What does Reading look like at Rosa Street?
At Rosa Street Primary School we believe that being able to read is one of the most vital skills we can teach a child. Reading enables us to understand and express ourselves more effectively. We put reading first and foremost as these skills open the door to learning (they are the key to accessing the curriculum). We passionately believe in helping children to develop not only the technical skills, but we aim to instil a life-long love for reading. We also visit our local library in town, celebrate reading on a weekly basis in our celebration assembly and have curriculum days with reading as a focus.
We also believe that every child should be given the tools to develop into an enthusiastic and confident reader both at home and at school. At Rosa Street this begins in our early years, using the approved systematic synthetic phonics scheme Little Wandle Letters and Sounds revised. Phonics is taught daily in Reception and Year 1 and to those children who require it in Year 2 and KS2. Once children have learnt the basics of word reading they begin Whole Class Reading sessions to develop fluency and comprehension skills.
We build on the love of reading with opportunities for shared reading books both in school and to take home. Through these reading opportunities children will develop the skills to become a good communicator as reading improves language and vocabulary, inspires imagination and gives everyone the opportunity to develop and foster new interests.
As part of our curriculum design, in each year group we have identified a core set of stories and non – fiction texts. These texts form the English curriculum sessions and daily story time sessions. A range of texts from around the world both traditional and modern will be explored throughout the year. Reading lists will be updated annually. Children will be involved in the decision to choose four of their best books from the year. These will be taken with them to the next year group so they have familiar texts in the following year group. Reading lists will be shared on the website and with parents.
Our daily story time includes non- fiction and poetry texts. We believe all children should be given the chance to imagine themselves as the main character in a story. Through story times we also want our children to learn about the lives of those whose experiences and perspectives differ from their own. This will be through fiction and non-fiction texts.
We believe teachers are the best people to promote a love of reading and we see teachers as the best role models for reading aloud. When reading aloud our teachers consider voice, pauses, word meanings, asides and memorable words/ phrases.
When our children leave Rosa Street we expect them to be avid readers, children who read fluently and widely and are able to express preferences and opinions about the texts that they read. We want them to read for pleasure, having had access to a wide range of text types, genres and authors in order for them to make informed opinions about their favourites.
Reading for Pleasure
Rosa Recommends for Nursery
Rosa Recommends for Reception
Rosa Recommends for Year 1
Rosa Recommends for Year 2
Rosa Recommends for Year 3
Rosa Recommends for Year 4
Rosa Recommends for Year 5
Rosa Recommends for Year 6
Reading 2023-24
World Book Day
Across school we celebrated World Book Day and dressed up as our favourite characters or in our pyjamas. We read our favourite books, had special story times and took part in an extreme reading competition. All children received a World Book Day token to purchase their own book.
Reception
Year 1
Year 4
Year 4 watched a play version of one of their favourite stories.
Year 5
Year One Virtual Author Event
In Autumn Term Year One took part in a Virtual Author visit. It was a special story time as we met the author Vashti Harrison. She read her story ‘Big.’ It was exciting to hear a real author read her own story in our classroom!
As part of National Storytelling Week we invited parents and carers into our classes to listen to a story.
