Every Child a Reader

It is our ambition that every child becomes not only a proficient reader but that they also develop and love of reading and reading for pleasure. Our carefully planned phonics and reading curriculum helps to ensure we can meet this ambition.

Whole class novels or stories are shared regularly with each class and can be found in Our Reading Spine below.  The aim of this reading spine is to provide a list of books which staff can apply to their own long-term plans. These are books to use as a class read (Reading for Pleasure texts) and study books as a stimulus for writing (Core Texts). The intention is that by the time they reach year 6 and beyond, they have developed a wide, rich vocabulary and broader knowledge of the world and, as a result, are able to access the more complex books expected of them in secondary schools. It should be noted that book and text selection in school not only considers narratives and poems but also recognises that a good balance of topic-appropriate non-fiction should also be read to help further develop children’s background knowledge of the subject they are studying.

The love of reading and a culture of reading for pleasure is central to our ambitions for our children.  We have several library areas with a fantastic selection of books to offer our children. Every child has the opportunity to choose books frequently from our broad range of texts in a variety of genres.

We have many incentives to encourage our children to read including Dojo points and a raffle ticket system: each time a child reads at home, they receive a raffle ticket which is entered into a half-termly draw with the chance to receive exciting prizes!

Daily Whole Class Reading lessons take place once children have completed the Read Write Inc programme. These sessions develop reading skills and immerse children in quality, age appropriate, texts. During reading comprehension lessons, children learn all the skills they need to understand a text: vocabulary, inference, prediction, explaining, retrieval, summarising and sequencing. We explore fiction and non-fiction texts through these lessons and also practise our fluency daily. 

Fluency at Horncastle

To help learners focus on their reading fluency, various aspects of reading aloud have been separated into six key elements. Each aspect works in partnership with the others to produce a rich and vibrant reading performance:

Pitch: The musicality of the reading voice – including tone and intonation.

Power: The strength given to the reading voice – including volume and stress.

Pace: The speed and rhythm at which we read.

Punctuation: The adherence to and understanding of the marks an author has placed upon the page.

Pause: The knowing of when not to read and for how long.

Passion: The emotion of the reading – including empathy and sympathy and the development of a reader’s love for the written word.

Why is it right for the children at Horncastle?

Our children are exposed to a range of genres and stories with characters which are both mirrors and windows to the world.  We want our children to be able to experience a world beyond Horncastle and what better way then to do it through books?  We want our children to not only be able to read, but to love reading, too. Reading is a fundamental skill that will aid the children in all areas of their lives and we love seeing them read for pleasure!