Reading in KS1
In Year 1 children continue to read fully decodable books in class in small focus Guided Reading groups. We develop the children’s vocabulary, independent reading by decoding and then modelled reading through prosody. Children then develop their reading comprehension through targeted questioning and exploration of the text. This is done using our Reading VIPERS. The question stems are progressive and develop as the children move through the school.
Year 1 – Phonics begins with a review of phases 2, 3 and 4 before the children begin to learn phase 5, which will be completed by the end of the year.
We teach phonics for 25 minutes a day, with Friday being a review session to help children secure the weeks learning. We assess children each half term against our phonics phase programme to help inform future teaching and to identify any gaps in their phonics knowledge and any additional practice. Then children complete the National Year 1 phonics test (usually in June).
Year 2 begin the year with a revision of phase 5 and all other previously taught phases to ensure all children are confident at applying these GPCs to their reading and their writing. They then move on to learn a variety of spelling rules, which continually reinforce and practice previously learnt GPCs.
Half termly assessments take place to assess individual reading accuracy and fluency and again to identify any gaps in phonic knowledge and application to their reading. Daily assessment of learning also takes place in the classroom so staff can quickly identify any children who are in danger of falling behind.
We aim for children to be fluent in decoding and to be reading with fluency and expression by the end of KS1.
