Reading | Ladybridge Community Primary School

Reading

“Reading is a crucial element to a child’s success and overall wellbeing – one that we can’t underestimate. Research shows that reading for just 10 minutes per day can have a massive impact on a child’s education, helping them to achieve good exam results and equip them with skills to thrive in the adult world.”

Researchers in the United States who had looked at the impact of parents reading with their children quoted the following figures in a news release about their findings: Here’s how many words kids would have heard by the time they were 5 years old: Never read to, 4,662 words; 1–2 times per week, 63,570 words; 3–5 times per week, 169,520 words; daily, 296,660 words; and five books a day, 1,483,300 words.

How often does reading take place?

	EYFS/Key Stage One	Key Stage Two
One to One Reading	at least once per week	at least once per fortnight
Guided Reading	Year 1 - at least once per week	4 x weekly
Guided Reading	Year 2 – 4 x weekly	4 x weekly
Reading for Pleasure	at least ten minutes per day

How are colour-banded reading books organised?

Books are colour-coded. As children move through the colour bands, books become progressively more challenging.

Key Stage One:

Grey à Pink à Red à Yellow à Blue à Green à Orange à Turquoise à Purple à

Gold à White à Lime à Aqua à Cerise Pink à Plum à Emerald Green à Burnt Orange à Navy Blue

Key Stage Two:

Grey à Pink à Red à Yellow à Light Blue à Green à Orange à Turquoise à Purple à

Aqua à Cerise Pink à Plum à Emerald Green à Burnt Orange à Navy Blue à Crimson à

Sea Green à Lilac à Bronze à Blue à Black

The reason for the differing sequences in key stage one and key stage two is as follows: Gold (KS1) and Aqua (KS2); White (KS1) and Cerise Pink (KS2); Lime (KS1) and Plum (KS2) contain books with the same level of challenge, but with differing age-appropriate contexts.

Guided Reading

What is our approach to the teaching of reading?

Whole Class Reading: In this approach to the teaching of reading, there is one learning objective for the whole class based around the same text.

How is guided reading progressive?

The N.C states: The knowledge and skills that pupils need in order to comprehend are very similar at different ages. This is why the programmes of study for comprehension in years 3 and 4 and years 5 and 6 are similar: the complexity of the writing increases the level of challenge.

To ensure that texts are progressive, as the children move through school, we have created reading spines.

‘The Reading Spine is a core of books that create a living library inside a child’s mind. It is a store of classics and essential reads that help children engage at a deeper level and enter the world of the story, fostering a love of reading throughout school.’

We have an extensive list of texts from year 2-6, which include books from around the world, transporting us as readers, to countries all over the globe, and celebrating many different cultures. These books will form the basis of our ‘Reading Spine’. Teachers should use these to choose their texts for guided reading each week.

Please see below an example of the Year 5 reading spine:

Fiction Novels

War

Picture books

Non-fiction

Poetry and songs

Videos and films

Letters From The Lighthouse by Emma Carroll.

https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/14364/Letters-from-the-Lighthouse-by-Emma-Carroll.html?cb=65758

Once by Morris Gleitzman.

https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/1032/Once-by-Morris-Gleitzman.html?cb=31551

Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian.