At Haimo in EYFS and Year 1, reading is taught alongside phonics in guided reading sessions that take place three times a week. The books children read in these sessions a matched to their phonic level. This book is available as an e-book to be read at home. They should be able to read this fluently and independently. Children are also given a near matched book and a sharing book to read and enjoy at home, they may need some support to enjoy these books with you.

In year 2, those children who are still working below phase 5 phonics continue as above. Children who are working above phase 5 phonics take part in a guided reading session once a week, with a focus on fluency, whilst accessing increasingly  challenging texts.

In KS2, children are taught the skills of reading (outlined in the National Curriculum KS2 test domains) through the use of VIPERS which were created by Rob Smith (The Literacy Shed).

Each class has a class novel, carefully chosen ensuring a wide breadth of genre and top-quality texts.

We believe It is imperative that the children are read to every day for 15 minutes and, during this time, teachers explicitly model the art of reading using “think aloud” strategies.

In addition to this every class in KS2 has a designated reading lesson, lasting between 30 and 40 minutes. These follow the timetable below.

Click here for an example Year 6 reading lesson.

Click here for an example Year 4 reading lesson.

During these lessons there are varied opportunities to hear children read aloud.

●     Basic reading aloud - children take sentences or paragraphs depending on text length/sentence length/proficiency and confidence of the child.

●     Echo reading - teacher reads exactly how text should sound and asks a child to ‘echo it’ giving constructive feedback as appropriate.

●     Choral reading - pairs, groups or the whole class read aloud at the same time. This approach should be used more sparingly than the others.

●     Drop ins - if a child has not read aloud due to proficiency, the teacher will ‘drop in’ with them during the day and hear them reread part of the text.