Reading

Our Award Winning School Library :

We are very proud of our school library which was jointly awarded the title of 'School Library of the year, 2016' by Walsall Schools Library Support Service.  Our pupil librarians are trained to run the library independently during break times. 

Sky Rocket into Reading!

In the words of Dr. Seuss,“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

Enjoyment of reading and a love of books is encouraged across our school, from Nursery onwards.  Children are immersed in stories and quality texts ensuring that all tastes are catered for and that books are loved by all.  We believe that all books should be enjoyed and therefore choice is at the heart of our reading schemes.  We have worked hard to ensure that our reading schemes meet the needs of all children.

Phonics (early reading)

At Rushall we use Read Write Inc (RWI) as our phonics scheme.

Phonics plays a key role in Literacy throughout the whole school. It helps children with both their spelling and their reading and enables them to become confident writers.

In Early Years and Key Stage One especially, phonics is very important as it is when children learn all the sounds they will need to help them learn to read and write. In Year 1, children have a Phonics Screening Check in the Summer Term. Over the course of the year, they will be learning lots of sounds. These sounds need to be learned both in the context of real words and nonsense/alien words (made up words). Your child's teacher will have told you more about this at Parent's Evening and at RWI workshops which we run during the Autumn Term.

Useful Links for Parents

Ruth Miskin (RWI) - http://www.ruthmiskintraining.com

Children may change books as often as they choose.  Our school is open from 8.40am each morning to enable children and parents to choose and change books together.

Reading books for children in Early Years and Key Stage One

• RWI (Read, Write, Inc) phonics is taught from nursery using puppets and songs.

• Home Reading - In early years children will bring home books that are closely matched to their phonic ability and linked to the RWI scheme.  Following this they will move on to 'Accelerated Reader' where children take part in fun quizzes after completing a book to support their comprehension.

• We use high quality texts linked to our topics.

• All children have a reading buddy from an older or younger class.

If you would like further information about reading at Rushall or about your individual child’s reading, please do not hesitate to come into school where we will be more than happy to help.

Reading books for children in Key Stage Two - Accelerated Reader

To further encourage 'Reading for Pleasure' from September 2018 we began to use 'Accelerated Reader' in Key Stage Two.  Children complete Star Reading tests at school and choose books appropriate to their level.  They read for 20 minutes at school, and 20 minutes at home each day and log their reading in their reading log books.  On completion of a book the children take a short quiz on a computer at school to check their understanding of the book.  Prizes and incentives are awarded to children for their effort and achievement in reading.  

We have a wide range of books to choose from at school, however children may also read books that they may have at home.  To find out if a book is part of 'Accelerated Reader' and has a quiz, please click on the link below.

We have been amazed at the response so far!  This has had a huge impact on our children and the amount of reading they do each week.  They are so excited to find out who is in the 'Top Ten Word Count' each week and we even have a 'Word Millionaire' already!  Some of our children even take their books outside to read during break time! For further information about our fabulous achievements in Reading, please see the Celebration blog.