Reading Intent
At Viking Junior School we believe that reading is an essential life skill and we are committed to enabling our children to become lifelong readers, enabling them to access the next stage of their education and beyond.
At the heart of our strategy is our drive to foster a love of reading, enriching children’s learning through carefully designed teaching activities that utilise imaginative stories and thought provoking texts; exploring the language used by different authors and the impact the written words have on the reader. Our curriculum has also been designed to ensure that pupils not only read for pleasure but to use books to research and gather new knowledge to extend their understanding.
Reading is a skill that enables children to develop their learning across the wider curriculum and lays the foundations for success in future lines of study and employment. We recognise the importance of taking a consistent whole school approach to the teaching of reading in order to close any gaps and to target the highest possible number of children attaining the expected standard or higher.
We have high expectations of all children and we encourage children to challenge themselves, persevere, pursue success and always ‘be the best you can be’
Early Reading and Phonics
At Viking, we teach synthetic phonics as the initial, and most important, approach to the teaching of reading. Our pupils learn to read and write effectively using the Read Write Inc. (RWI) Phonics Programme which is a systematic programme for the teaching of phonics, reading, spelling and writing. We want all pupils to begin their journey to read with confidence, develop a love of reading and apply their skills competently to writing.
Writing intent
At Viking Primary, we believe that the ability to write is fundamental to our children succeeding; enabling them to access the next stage of their education and beyond. Our curriculum has been designed to ensure that pupils enjoy writing and have passion and enthusiasm for it. Our aim is to ensure that pupils write clearly, accurately and coherently; write in different styles and for different purposes and audiences; develop a wide vocabulary and a solid understanding of the grammar rules and terminology appropriate for their age group. Our curriculum has also been designed to ensure that pupils are able to express themselves creatively and to communicate effectively with others. We use a range of resources to excite pupils by planning engaging and inspiring lessons to address the knowledge, skills and concepts of the National Curriculum, which are at the core of our teaching in English.
The wider curriculum is often taught hand in hand with an additional Literacy focus ensuring that children are able to read, access and enjoy their learning in a cohesive manner, making links and converting learning into their long-term memory.
Phonics
Read Write Inc. Phonics teaches children to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. They learn to form each letter, spell correctly, and compose their ideas step-by-step.
Children learn the English alphabetic code: first they learn one way to read the 40+ sounds and blend these sounds into words, then learn to read the same sounds with alternative graphemes.
They experience success from the very beginning. Lively phonic books are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and ‘tricky’ words and, as children re-read the stories, their fluency increases.
Along with a thought-provoking introduction, prompts for thinking out loud and discussion, children are helped to read with a storyteller’s voice.
Read Write Inc – Sound pronunciation Guide
More information and resources can be found on our RWI page
Reading & Writing
The overarching aim for English at Viking Primary School is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word. We aim to develop and nurture in the children a love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.
The National Curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:
- read easily, fluently and with good understanding
- develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
- acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
- appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
- write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
- use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
- are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.
More details on our reading scheme can be found here.
The National Curriculum requires that children are taught key skills and processes that are essential for writing. At Viking Primary School we want our children to be successful at each stage of the writing process:
· Planning
· Drafting and writing
· Evaluating and Editing
· Proof reading
· Reading aloud to others
As part of this process, children are given opportunities to write for real purposes and audiences. Pupils at Viking will have opportunities to apply and showcase their writing skills across the curriculum.
Reading at Viking involves two main elements – word recognition and language comprehension. We aim to teach every child to become a fluent reader by the end of KS1. We teach skills so that they can interpret and understand a text. We hope to inspire children to love literature and to use the crucial life skill of reading to access the rest of the curriculum and become lifelong learners.
Storytime At Viking
Click on the links here to listen to a story with your child.
Please also find some links to authors videos to share at home: