At Mill Rythe we recognise how vital reading is in helping us to understand the world around us.  In order to access learning, children need to be able to read fluently.  All the time that reading is hard and not fluent, children’s brains are taken up recalling their phonic knowledge and decoding strategies and are not solely focused on understanding the words on the page.

Our intention is to ensure that all children at Mill Rythe become fluent and confident readers in order to improve children’s comprehension and enjoyment of a wide range of texts.  To achieve this, we offer a rigorous phonics programme for those children that still need support to decode, alongside a range of strategies to support decoding and comprehension.  All classes across the key stage teach our ‘Daily Reading Strategies’, which are comprised of phonics, cumulative blending, sound buttons and ‘Fred Fingers’ and these are designed to enhance our rich reading curriculum and ensure that all children are able to access it.

Reading opportunities have been carefully planned into all curriculum subjects to ensure that children practise and rehearse their decoding and comprehension skills throughout their school day. In addition, the School Library Service provides us with high quality key texts to support and enhance our curriculum.

At Mill Rythe, we prioritise and celebrate reading. Each class has a termly class reader with carefully chosen texts in each year group and we have a dedicated ‘read for pleasure’ slot in our timetable each week.  We carefully plan in opportunities for reading across a range of genres and subjects, from PE lessons to Design Technology, so that children read for both pleasure and information.

In addition, each year group has 8 ‘Must Reads’ and it is expected that all children will have read and enjoyed all eight by the end of each school year.  ‘Must Reads’ are a range of age-appropriate texts from a range of genres, authors and themes and expose our children to a broad range of rich texts.

Year 3 ‘Must Read’ Books

Year 4 ‘Must Read’ Books

Year 5 ‘Must Read’ Books

Year 6 ‘Must Read’ Books

Reading for Pleasure:

We have a well-stocked library, extensive class libraries and our children have access to a huge range of reading material at school. They also have access to our Sora App  where children can choose from a huge range of ebooks and audiobooks from the Hampshire School Library Service (SLS).  Children log on using their Google Classrooms log in and password.

We expect all children to read widely and often and they are expected to read at least 5 times a week for 15 minutes each time.  Every child has their own ‘Reading Journal’ where their efforts are recorded.  Journals are collected in and marked each week.

Parental Support:

We hold regular Parent Workshops to support parents with reading strategies that they can use at home and to signpost additional resources.  Reading at home is vital in helping to foster a love of reading.  Below are year group lists of books that your child might enjoy reading at home.

Recommended Reads

Year 3 Recommended Books

Year 4 Recommended Books

Year 5 Recommended Books

Year 6 Recommended Books

Phonics

We recognise that sometimes children’s reading progress falls behind that of their classmates.  We track children’s reading ages carefully and those falling behind are targeted for interventions.

On entry into Year 3, we test children’s phonic knowledge to ensure that there is a smooth transition between key stages.

We use Read Write Inc across the school.  If your child needs additional phonic support you will be informed and we will advise how you can support your child at home.  Click this link for more Read Write Inc information.