At Farnborough Road Junior School, we aim to ensure that all children develop a lifelong love of reading. The value we place on reading is visible in many ways: a buzz about books in corridors, lively and engaging displays and spaces dedicated to books and reading such as our 'Let's Get Reading' playtime reading shelves and our 'Reading Trees' around school. 

How we support children with their reading.

Phonics

All children have received a full programme of high-quality synthetic phonics in Key Stage 1. However, for those children who did not pass their phonics screening check or who struggle with their reading, they are supported in a number of ways.

1:1 Phonics sessions take place daily with our phonics teacher, who focuses on essential letters and sounds (OUP ELS Progress) in order to support our most vulnerable readers. Books, as well as spelling lists, are carefully matched to the letter sounds they are working on in order to embed their learning.

For children who are secure at Phase 2, but not secure at Phases 3, 4 or 5, they will be introduced to Project X CODE.

Project X CODE is an innovative and evidence based reading intervention programme, which combines systematic synthetic phonics, comprehension development, motivational 3D design and gripping stories to accelerate struggling readers' progress so that children reach expected Literacy levels as soon as possible. It includes highly engaging books, eBooks, quizzes and animations. 

Project X CODE incorporates all the major elements involved in learning to read successfully:

- Decoding using systematic synthetic phonics,

- Reading decodable texts,

- Developing both decoding and comprehension skills,

- Learning High Frequency words,

- Extending vocabulary,

- Ensuring motivation and engagement,

- Building reading stamina and reading fluency and

- Learning through a multi-sensory approach.

CODE sessions are delivered by trained Teaching Assistants four days a week, each session lasting 30 minutes.

Oxford Reading Tree and Accelerated Reader

Children who are beyond phonics will continue to work through the Oxford Reading Tree book banded system. Each half term, the children sit a STAR reading test within Accelerated Reader. A child who has a reading age of 8 years and above, will enter the Accelerated Reading system where they will select books within their range (this range will be determined from their STAR test). Any child with a reading age below 8 years of age, will continue to work through the Oxford Reading Tree.

EAL

We have invested in Flash Academy, an online programme to support our EAL children. There is a digital assessment tool, which measures the child's ability in speaking, listening, reading and writing.  Flash Academy is a dynamic learning platform that unlocks the potential of all learners held back by a language barrier. Vocabulary is the building block of language and Flash Academy helps build the child's language foundation with confidence through fun and interactive lessons for all subjects across the curriculum. Our phonics teacher meets with the child on a 1:1 basis across the week where tasks are set for the child, their activity is monitored and progress tracked. 

Whole Class Guided Reading

All children across school will participate in whole class guided reading sessions at least three times a week. High quality engaging texts are shared in class where the teacher will use a variety of methods: modelling for fluency, paired reading and individual reading. Reading aloud to the class allows children to listen to the story where they are exposed to pronunciation, tone, pace, volume and intonation. 

There is a focus on Vocabulary, Retrieval, Summarising, Inference, Prediction, Text Meaning, Author's use of Language and Compare and Contrast.

Smaller Guided Reading sessions also take place twice a week for those children who need further support.

Reading for Pleasure

At Farnborough Road Junior School, we recognise that children who enjoy reading, benefit socially, emotionally and have a higher mental well-being than those who don't. 

In order to support reading for pleasure, we have a team of staff who seek to find out more about the children in their class, what books they enjoy and support them by offering enriched texts and plenty of opportunity for discussion. Both staff and children regularly recommend books, some of which are displayed around school corridors and display boards. 

There are a range of texts available for our children in order to support reading for pleasure including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, magazines, comics and graphic novels as well as ensuring there is diversity and inclusion in our substantial range of books.

Many of our books are Barrington Stoke books, which are dyslexia-friendly books in order to help every child become a reader. These books are ideal for children with dyslexia, visual stress, reluctant readers, EAL readers, children with low self-esteem and children who have a short attention span or hyperactivity.

We hold many reading events throughout the year such as World Book Day, National Poetry Day, Black History Month, International Children's Book Day and much more in order to help keep reading alive.