Reading

Children at Fonthill are inspired to read widely for pleasure and information. They become confident readers who are able to understand, interpret and evaluate written information in a variety of forms. They are motivated to succeed and see themselves as successful readers who take pride in their achievements.

We recognise the importance of phonics in developing the fundamental building blocks of reading. EY and KS1 children have daily phonics sessions to support their development of early reading skills.

In line with the Fonthill READS curriculum, reading is taught through:

Remember— Children are taught the phonemes (sounds) that make up words and how these are recorded as graphemes using letters. They become fluent in reading high frequency words and using their phonic skills to decode increasingly complex words, sentences and texts. Phonics is taught through Floppy's Phonics which is a systematic, synthetic phonics system, validated by the DfE, and links with our spine of Oxford Reading Tree books.

Explain—Children explain their understanding of texts through a range of questions designed to develop literal and inferential comprehension. Phonics sessions place a high emphasis on speaking and listening.

Apply— Children have opportunities to read and interpret a wide range of texts.  They take home books from our reading scheme, which is based on books from Oxford Reading Tree and other publishers, organised by coloured reading bands.  These books include fully-decodable texts for children to apply their phonic skills as well as other books that promote richer reading.  Books are carefully matched to the reading and phonics level of the children. Reading lessons in class include opportunities for all children to read aloud and develop fluency, through echo, choral and paired reading. During phonics sessions, they apply their knowledge of the phoneme through reading, speaking, listening and writing.

Develop— Over time, children develop their phonic, comprehension and evaluative skills so that they are confident readers who enjoy reading and are successful.  Children move through the phonics stages when they are ready as part of our assessment process. Reading is taught through whole-class lessons drawing upon a range of resources, including strategies from our Reading handbook.  

Share— Successes in reading are shared with parents in weekly celebration assemblies and within our Fonthill 101. The library is used extensively to promote a love of reading. Y5 and Y6 children are trained to be librarians and to read with children from KS1.