Reading

At St Matthew's we believe that reading is the gateway to learning. We know that children need to be able to read well in order to fully access the wider currculum, and to be able to experience life in all its fullness. 

At St Matthew's, Reading is taught from Nursery to Year 6 in many different ways. From Nursery to Year 2, children are taught Phonics through the Read, Write Inc strategy. This enables children to be confident, fluent readers by the time they leave Year 2. For children who still need some help with reading fluently after KS1, Read, Write Inc Fresh Start supports them in making the progress they need to as quickly as possible. In Year 1-6, children take part in weekly READ lessons, which are designed to support them with their reading comprehension. In addition to this, children in Year 3-6 participate in Guided Reading throughout the week, providing additional opportuniteis to develop reading fluency, comprehension and resilience. 

In Nursery, Reception and Year 1, children will read lots of different stories to develop their fluency, comprehension and love of reading. In other year groups, there is a termly book focus, however other texts will be read in story time, independent reading and in comprehension lessons.

At St Matthew's, we have a list of Our Favourite Books, which is a group of stories that we believe help children develop a life-long love of reading. They have been carefully-chosen to include significant authors, links to our curriculum, opportunities to reflect on our school values and also a range of genres. Please see the list below - how many have your children read?

Please see below for a list of books read in Years 2-6. 

Year 2

Autumn - The Sheep Pig 

Spring - Adelita 

Summer - Stories by Roald Dahl 

Year 3

Autumn -  A Roman Boy's Story

Spring - Flat Stanley's Great Egyptian Grave Robbery 

Summer - Oliver Twist (abridged version) 

Year 4

Autumn - Groosham Grange  

Spring - Stig of the Dump 

Summer - Tom's Midnight Garden 

Year 5

Autumn -  Journey to the River Sea

Spring - The Midnight Fox 

Summer - Street Child 

Year 6

Autumn - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas 

Spring - Holes 

Summer - varied fiction and non-fiction texts 

Reading is also embedded across the curriculum and children have opportunities to read throughout each day. Reading Buddies enables children to support one another with their reading, as well as providing chances to share their favourite books. Story time across the school helps children to develop a love of reading, and celebrate their favourite stories together. We are fortunate to have several volunteers who regularly come in to read with children across the school on a one to one basis, which supports children's fluency and also their love of reading. Each class has an exciting reading corner, which is designed to enciurage children to read often and access a range of texts. We publicise reading at St Matthew's by celebrating World Book Day, inviting authors into the school to inspire children. in 2019-20 we plan to signpost children to 'Our Favourite Books', highlighting stories that our children will get to know well and which will shape life-long positive attitudes towards reading. 

Children are encouraged to read at home as often as possible, either independently or with an adult. Home reading books and reading records are provided, and in KS1 and Early Years chilldren are given books which contain the sounds that they have learned, as well as an exciting story that will develop their love of reading. At St Matthew's we use the Big Cat reading scheme, as we believe that its broad and rich collection of books will enable children to develop their skills across many genres and topics, as well as maintaining a love of reading. 

We think that it is important to support parents with home reading. Each week, we share reading tips with parents in our newsletter, including signposting to local reading clubs and groups. We also provide questions that parents can use to support children's comprehension at home. Our school Facebook page supports parents with reading through sharing links to useful websites and resources. 

For some tips on how to support your child with phonics and reading, please see the video tutorials below. 

Phonics Tutorials 

Set 1 Sounds

Set 2 Sounds

Set 3 Sounds 

Home Reading Tutorials 

KS1 Home Reading

KS2 Home Reading

Peer Reading

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Middlesex, UB7 7QJ

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E: stmatthews@fraysacademytrust.org