Phonics and Reading
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Dr Seuss
At Birstall Primary Academy, the main aim of our curriculum is to ensure it is driven by a reading curriculum. We aim to provide opportunities for children to develop as independent, successful readers who leave our setting confident and able. With high aspirations, we aim for pupils to know how to make a positive contribution to their community and the wider society through the acquisition of skills to comprehend and decode text. We acknowledge our pupils come from a variety of contextual settings and, as a result, we need to ensure we foster a love of reading, so they become lifelong learners.
Reading and literature is the main driver of our curriculum and philosophy for learning. We use reading and the selection of quality, core texts to plan the beginnings and basis of other subject areas. Oracy and vocabulary-rich texts aim to promote a culture of deep understanding. As a result, reading intertwines into all aspects of our broad and balanced curriculum to ensure children have the opportunity to develop skills across a range of genres to nurture reading preferences.
An emphasis is put on early reading and this is prioritised within our curriculum offered in EYFS through to lower school through a rigorous SSP and emphasis on the acquisition of reading skills. Underpinning our offer is the intention for all children to read by the age of 7 as part of Focus Trust’s ECR7 agenda.
Our approach aims to provide pupils with diverse and rich opportunities which include several initiatives and experiences that cultivate a culture that promotes a love of books, literature, and language for life.
"The school has recently introduced a new phonics programme to boost pupils’ achievement in phonics. It has made sure that staff have the expertise to deliver phonics well and with fidelity to the school’s approach to teaching phonics. Pupils receive extra support if they struggle or develop gaps in their phonics knowledge. Most pupils become fluent and accurate readers in readiness for key stage 2"
Ofsted 2023
Early reading
A heavy emphasis is put on our early reading offer. At Birstall Primary Academy part of our early reading is taught through the system of synthetic phonics. We teach phonics using the DFE-validated scheme FFT ‘Success For All Phonics’. The scheme is taught daily, emphasising consistency and rigour, so our pupils have the skills to decode text.
In EYFS & KS1 the teaching of reading is supported through carefully matched decodable books called ‘Shared Readers’ from FFT, copies of which are sent home weekly. Parents can also access material via the online parent portal.
At Birstall, we frame this with our rich and varied literacy curriculum centring our learning around quality texts. The teaching of reading in Reception and Year One follows an agreed structure to develop pupils skills in language decoding (word reading) vocabulary and comprehension. Following the National Curriculum which reflects the simple view of reading (Gough and Tunmer): word recognition and language comprehension are prioritised. These forms the programmes of study for KS1 and KS2.
Children read a book appropriate to their stage of phonics decoding and fluency. Each group follows the same structure over the week at an appropriate level, and children re-read the book often to gain fluency and deepen their understanding. As children progress through Key Stage One they are beginning to read with greater independence and transfer to our Accelerated Reader Scheme.
Further information about FFT ‘Success For All’ can be found via the PDF parent and carer guide:
fft success for all parent carer guide.pdf
How to help your child in EYFS/KS1
“So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, a lovely bookshelf on the wall. Then fill the shelves with lots of books.”
Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
We believe that reading to your child each day and enjoying stories with them are two of the most important things that you can do to support your child’s development as a reader. Your child will bring home a school reading book with the aim to practise the reading skills taught in school and further develop confidence. This will be carefully matched to the Phonics they have acquired and will be an opportunity to apply their skills in blending. They will need to read each book at least three times to fully develop their fluency.
Please see attached the letter with helpful answers to parents about how the scheme operates at Birstall.
fft success for all parents carers information introduction to fft website addition .pdf
If you require support in how to read a ‘shared reader’, we strongly suggest all parents watch this handy video:
The link to the parent portal to access the e-book library and your child’s reading book can be found here: Parent Portal (fft.org.uk).
Please be aware that this is password protected which can be obtained with the letter shared or through contacting class teachers/ and or the school office.
Reading in KS2
In Key Stage Two, we build on the children’s early reading success through daily reading lessons, where we teach comprehension skills, including using inference, prediction, summarising and retrieval alongside developing an understanding of new vocabulary. Through targeted questions and a focus on small group teaching and discussion, we aim to ensure that they develop a deeper understanding of the texts they have read.
Children who require further support with phonetically decodable books or interventions are also supported through materials linked to FFT Success for All Phonics. Pupils who require support with decoding will be supported, primarily with FFT Tutoring with the Lightning Squad and Reading Quest programmes, with bespoke intervention tailored to their needs. There may be times when pupils work in small groups with a tutor to improve their reading skills. The tutoring is a blended approach with face-to-face tutoring supported by an online tutoring platform. The tutoring activities are designed and structured to improve reading skills, fluency, comprehension, spelling and phonics.
"High-quality texts are central to the school’s curriculum. Exciting initiatives such as virtual author visits, book weeks and links with the local library foster pupils’ love of reading. Parents attend reading workshops and come into school regularly for a ‘reading café’. Pupils read from a wide variety of texts. Older pupils enjoy completing well-designed quizzes about the books that they have read." Ofsted 2023
How to help your child
In KS2, as children become more fluent readers, they still benefit from sharing books with you in order to continually develop their understanding of new vocabulary and comprehension and to foster a love of reading. Your child will bring home a school reading book that they have chosen for themselves from within their Accelerated Reader range. Here is a link to AR book finder, so your child can choose home books too. It is still important that you listen to them read and talk to them about what they have read.
How to develop a life-long love of reading
We use exciting and engaging texts to help bring all areas of the curriculum to life. Children have opportunities to read a wide range of books by classic and contemporary authors. We also have a Library with a range of books alongside strong links with Birstall Library, which means that we can provide the children with new books that are relevant to their interests and which support their learning across the curriculum. Staff share their love of books and bring in their favourite books to share with the children. Each class has a book corner where new books or key authors are highlighted. We also have a group of dedicated volunteers to share books with the children.
The Library Facilities
Following an application to the Foyle Foundation and through several fundraising activities, Birstall Primary Academy was able to open its library in September 2018. The library stocks a wide range of books that pupils can access. The school, with the support of its Reading Ambassadors, reviews and rotates reading material, ensuring pupils have access to current and diverse reading material..
A key priority of the school is to ensure all staff have a vital role in promoting a love of reading in school. The school operates a number of initiatives, incentives and adopts actions to actively promote reading within the school.