Here at St Joseph's school, we are passionate in our belief that reading for pleasure and high quality texts form the foundation for the effective teaching and language and literacy. Reading unlocks the curriculum, therefore

across our school, pupils are exposed to and immersed in a wide range of texts with books forming an integral part of school life. Oracy and the spoken word are vital to the effective teaching of language and as such, we strongly advocate talk in the classroom. 

We combine these aspects with a strong systematic synthetic phonics approach - ALS phonics. Our teachers regard the teaching of phonics as a critical aspect of learning to read. It is taught in discrete sessions but viewed as a transferrable skill across the curriculum. We believe that phonics provides the platform from which pupils can become creative, imaginative and fluent readers and writers. 

What is ALS Phonics?

ALS phonics provides a solid and continuous approach to the teaching of phonics across Nursery, Reception and Key Stage 1. Quality first teaching is at the heart of ALS phonics, as such, it is taught daily to ensure children have a clear structure to their learning, developing their ability and confidence to decode successfully in order for them to become independent, fluent readers. 

Phonically decodable books:

Each week your child will be sent home with a phonically decodable book that is closely matched to their current level. Please listen to your child read this book. 

Using the printed books

Inside every printed book there are notes to help you make the most of reading with your child.

Inside front cover: for younger children, these notes identify words with which children may need help and give ideas and strategies to help you feel confident that you know how best to help. For older children, the notes are intended to deepen each child’s understanding of the book. They provide background information about the time or place the book was written or sometimes information about the author or illustrator.

Inside back cover: these notes suggest puzzles and challenges that help children think about their reading. These include ‘Find it!’ activities that encourage children to revisit the text; ‘Share it!’ tasks that may involve making or writing something, and other ideas that offer ideas for further reading.

Using the online reading world

If you have access to the internet, your child can enjoy reading Bug Club books online as well as in print. Each child has a unique homepage and can log into it by following these steps:

1. Go to www.activelearnprimary.co.uk
2. Enter the login details.
3. Your child’s homepage will appear.

Reading a book online

We allocate books to your child according to their reading levels. These books will appear in the ‘My Stuff’ area of their personal homepages.

Throughout the books there are quiz questions for your child to complete. To answer a question, just click on the bug icon. Your child does not need to finish all the quiz questions in one sitting and can come back to a book later.

When your child has finished all the quiz questions in a book, he or she will earn ‘ActiveLearn Coins’. By reading more books, your child will earn enough coins to ‘buy’ a reward in one of the many reward schemes. The answers to the quiz questions will be sent back to our teacher site so that we can see how your child is progressing. We will also be able to assign more books for your child to read if the virtual book bag is running low.

When your child has finished a book, it will move to ‘My Library’. Children can read these books again if they want to, or they can choose new books from ‘My Stuff’.

How we teach Reading

Reading at St Joseph's is taught in a number of ways:

• Phonics
• Shared Reading lessons
• Daily supported reading
• Reading for pleasure
• Daily story time where teachers read aloud to their class

To further support and enhance Reading for Pleasure, we have an author of the moment focus across the whole school.  All children also have access to the school library and take books home to read for pleasure. In addition to this, as a school we have close links to the local library and the children visit regularly throughout the year.

Developing vocabulary

Reading is central to increasing pupil's vocabulary, as up to 90% of vocabulary is encountered in reading and not in everyday speech. Below are some of the ways we use reading activities to support pupils to develop their vocabulary: 

• Reading aloud in story time
• Exposure to technical language in non-fiction books
• Ensuring pupils are reading a wide range of age appropriate books
• Modelling how to find the meaning in shared reading lessons and during daily supported reading sessions
• Exposure to rich vocabulary in core books
• Displaying vocabulary in the learning environment
• Using drama and story-telling
• Developing oracy throughout the curriculum