.  They also learn the skills to reason and infer which therefore allows them to build a greater understanding of the given text.

Reading to Write

Brilliant readers will become brilliant writers so our creative reading is closely aligned to our Creative Writing Curriculum.  Where we immerse the developing reader in high quality texts, use technology to engage readers and encourage them to write with passion and give readers a reason to write, a real audience and authentic purpose.

Picture Book Studies

Picture book studies also form part of our reading approach throughout the school.  To foster a love of reading, we must discover incredible books.

• Books that help us to become kind, empathetic, well-rounded individuals.
• Books that make us laugh, make us gasp, make us stop and think, make us curious about the world in which we live.
• Books that encourage us to become lovers of language, lovers of literature and readers for life.
• Books that help identify Christian and British Values.

Picture Books have been carefully selected and sequenced for every year group.

Reading for Pleasure

We are building a culture where reading for pleasure is celebrated and nurtured. We do this in lots of different ways:
1. Developing a lovely library space, filled with beautiful books!
2. Bringing in authors and illustrators as visitors and through virtual events.
3. Sharing class books as part of our daily routines.
​4. Having a team of staff who read and share their love of reading with the children.
5. Collaborating with skilled book sellers and our local library to enhance our reading knowledge and resources.

Reading at home

Reading with your child is the most useful, productive, powerful and enjoyable activity to do at home that will not only help them develop personally and achieve at school but also strengthen your relationship. Home reads should be recorded in your child’s Reading Diary.  This could be listening to your child read, an adult reading to a child or sharing a story together.  We want to make sure EVERY child (and grown-up) at Long Mountain Church of England Primary School LOVES reading as much as their teachers do!

Reading with your child is a lot more than just hearing them read their school books – here are some ideas to help you and your child develop a love of reading:

• Help them with their phonics sounds as they read
• Read to them; model how a story should be read with exciting pitch, tone, pause, punctuation and character voice
• Read a range of different types of text – NOT JUST THEIR SCHOOL BOOK!
• Discuss what they are reading: ask questions about what might happen next and about what has already happened
• Share your favourite books
• Visit the Shrewsbury Library – IT’S FREE!
• Make time for stories EVERY night: a routine is always good and story time can be a very special time for children and the parents/carers to share together.

Writing

Read Into Write

Intent

At Long Mountain CE Primary School, we believe that every child is a writer. Our writing curriculum is built upon the belief that children learn to write best when they first experience, analyse and discuss high-quality texts. Through our Read Into Write approach, reading and writing are inextricably linked, ensuring that pupils develop as capable, confident and purposeful communicators.

Significant emphasis is placed on developing secure transcription skills so that pupils become confident writers. As their understanding develops, they are introduced to increasingly sophisticated grammatical structures to enhance their writing.

From Years 3 to 6, we follow a carefully sequenced curriculum that ensures key knowledge, skills and writing processes are revisited and developed progressively each year. Each year, pupils complete a variety of writing projects following a consistent sequence: deconstruction, reconstruction, performance, assessment and review. The performance element is key as it gives pupils a genuine purpose for writing.

 

Our curriculum is designed to:

• Develop enthusiastic writers who can communicate effectively for a range of audiences and purposes.
• Immerse pupils in high-quality literature, poetry, non-fiction and spoken language that inspires their own writing.
• Provide a coherent progression of knowledge, skills and vocabulary from Early Years to Year 6.
• Enable pupils to understand how successful texts are crafted through the explicit teaching of form, function and authorial choices.
• Develop a rich vocabulary and secure understanding of grammar, punctuation and language structures through meaningful contexts.
• Foster independence, resilience and pride through a carefully structured writing process.
• Ensure all pupils, regardless of starting point, achieve success through high expectations and effective adaptive teaching.
• Prepare pupils for secondary education and life beyond school as articulate, reflective and skilled communicators.

Our curriculum reflects our vision of nurturing pupils who are confident in expressing themselves, thoughtful in their communication and ambitious in their aspirations.

 

Implementation

Reading Into Writing

Each writing project begins with immersion in a carefully selected exemplar text. Pupils are taught to read as writers, analysing how authors achieve their intended effect through language, structure and organisation.

Through explicit teaching, pupils learn to identify:

• Audience
• Purpose
• Form
• Language choices
• Structural features
• Grammar in context

The intended outcome is always made explicit from the beginning of the unit, ensuring children understand what successful writing looks like and why it is being written. Our planning framework ensures that pupils understand the purpose of their writing, who they are writing for and the most effective way to communicate their ideas.

 

Impact

The impact of our curriculum is reflected in the quality of writing produced, the confidence pupils demonstrate and the progress they make over time.

As a result of our approach, pupils:

• Write for a range of audiences and purposes with increasing independence.
• Demonstrate secure knowledge of genre conventions and authorial techniques.
• Draw upon rich reading experiences to enhance their own composition.
• Use ambitious vocabulary purposefully and effectively.
• Apply grammar, punctuation and spelling accurately within meaningful contexts.
• Edit and improve their work independently.
• Show resilience throughout the writing process.
• Speak confidently about the choices they make as writers.
• Produce work of a consistently high standard across the curriculum.

What Impact Looks Like in School

Leaders, governors and inspectors will see:

• High-quality writing outcomes across year groups.
• Clear progression in composition, vocabulary and transcription.
• Consistency in teaching approaches across classes.
• Pupils discussing writing using accurate subject-specific vocabulary.
• Strong links between reading, oracy and writing.
• Evidence of purposeful editing and redrafting.
• Pupils who take pride in presentation and publication.
• Positive attitudes towards writing and high levels of engagement.
• Increasing attainment and progress for all groups of learners.