How we organise and teach Reading at Hanbury Primary

How the Teaching of Reading is organised at Hanbury Primary School

Reading lessons

All children at Hanbury Primary School have Reading lessons. In Reception and Year One, the majority of these lessons are based on Phonics. In Years 1 to 6, the children have specific Reading lessons. These reading lessons teach the children the elements of the National Curriculum, focusing on the children's ability to read words and understand what they have read. These skills are taught through the use of good quality, age appropriate texts.

One of the main elements of teaching reading, is developing the children's comprehension skills or understanding of the text. Teachers use the word VIPERS to help the children remember the skills they need to use when thinking about the meaning of what they are reading. 

VIPERS stands for 

V - Vocabulary

I - Inference

P - Prediction

E- Explain

R - Retrieve

S - Sequence (KS1) and Summarise (KS2)

The Reading Environment

All Classrooms and the wider school, provide a print rich environment.  Every classroom has a designated area for reading, where pupils can choose a book to read and provide recommendations for their peers. The children are encouraged to provide their peers with recommendations regarding the books they have read. All classes have a 'Class book' which the teacher reads to the children on a regular basis. 

Individual Readers

All children are heard read at least once a week. If children need additional support with their reading, they are heard read twice a week. The children have the chance to choose a library book and a Richer Reading book to take home. These are books that the children will need to share with a family member. The children that are still working on their Phonics, also receive a Phonics Book Bag book to support their learning. Their Phonics Book is a book that the children can read on their own. Teachers will hear the children read their Phonics book, book banded book or library book at school. The children are heard read both individually and as a group.  The group read enables the teacher to teach the children reading with a more complex book, as well as allowing the children to support each other and discuss their ideas.