Our Reading Pledge

Reading is at the heart of everything we do at Old Hall Drive Academy.

Early reading is a key priority of our school improvement strategy. From the early years up, we foster a love of reading which permeates every classroom in the school. Staff share a love of stories with our children, transporting them to different worlds, igniting their imaginations, exposing them to the rich knowledge of non-fiction books. Stephen King once said, “Books are a uniquely portable magic” and we couldn’t agree more!

From the moment children step through our doors, we teach them to be confident, fluent readers through a rigorous phonics programme that ensures by the time a child leaves our academy, they are high school ready and ready to take on the world!

We want children in our school to have a love for reading so intense they simply HAVE to pick up a book! We stand by the rights of a reader here at Briscoe Lane Academy, shared in our Reading Charter. It is our promise to all of our pupils to enable them to become life-long learners.

We hope this section of our website shares with you a snippet of what we do to fulfil our reading promise and shares just how much we LOVE reading here at Old Hall Drive Academy!

 Our Reading Charter

Our Reading Charter can be found in the entrances to our school, our hall and classrooms! It is our promises to our children and encompasses everything Old Hall Drive is about!

Every child has the right to…

1)      Be read to by someone who brings the words to life

2)      Be taught to read fluently and confidently

3)      Have books of their own

4)      Make choices as to what they would like to read

5)      Read NEW and EXCITING books

6)      Be listened to reading by adults regularly

7)      Read books in which they can see themselves

8)      A wide variety of texts which unlock imaginations

9)      Be given guidance and support

10) Experience visits from real life authors

 Our Reading Spine

At the heart of our Reading Curriculum are our book choices. The books experienced by our children have been especially selected to ignite an excitement around reading whilst simultaneously ensuring our children are exposed to rich variety of texts which challenge and open doors to new worlds. Our children are read to for pleasure daily during DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time which has a dedicated time slot on all of our timetables from Nursery to Year 6.

Our books are selected with the following criteria in mind to ensure a broad, balanced choice of simply amazing texts are offered to our pupils:

World-Renowned Authors and Poets: Roald Dahl, Julia Donaldson, C.S Lewis, Michael Morpurgo, Malorie Blackman– our children experience a wide range of different authors during their time with us.

Prize-Winning Books: The Costa Book Awards, Carnegie Medal, Kate Greenway Medal, Blue Peter Book Award– the best of the best are on offer to our children. Texts chosen are reviewed annually to ensure they are kept up to date and relevant to our children.

The 5 Plagues of Reading: It is imperative that our children are exposed to books which help them to develop their knowledge of more commanding types of fiction, allowing them to successfully navigate the world of reading as they grow up. These books are demanding and require more from the reader than other kinds of books. The 5 categories, which we ensure are covered across our reading spine, are books which offer: archaic language, non-linear time sequences, a complex narrative, resistant text and figurative/symbolic text.

Diversity: We are passionate about every child in our schools having read a book where they can identify with the characters. We have purposely selected books to represent our school communities. For example, Zanib Mian’s Planet Omar series has our year 4 children laughing out loud whilst year 5 learn about empathy and friendship when reading Onjali Q. Raúf’s incredible book Boy At The Back Of The Class about a boy who joins the school as a refugee.

Inclusivity: Our book selection includes choices which teach our children to appreciate, celebrate and respect differences. We want our children to experience books which challenge stereotypes and build empathy and connections with characters, guiding them in developing kindness and understanding towards others in the real world.

Emotional Response: We want our children to be invested in books. We want them to be begging our teachers to read one more page and to be having conversations with their friends over lunchtimes and playtimes about what they think will happen next. Whether that be our year 3 children sharing their sadness for the lion in the Michael Morpurgo classic, Butterfly Lion or our year 4 children laughing at Lissa Evans’ hilarious book Wed Wabbit. Laughter, anger, sadness, joy– we want our children to be moved by the books they encounter, to ignite that spark and hunger to read more which they will carry on throughout their lives.

Cultural Capital: Books open up new worlds. Our children can be transported from their seats and learn about different ways of life, different places and societies. We have selected books which expose our children to that which is outside their personal experiences.

Our book choices are carefully mapped out in our reading spine which runs from Nursery right through to Year 6.

Below are a sample of texts which appear on our reading spine.

 Whole Class Reading 

From the spring term of Year 2, reading is taught through a whole class approach, enabling the teacher to work directly with the children on a daily basis, modelling the process of comprehending texts, scaffolding and supporting children allowing them to be able to confidently and independently apply their skills.

We strongly believe in fully immersing children within a text, giving them a rich experience of the whole book in order to fully appreciate the magic of reading a good book. Reading whole texts allows our children to comprehend deeper and sets them up for a life-long love of learning. We want to equip our children with the reading stamina that will be required of them at high school when they grapple with full books within their English studies.

To support our teachers in planning and delivering high-quality whole class reading lessons, we use Literary Leaves which is a suite of book-based comprehension resources. Literary Leaves is part of BETT award-winning company, The Literary Curriculum. Book selections are broad and exciting– ranging from modern fiction to classics, anthologies of poetry to intriguing non-fiction texts. The chosen books have been subject to advisory panels for diversity, disability and LGBTQ+ within the selection process. The novels and other texts selected are demanding with pitching sitting in line with end of year expectations. Vocabulary is rich and varied and reading experiences which invest in cultural capital are frequent. Literary Leaves ensures all aspects of the National Curriculum requirements are covered through a broad range of activities which keep the children engaged and enthused.

 Poetry Recitals 

All children across our school learn poetry by heart and perform live to an audience each term. Our poetry spine has been developed to encompass some of the best children’s poetry from around the world, both modern and classic. Our children really enjoy this aspect of our curriculum! Feeling the words and their rhythm and performing them with fluency and expression in front of an audience builds oracy and confidence. In fact, learning poetry by heart has also been shown to improve brain function!

Some of the poems included on our poetry spine are:

The Tadpole by Elizabeth Gould

On The Ning Nang Nong by Spike Milligan

The Sound Collector by Robert McGough

The Witches Spell by William Shakespeare

The Camel’s Complaint by Charles E Carryl

People Will Always Need People by Benjamin Zephaniah

 1 to 1 Reading

All children in our academy are provided with books to take home and read with their families.

Reading Schemes

If a child is accessing the phonics programme, they will take home a book that has been carefully matched to their phonics ability allowing them to practise and consolidate their learning at home. For the majority of children, this is known as a Read Write Inc ‘Book Bag Book’. For children accessing the Fresh Start phonics programme, additional copies of the anthologies used within lessons have been purchased to allow these children to read text at their level yet appropriate for their age.

Children who have surpassed the phonics scheme move on to the Oxford Reading Tree scheme. A broad range of books are offered to the children including: classic texts, myths and legends, novels by top children’s authors, poetry, graphic novels and plays, each suited to their reading ability.

By the end of year 4, some of our most able pupils will have reached the end of the reading scheme. For these pupils, it is important to keep them interested and challenged. These children progress onto our ‘What Next?’ selection– a list of 75 fantastic books designed to engage, challenge and open their eyes to different works of fiction and non-fiction.

Titles on the ‘What Next List’ include:

• War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

• Eren by Simon P Clarke

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

• The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien

• The Harry Potter Series

• The Guinness Book of World Records

• A Black Woman Did That! by Malaika Adero

Staff listen to our children read on a 1:1 basis regularly. It is expected that parents and carers support their children by listening to them read a minimum of 3x a week. Children are provided with a book bag and a reading record. Teachers check reading records weekly and use them for communication with parents about their child’s reading.  Staff change reading books at least weekly, with opportunities for children to change their books more often should this be required.

Reading for Pleasure

It is vital that our children are able to experience a wide range of books chosen by themselves. Alongside the scheme book, our children take home a book to enjoy with their families. This book is a free choice and not linked to a child’s reading ability. Some may choose a harder book for an adult to read to them, others an easier book to share with a younger sibling. It is the child’s choice! Right from nursery our children are encouraged to make their own choices about what book they would like to take home for pleasure. Our teachers help the children in making choices, guiding them towards books and authors they might enjoy.

We add to our Reading for Pleasure libraries each year to ensure they are up to date with the newest releases!

Vocabulary Teaching

Language acquisition is one of the biggest indicators of future success and therefore we both implicitly and explicitly teach vocabulary to our children.

Vocabulary in the Early Years

From the moment our children step foot inside our early years setting, they are immersed in language-rich environments. Thoughtfully designed learning spaces provide our children with necessary stimuli to develop language skills effectively. Our staff use every opportunity to use rich language and to interaction with our pupils, modelling conversation and turn taking skills, using Elklan techniques. Teachers read books rich in language, flood the physical environment with words and provide children with experiences and topics to talk about. Circle time and speaking and listening activities are planned in throughout the day. The children experience a range of nursery rhymes, songs and poems throughout their time in Early Years.

Our teachers also plan opportunities to explicitly teach new vocabulary and concepts to our children. Our early years staff carefully map out key concepts to ensure coverage over the children’s time in early years.

Beyond the Early Years

The need for vocabulary teaching does not end after EYFS. Teachers continue to provide our children with language rich experiences right through to year 6. The books on our reading spine are texts which immerse our children in a wide variety of new vocabulary, as do the books used in whole class reading and the wider curriculum. The range of language used in written text means that reading is a good way of expanding vocabulary knowledge, because written text contains rarer, less familiar words than conversation does. All children, even those who cannot decode fluently, benefit from being read aloud to as it provides access to these less familiar words, as well as providing a model for fluent reading and pronunciation.

Children in our academy are taught new vocabulary directly using a consistent approach in every classroom. The vocabulary taught is known as ‘tier 2’ vocabulary– words which are of high value. These words are of high frequency in written text but not as frequently used in day to day conversation. To us, explicit vocabulary teaching is not a case of explaining the meaning of a word once and expecting children to remember it– we know the brain does not work this way. Instead, vocabulary is purposefully selected and pre-taught before making an appearance in lessons. These words are revisited regularly to ensure they make it into long term memory! We make use of etymology and morphology and spend time exploring words in detail. The brain values stories. The word meander means to follow a winding course. Did you know the word meander is derived from the Greek word Maiandros? Search Google for the Maiandros river!

Fluency Teaching

Fluency is an incredibly important part of learning how to read well which cannot be overlooked. Being able to read fluently means more than just being able to read quickly. Fluency means ‘fluid’ and can be broken down into three skills which interlink.

1.       Automaticity - reading quickly with ease. We want our children to be able to read a text appropriate for their age at around 110wpm. Lower than this and the ability to comprehend is hindered. Being able to read automatically and smoothly, instantly applying phonics to reading without the need to decode, reduces cognitive energy allowing us to focus on comprehending the meaning of the text. Some children who complete the phonics programme are able to decode words accurately- but to be a good reader, they need to be able to do so automatically. Rasinski 2011 noted the strong correlation between reading automaticity and reading comprehension.

2.       Accuracy - rarely making errors and when they do, spotting them and rereading the text.

3.       Prosody - reading with expression and rhythm. We want our children to be able to read with appropriate rhythm and phrasing which reflects the meaning of the text. This needs to be explicitly taught through fluency lessons, modelled by the teacher.

Fluency is important because the ability to read well orally is linked to how well a person reads and comprehends when doing so in silence. When we read a book to ourselves, we are not reading it flat- we hear the voices in our heads, pause, imagine some parts to be louder than others. According to Christopher Such, author of The Art + Science of Reading, fluency is the biggest challenge for readers in primary schools. We must teach children to develop the ‘author’s voice’.

Fluency is the stepping stone from decoding to understanding.

The teaching of fluency is built into our phonics programme but it doesn’t stop there: the teaching of fluency continues right up to year 6. Fluency is modelled daily during DEAR Time where our teachers read to the class, ensuring their own reading is expressive and fluent. However, fluency also has its own slot within our timetables. From Year 2 once our children have completed the Read Write Inc Programme, fluency is taught daily in all classes through activities such as repeated oral reading and echo reading.

We assess our pupil’s fluency through the use of DIBELS assessments.

Phonics at Old Hall Drive Academy

At Old Hall Drive we believe that early reading is fundamental for building bright futures.  We aspire for all of our pupils to become fluent, confident and passionate readers through systematic approaches to the teaching of reading and the belief in building a reading culture school wide.  We can achieve this together through:

• The Read Write Inc. program.  A systematic and robust approach to the teaching of Early Reading.

• Developing a reading culture where all pupils love to read and share books for pleasure both at school and at home.

• Giving children access to a wide range of books within classrooms, the school library, online libraries and Read, Write, Inc.

Read Write Inc. Phonics teaches children to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension using engaging phonics games and stimulating Storybooks. They learn to form each letter, spell correctly, and compose their ideas step-by-step.  Children learn the English alphabetic code: first they learn one way to read the 40+ sounds and blend these sounds into words, then learn to read the same sounds with alternative graphemes. They experience success from the very beginning. Lively phonic books are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and ‘tricky’ words and, as children re-read the stories, their fluency increases.

Along with a thought-provoking introduction, prompts for thinking out loud and discussion, children are helped to read with a storyteller’s voice.  The children write every day, rehearsing out loud what they want to say, before spelling the words using the graphemes and ‘tricky’ words they know.  They practice handwriting every day: they learn correct letter formation and how to join letters speedily and legibly.  Children’s composition (ideas, vocabulary and grammar) is developed by drawing on their own experiences and talking about the stories they read.

How is RWI taught at Old Hall Drive?
When your child is ready, they may begin to learn some sounds in Nursery in short, fun sessions.

As they move into Reception, they will begin to learn how to segment and blend words (we call this Fred Talk, see below for more on Fred Talk) and learn how these words are written down.  This is called the Speed Sounds section of the RWI lesson.  Your child will begin learning Set 1 Sounds, then, when they are confident and secure with Set 1 will move onto Set 2 and then Set 3 (usually in Year 1). Your child will be assessed regularly to ensure that they are in the right group for them to make maximum progress. You can view examples of Speed Sound Lessons here:

Your child will then apply their learning of the new sound and practice older sounds through the reading of closely matched ditty books and Storybooks. As your child moves through the program they will learn challenging vocabulary and build their comprehension skills whilst being fully emerged in exciting texts.

Finally, they apply the new sound that they have learnt and consolidate older sounds during Get Writing! Writing activities. Closely linked to the ditty and story books, these activities teach children the basic writing skills whilst incorporating grammar and handwriting.

What is Fred Talk?
Fred Talk is the segmenting and blending of sounds to read and write words.  You may have heard it being called `Sounding Out` before.  When we `Fred Talk`, we say the different sounds out load then blend them together to say the whole word.  When we do Fred in your Head, the children segment the sound in their heads before saying the whole word. Here is a video showing Fred talk and some ideas for games you can play at home to practice.

For more information and for resources to support your child at home, please visit:
https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/

We are reading

Welcome to our ‘We Are Reading…’ page where we share what we are reading in our classrooms at the moment and what we think of the books!

Nursery

In Nursery, we are been reading ‘Not Now, Bernard’ by David McKee.

This is the classic story of Bernard, whose distracted parents fail to notice he has been eaten and replaced by a monster. We follow Bernard as he does his best to attract his mum and dad's attention to the monster in the garden who wants to eat him - only to hear the repeated refrain of 'Not now, Bernard.'

Bobby - ‘‘The monster is funny!’’

Mirha - ‘‘The monster ate Bernard all up!’’

Reception

In Reception,  we are reading ‘Commotion in the Ocean’ by Giles Andreae.

Year 1

In Year 1SC, We are reading ‘The Storm Whale’ by Benji Davies.

This is the story of a lonely little boy, a whale washed up on a beach and a friendship that will change both the lives forever.

Noi and his father live in a house by the sea, his father works hard as a fisherman and Noi often has only their six cats for company. So when, one day, he finds a baby whale washed up on the beach after a storm, Noi is excited and takes it home to care for it. He tries to keep his new friend a secret, but but there’s only so long you can keep a whale in the bath without your dad finding out. Noi is eventually persuaded that the whale has to go back to the sea where it belongs.

Rafiq - “I liked the whale.”

Kaliah - “I liked that Noi helped the whale back into the sea.”

Alaia - “The little boy saved the whale from dying and it made me feel happy.”

In Year 1CP, we are reading ‘The Wolf’s Story’ by Toby Forward and Izhar Cohen.

The story is about the wolf's perspective of Little Red Riding Hood and gives a different account of the events that happen in the original story. The children really enjoyed the different spin on the story, looking at it from an alternative point of view.

Aurelia - "I like when Little Red Riding Hood gives the wolf some toffees. It was very kind."

Hadeel - "I like when the woodcutter chases the wolf around Grandma's house. It makes me laugh."

Abdullah - "I like when Gran hides in the cupboard."

Year 2

In Year 2TL, we are reading 'The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark' by Jill Tomlinson.

The story is about a young barn owl called Plop, who is frightened of the dark. The plot is divided into seven chapters, each covering a night during which Plop learns something new about the dark: dark is exciting, dark is kind, dark is fun, dark is necessary, dark is fascinating, dark is wonderful and dark is beautiful. Plop is gradually persuaded that the dark has its advantages.

Muhammad - ‘‘I like the part when the owl shouts at the lady and says he's not bald because it makes me laugh.’’

Oghosa - ‘‘I like it every time the owl says eeeeek.’’

Astera - ‘‘I love how the owl is trying to learn about the dark.’’

In Year 2AM, we are reading 'An Alien in a Jam Factory' by Chrissie Sains.

Scooter McLay’s cerebral palsy affects how quickly he can move his body, but his hyper-creative brain is a constant fizz of brilliant ideas. He spends every day inventing top secret recipes and machines for his family’s jam factory. There is just one thing missing - a pet, to share it all with. Or better still, a friend.

His wishes come true when a friendly, tiny alien named Fizzbee crash-lands through the jam factory window! The pair work together to stop a devious villain who wants to steal Scooter’s jam-making secrets. It’s all hands on deck, as they team up to and the factory from the appalling neighbour Daffy Dodgy.

Enya - “I liked when Daffy went down the roller-coaster for the first time and couldn’t believe how amazing it was.”

Abeeha - “The story was so funny, my favourite part was when Boris wouldn’t put the best friend necklace on.”

Harry - “I loved the part where they had to put their house up for sale because off all of the mess that was made.”

Year 3

In Year 3BJ, we are reading ‘George's Marvellous Medicine’ by Roald Dahl.  

George Kranky’s grandma is a grouch. She is always mean to George (and not much nicer to his parents either).

One day, when George is put in charge of giving Grandma her medicine, he wonders if he can come up with his own remedy to try and help Grandma become less of a grump.

Using some rather unusual ingredients, George creates his MAGIC MEDICINE. But will it stop his Grandma from being so horrible…

Or will it shoot sparks out of the top of her head?

Aminah - “I really liked this book especially when they made lots of different versions of the medicine.”

Myla - “I found this book really funny. I liked when lots of funny things started happening to Grandma.”

Logan - “I enjoyed this story. George made the medicine because she wasn’t very kind to George.”

In Year 3EB we are reading ‘Sam Wu is Not afraid of SHARKS’ by Katie and Kevin Tsang.

This book is about Sam Wu who tries to convince people he isn’t afraid of sharks. At the end of the story, he sees a man in the water at the beach, who Sam thinks is in danger and a shark is near. So, Sam tries to save him and becomes a hero. The shark was just a dolphin. 

Jhaniyah - ‘‘I liked that when he was scared of the sharks, it made him do funny things like lock himself in his room!’’

Sofie - ‘‘I think he is biggest hero and concur every fear he has. I think the next fear he would tackle is SPIDERS!!!!’’

Musa - ‘‘I think Sam Wu would be tackle fears of volcanoes, rainstorms and tornadoes after this book!’’ 

Year 4

In Year 4, we are reading ‘Wed Rabbit’ by Lisa Evans.

Both Year 4 classes have been reading the hilarious adventure tale of Wed Wabbit. Fidge is having a terrible week where she to solve nearly impossible clues, defeat a dictator who cannot pronounce the letter ‘r’ and deal with three thousand Wimbley Woos.

Larena - “My heart sank when Minnie was struck by the car. I’m so glad she was okay!”

Edward - “Every time I hear the words Wimbley Woos it always makes me chuckle.”

Abdul - “I really enjoyed the characters in this book. They come up with brilliantly funny ideas.”

Year 5

In Year 5JP, We Are Reading ‘The House with Chicken Legs’ by Sophie Anderson. 

 Marinka dreams of a normal life, where her house stays in one place long enough for her to make friends. But her house has chicken legs and moves on without warning. For Marinka’s grandmother is Baba Yaga, who guides spirits between this world and the next.

Marinka longs to change her destiny and sets out to break free from her grandmother’s footsteps, but her house has other ideas…

Jack - “Ive really enjoyed the start of this book and I am looking forward to seeing how it ends.”

Angel - “I feel sorry for Marinka as she is never in the same place long enough to make friends. I hope she makes friends as the book continues.”

In Year 5TH, We Are Reading ‘Wonder’ by J.J. Palagio. 

Mylo - ‘‘What an amazing book, worthy of 5 stars. It makes me want to be kinder in the future.’’

Poppy - ‘‘My favourite part was seeing Auggie’s character grow. This book teaches you to love yourself.’’

Gracie May - ‘‘I loved that the main character ‘Auggie’ believed In himself as the book went on.’’

Year 6

In Year 6, we have been reading ‘Refugee’ by Alan Gratz.

The book follows the stories of three young refugees from different time periods and locations: Josef, a Jewish boy fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939; Isabel, a Cuban girl trying to escape to America by boat in 1994; and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy fleeing the war-torn country in 2015. All three children go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge and face some unimaginable dangers. Although Josef, Isabel and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, shocking connections will tie their stories together in the end. 

Raheem - “The book has helped us to understand what life is like for a refugee.”

Eden - “I enjoyed Josef’s story and how he escaped the threat of being sent to a concentration camp.”

Dalia - “The story of Mahmoud, the Syrian boy, was tragic. I can’t believe that he had to leave his homeland because of all the violence and destruction.”