Reading changes everything.
‘Once you learn to read, you will be forever free’
– Frederick Douglass
Reading
At Battle Hill our mission is to teach every child to read and keep them reading. We believe that every child can learn to read, regardless of their background, need or ability and the most important gift our school can give each child is the power to do this. It is the key to any child’s future success!
Teaching children to read early and well has multiple benefits, allowing them to acquire knowledge and building on what they already know by opening all other curriculum areas.
Across Key Stage 1 and 2
Read Write Inc is delivered alongside dedicated inference lessons on specific reading skills, which are then reinforced through guided and shared reading sessions in English and across the wider curriculum.
Accelerated Reader
In conjunction with this, our Key Stage 2 pupils access Accelerated Reader, which increases pupil engagement in reading with personalised goals, focusing on speed and stamina and increasing pupils’ understanding of a range of high level, rich vocabulary texts. The programme means our pupils choose reading books at appropriate levels, yet challenging enough to ensure optimum progress.
We are an Accelerated Reader Champion School.
We recognise some children may need extra support and are committed to ensuring we close those gaps with their peers through extra phonics sessions, inference and BRP (Boosting Reading at Primary) interventions.
Our library provides a wide range of books, including non-fiction, fiction, poetry and classics, for our children to read for pleasure. Teachers read class novels every day to their class across all phases. This extends children’s vocabulary and comprehension and instils further a love of reading for pleasure.
Reading with your child…
What difference can I make as a parent/carer?
A HUGE difference is the answer!
Sharing a book with your child is fun, it’s a time for closeness, laughing and talking together – and it can also give children a flying start in life, helping them become lifelong readers. You are the most important educator in your child’s life and it’s never too early to start reading together.
Building vocabulary and understanding
Learning to read is about listening and understanding as well as working out what’s printed on the page. Through hearing stories, your child will be exposed to a wide range of words. This helps them build their own vocabulary and improve their understanding when they listen, which is vital as they start to read. It’s important for them to understand how stories work too. As children start to learn to read at school, you can play an important role in helping to keep them interested in books. Find out what interests them, help them to find books that will be engaging and fun, and spend time reading the books they bring home from school together.