At Strawberry Fields, we have a clear, consistent approach to the teaching of reading. It is our aim that all children leave our school being able to confidently and fluently read in order to access all areas of the curriculum, that can lead them to many achievements in their life. Our children foster a love of reading for pleasure and develop reading skills to read for meaning. 

How do we teach Reading at Strawberry Fields? 

Our children begin their reading journey in Nursery, through sharing stories together, retelling familiar tales and reading in their cosy book area. 

As they move through Foundation Stage and Key Stage One, children are taught daily phonics lessons using the Sounds-Write programme. Please click the link below to find out further information. 

Each term, KS1, Year 3/4 and Years 5/6 focus their reading and writing lessons on a class text. This enables children to develop comprehension skills with age appropriate, high-quality texts. Considerations are given to balance of pure texts and picture books, texts by different authors, texts from other countries as well as multi-cultural texts. 

Within English and Phonics lessons, children develop their comprehension skills to the key text with a regular focus on retrieval and inference, as well as improving their reading fluency and developing their vocabulary. The skills modelled and taught are as follows: 

• Decoding
• Retrieving/recording information
• Summarising
• Inference
• Predicting
• Identifying
• Explaining 
• Meaning and its enhancements
• Comparisons within and across texts
• Evaluating 

Children have the opportunity to discuss their ideas and thoughts with partners and as a whole class, developing their inference skills and ability to articulate and justify their ideas. In Year 2 and Key Stage 2, children have the chance to independently apply their skills at the end of the lesson answering questions in written from. 

Children in Key Stage 2 have three extra guided reading lessons a week. One session focusses on a speed read task and the further two sessions explore poetry and non-fiction texts.

Here are some of the texts the children have studied over the Autumn Term...

Reading Books 

Every child in school has a reading book. Children in Foundation Stage and Key Stage One have reading books matched to their phonic level. Following the Sounds-Write scheme, most of our children have a reading book at least 2 units behind their current in class learning, so that children can confidently practise and apply their phonic knowledge.

As children become confident, fluent readers they are given books appropriate to their age and ability. Some children may become a free reader where they can choose a book from their class library to take home and read. 

Children who are less confident, have access to exciting and engaging age appropriate books but at their reading level. Children may access further phonic support through carefully planned Sounds-Write interventions and daily reading with a teacher and/or a teaching assistant.

Our Read in 60 Challenge encourages our children to read their reading book at home to a parent. 

See more information about this in our Reading for Pleasure section.