Reading at Flitch Green:
At The Flitch Green Academy, it is our intent that all our children become confident, fluent and enthusiastic readers. Fostering positive attitudes towards reading at the earliest age is a priority for us here at the Academy as we believe these early perceptions play a vital role in developing motivated readers who read widely and regularly for both pleasure and purpose. We believe that through the teaching of early reading and a robust phonics programme, our children are provided with the strongest start for their reading journey.

EYFS & Year 1:
In Reception, children begin our systematic and synthetics phonics programme, Little Wandle Letters and Sounds. We build from 10-minute lessons, with additional daily oral blending games, to the full-length 30 minute lessons in line with Year 1. These sessions are taught whole-class, enabling children of all abilities to be exposed to the same content. By closely following this scheme, children are provided with a clear and structured route to meet or exceed all national curriculum expectations for word reading through decoding by the end of key stage 1, including achieving the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check.

Children then have regular opportunities to apply the phonics they have learned to reading through participating in our reading practice sessions three times a week. Each reading practice session has a clear focus, so that the demands of the session do not overload the children’s working memory. The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills: decoding, prosody and comprehension.

Years 2 - 6:
Building on this foundation in EYFS and year 1, whole-class reading takes place in years 2-6 three times a week, each session lasting approximately 40 minutes. Each class is allocated a core text every half term and these are read daily by the class teacher for 10-15 minutes in preparation for the delivery of these reading sessions. The first lesson of the week will focus on either non-fiction or poetry, linked to themes in the text. The second lesson will include close reading of an extract and focuses specifically on vocabulary. In the last session of the week, the children will learn how to use and apply comprehension skills to the same extract.

Independent reading in KS2 is supported through the use of Accelerated Reader. Accelerated Reader helps teachers to motivate, monitor, and manage students’ independent reading practice. Children in year 2 will begin to transition onto the programme when they are ready and have secured the necessary decoding and comprehension skills. The programme supports teachers in recognising pupil achievements through regular book quizzing and works to create a culture of reading through choice. We celebrate these reading achievements in whole-school assemblies every week and display them prominently opposite our library.