St Mark's Catholic Primary School
St Mark's Catholic Primary School

Reading

Phonics

Phonics Intent

At St Mark’s, we love reading and we recognise that the reading ability of a child has a massive impact on how well they can access the whole curriculum. We use the highly successful Read Write Inc Phonics programme to teach our children to become fluent, confident readers who are able to successfully comprehend and understand a wide range of texts.

Our aim is for all pupils to develop a love of reading, a good knowledge of a range of authors, and be able to understand more about the world through the knowledge they gain from texts. We provide language-rich classroom environments and a curriculum where children are exposed to, and actively engage with, high quality language in varying forms in a meaningful, deliberate and engaging way.

“Reading feeds the imagination, it expands horizons and offers new and exciting ways of seeing and making sense of our lives and of the world around us.” – Michael Morpurgo

Phonics in EYFS

We use Read Write Inc. to teach phonics and graphic knowledge (common exception words and tricky words).

From the second week of starting school, children in Reception begin letter sound correspondence. The children learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. They:

  • Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts.
  • Learn to read words using Fred talk and sound blending.
  • Read from a range of storybooks and non-fiction books matched to their phonic knowledge.
  • Work well with partners.
  • Develop comprehension skills in stories by answering ‘Find It’ and ‘Prove It’ discussion questions.
Phonics Set1

Set 1

Phonics Sets 2 and 3

Sets 2 and 3

Fred Talk

We use pure sounds (‘m’ not’ muh’,’s’ not ‘suh’, etc.) so that your child will be able to blend the sounds into words more easily.

At school, we use a puppet called Fred who is an expert on sounding out words! We call it, ‘Fred Talk’. E.g. m-o-p, c-a-t, m-a-n, sh-o-p, b-l-a-ck.

See more: YouTube: How to teach blending to children

Phonics in KS1

In KS1 children follow the same format as Reception and are grouped according to their phonics ability and will work on complex sounds and read books appropriate to their reading level. In Year 1 and for children working below the expected level in Year 2, daily sessions of RWI phonics last for 45minutes.

In Reception and KS1, a second speed sound session is completed throughout the day to practice and rehearse sound knowledge as a whole class.

Reading

See our reading presentations made to parents to promote reading:

Reading Intent

It is our intent at St. Mark’s that EVERY child becomes a confident and fluent reader and that every child can speak accurately, confidently and with passion about books they have read.

We intend to ensure all pupils to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, to gain knowledge across the curriculum and to develop their comprehension skills.

It is our intention to ensure that, by the end of their primary education, that all of our children will be able to read fluently, and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education.

Reading Vipers

At St. Mark’s children are taught the skills of reading (outlined in the National Curriculum and the KS1 and KS2 test domains) through the use of VIPERS which were created by Rob Smith (The Literacy Shed).

​The Reading Vipers can be used by both KS1 and KS2 with a little adaption. The main difference being in the S.

Sequence – KS1
Summarise – KS2

​In KS1, ‘Explain’; is not one of the content domains, rather it asks children why they have come to a certain conclusion, to explain their preferences, thoughts and opinions about a text.

​In KS2, the Explain section covers the additional content domains of 2F, 2G and 2H which are not present in KS1.

What are Vipers?

VIPERS is an anagram to aid the recall of the 6 reading domains as part of the UK’s reading curriculum.  They are the key areas which we feel children need to know and understand in order to improve their comprehension of texts.

VIPERS stands for:

The 6 domains focus on the comprehension aspect of reading and not the mechanics: decoding, fluency, prosody etc. As such, VIPERS is not a reading scheme but rather a method of ensuring that teachers ask, and students are familiar with, a range of questions. They allow the teacher to track the type of questions asked and the children’s responses to these which allows for targeted questioning afterwards.

Reading Vipers

Key Stage 1

In Key Stage 1, children reading skills are taught and practised using the VIPERS during whole class reading sessions.

  • 1a draw on knowledge of vocabulary to understand texts  [Vocabulary]
  • 1b identify/explain key aspects of fiction and non-fiction, such as characters, events, titles and information  [Retrieve]
  • 1c identify and explain the sequences of events in texts  [Sequence]
  • 1d make inferences from the text  [Infer]
  • 1e predict what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far  [Predict]

Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 2, children reading skills are taught and practised using VIPERS during whole class reading sessions.

  • 2a Give/explain the meaning of words in context  [Vocabulary]
  • 2b retrieve and record information/ identify key details from fiction and non/fiction  [Retrieve]
  • 2c summarise main ideas from more than one paragraph  [Summarise]
  • 2d make inferences from the text/ explain and justify inferences with evidence from the text  [Infer]
  • 2e predict what might happen from details stated or implied  [Predict]
  • 2f identify/explain how information/ narrative content is related and contributes to meaning as a whole  [Explain]
  • 2g identify/explain how meaning is enhanced through choice of words and phrases  [Explain]
  • 2h make comparisons within a text  [Explain]

Read more:

More Information

At St. Mark’s we LOVE to read! Reading is at the centre of all that we do and we recognise how important reading is to support children in later life.

In every year group, we have a class text. This class text has been carefully chosen by your child’s class teacher to engage and challenge your child. These texts are read with your child as part of their reading lessons.

Here are just a few of the text that we have been studying this year:

In Reception and Key Stage 1, children are given a RML book that is matched to their reading ability and a book that they have chosen that they can share with an adult. Children are assessed half-termly to ensure they are on the correct reading band.

In Key Stage 2, children are able to visit the school’s new library two lunchtimes per week and once with the class teacher to choose a book from their given book band. They are able to take this home to read each night and they are given time in school to enjoy this book too.

Teachers in school regularly listen to children read and discuss the text with the children during 1:1 and small group reading sessions.

Our School Library

Inside the library, you will find a huge range of books to suit all different abilities and interests.

Our library is used on a regular basis by all of the children in the school.

We have a highly trained Library Team of Year 6 pupils who support children in the library and are always happy to share a book with the children. We also have class librarians, who help with the day to day running of the library and promote a love of reading in their classrooms.

Reading Around School

Every classroom has a wide range of books that are appropriate for the reading ages of the children within the class. Also, in each class and around school, there are exciting reading displays. These displays are there to engage children with reading and also to support children during reading lessons.