Reading at Samares School

At Samares School, we believe that reading is the key to unlocking a world of opportunity, imagination and lifelong learning. We are committed to ensuring that every child becomes a confident, fluent and enthusiastic reader, regardless of their starting point, background or individual needs. We recognise that strong reading skills are fundamental to academic success, support effective communication and writing, and empower children to engage fully with the world around them.

From the very beginning of their school journey in the Early Years, children are immersed in a rich language and literacy environment. Through a systematic and engaging approach to early reading, including shared, guided and independent reading experiences, we develop the essential skills needed for children to become successful readers.

We believe that reading is a partnership between school and home. By working closely with parents and carers, we nurture a community of readers where children are encouraged, celebrated and supported in developing a love of reading both in school and beyond.

At Samares, we strive to foster a genuine enjoyment of books and stories. We provide opportunities for children to explore a diverse range of high-quality texts, reflecting different cultures, experiences and perspectives. Through listening to stories, discussing books, sharing opinions and developing rich vocabulary, children build their understanding of language, develop empathy and curiosity, and discover the joy that reading can bring.

Our aim is for every child to leave Samares as a confident, capable and lifelong reader, equipped with the knowledge, skills and love of reading that will help them flourish both now and in the future.

RWInc

Learning to read is the most important thing your child will learn at our school. Everything else depends on it.  And so, we prioritise reading so that every single child learns to read as quickly and confidently as possible.

We want your child to love reading – and to want to read for themselves. This is why we put our efforts into making sure they develop a love of books as well as simply learning to read.

How will my child be taught to read?

We start by teaching phonics in Nursery, from their first day in school. This means that they learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. This is essential for reading, but it also helps children learn to spell well. We teach the children simple ways of remembering these sounds and letters. We suggest that you ask them to show you what these are. 

The children also practise reading (and spelling) what we call ‘tricky words’, such as ‘one,’ ‘have,’ ‘said’ and ‘where’. 

The children practise their reading with books that match the phonics and the ‘tricky words’ they know. They start thinking that they can read and this does wonders for their confidence. 

The teachers read a range of books with embedded diversity to the children too so that they get to know all sorts of stories, poetry and information books. They learn many more words this way and it also helps their writing. 

Practice the correct pronunciation for the sounds: 

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/wjre8XEF/RDUH05J5

Set 1 speed sounds

To begin, we learn a sound a day. We use pure sounds so that your child will be able to blend the sounds into words more easily. 

Set 2 speed sounds

Once your child knows all Set 1 sounds by sight uses them to blend to read words, we start teaching Set 2 initially and then Set 3 long vowel sounds.  

We now start to learn that two or three letters together can make one sound. We call them ‘special friends’. 

Set 3 speed sounds

After learning the Set 2 sounds, your child will have learnt one way in which each long vowel sound is written. When learning their Set 3 speed sounds, they will be taught that there are more ways in which the same sounds are written, e.g. ee as in tree, and ea as in tea.

Reading Set 3 speed sounds will be taught for most of Year 1, and spelling the Set 3 speed sounds during Year 2. When your child learns their Set 3 sounds in school they will learn: 
• The letters that represent a speed sound e.g. 'ea’
• A simple picture prompt linked to the ‘speed sound’ and a short phrase to say e.g. ‘cup of tea’ 

There are 20 Set 3 speed sounds that are made up of two or three letters which represent just one sound, e.g. ea as in tea, ow as in cow, and are as in care. As before, it is important that your child does not pronounce these as 2 or 3 separate sounds.   

When a sound contains two letters that makes just one sound e.g. ‘ea’, we call it a‘digraph’. When a sound contains three letters that make just one sound e.g. ‘ure’, we call it a ‘trigraph’. When a sound has two letters, which work as a pair to make one sound, but are separated with the word e.g. ‘a-e’(cake), we call it a‘split digraph’.

 

 

How will I know how well my child is doing?

We will always let you know how well your child is doing. 

We use various ways to find out how the children are getting on in reading. Our main method is a Read Write Inc assessment each half-term.  We use the information to decide what reading group they should be in. Your child will work with children who are at the same reading level as they are.

Information about your child’s reading group can be found on the school website (below). You can use this document to help you support your child with their reading at home.

If your child is struggling with their reading, we will do everything we can to support them through 1:1 reading or small group interventions.

How long will it take to learn to read well?

By the end of Year 2, your child should be able to read aloud books that are at the right level for his or her age. By the end of Year 2, children should have completed the RWI scheme. In Year 3, we concentrate more on helping children to understand what they are reading, although this work begins well before this. This happens when the teacher reads to the children and also when the children read their own story book. 

Story Time at home

We know parents and carers are very busy people. But it is vital to your child’s progress to read to your child as much as possible.  It helps them to learn about books and stories. They also learn new words and what they mean. Show that you are interested in reading yourself and talk about reading as a family. You can find out about good stories to read to your child here: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/our-recommendations/

If you would like to find out more about the Ruth Miskin Read Write Inc Programme, please follow this link. https://www.ruthmiskin.com/parentsandcarers/