"The more you read, the more things you know.
The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." - Dr. Seuss.

At Southrop, we believe the children who read for pleasure and are read to will go the furthest in life therefore it is our mission to make reading enjoyable and engaging for every child. At Southrop, we have a welcoming, cosy book area in each classroom along with a wonderful library which promotes reading engagement and supports our pupils’ in accessing books that are of interest to them, and appropriate for them as readers.

Phonics Programme

We use Read Write Inc Phonics (RWI) to give your child the best possible start with their literacy. RWI is is a phonics complete literacy programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling.  The programme is designed for children aged 4-7 but at Southrop if a child needs to continue their phonic's journey, they do so. 

The children are taught the sounds in 3 sets and participate in daily phonic's lessons. If you would like more information about our Phonic's programme, please do not hesitate to speak to Mrs Tipple and attend our Phonic's workshop for parents. 

Pronunciation of the sounds - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkXcabDUg7Q
Full parent guide to RWI - https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-schemes-oxford-levels/read-write-inc-phonics-guide/ 

Phonics Screening Check Year One

What is the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check?

The Year 1 Phonics Screening Check is a short, light-touch assessment to confirm whether individual pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard.

It will identify the children who need extra help so they are given support by us to improve their reading skills. They will then be able to retake the check so that we can track pupils until they are able to decode effectively.

Accelerated Reader

Accelerated Reader is an online based program that helps us to monitor and manage children’s independent reading practice. We introduce AR at KS1 when a child is ready to progress. At the end of each term, the children take a Star Test which determines their reading level and gives them an individual reading level (ZPD range). Each child then selects books at their own colour level, reads them at their own pace and then takes a short online comprehension ‘quiz’ on what they have read. Teachers use the feedback and data from the children’s quiz results together with their own assessments made when reading with the child to support them in guiding pupils, setting targets and directing ongoing reading practice. Our library is broken into a Cygnet AR reading section and a Swan AR reading section to ensure all our books are age appropriate.

Guided Reading Sessions

In the Cygnet classroom, children engage in group Read, Write Inc. guided reading and writing sessions where they will share a text, discuss and write about what has been read whilst at the same time have additional teaching and reinforcement of phonics and red words. In the Swan classroom, reading skills are taught and practised using VIPERS during whole class reading sessions weekly. Texts are chosen carefully so that the children are introduced from a young age to high quality authors and texts therefore increasing a range of vocabulary. Please find further progression documents with regards to VIPERS in KS2.

One to One Sessions

At Southrop, we have small class groups therefore we listen to children read on a one to one basis on a regular basis. We also have experienced parent helpers who listen to children read weekly. 

Storytime

The children also enjoy daily story times where stories, poems and rhymes are being read to them daily. These sessions take place at 2.40pm for twenty minutes daily. For more information on the type of texts that we read to the children, please see our Reading Spine which is a working document. 

Reading books

Children will be given reading books to take home once they are ready to read. We expect children to read daily with a grown up and record any comments in their reading record books. 

Fairford Library Partnership

We work closely with Fairford library and encourage all of our children to be members of the library and to attend on a regular basis. We visit the library about three times a year in our mini-bus and borrow books, read stories and join in many of the library events. Claire, the librarian visits us at Southrop and introduces the book challenges during assemblies. 

Cheltenham Literature Festival

At Southrop, we value meeting authors, listening and reading high quality texts therefore we visit the Cheltenham Literature Festival every year. We love this event and find it gives us lots of opportunities to encourage reading and writing for pleasure.

World Book Day 

We invest heavily in WBD and ensure we have authors and excellent workshops alongside many activities to encourage and engage our children in reading and writing. Activities have included; share a story with hot chocoloate, the Masked Reader, Reading Dangerously, book swap, visiting the Madhatter's Bookshop, Burford and many other activities. 
 

 

 

	Our approach to reading at Southrop	[pdf 190KB]
	Southrop Reading Spine 2022 working document	[pdf 360KB]
	World Book Day 2023	[mp4 10MB]
	World Book Day 2022	[mp4 9MB]
	Madhatters Bookshop visit March 2022	[pptx 9MB]
	Year 3 VIPERs Progression Grid	[pdf 220KB]
	Year 4 VIPERS Progression Grid	[pdf 220KB]
	Year 5 VIPERS Progression Grid	[pdf 222KB]
	Year 6 VIPERS Progression Grid	[pdf 222KB]

We believe that in order to be a good writer, reading for pleasure is key. At Southrop, we teach writing through high quality texts and authors. We immerse ourselves in the text, genre and through a range of approaches, we teach writing.

These approaches include: 

• Shared writing
• Guided writing
• Independent writing
• Editing 
• Talk for writing
• Peer and self-assessment 
• Vocabulary, punctuation and grammar activities are taught discretely and as part of writing units

Please see below for our Writing Progression maps.

Please bear with us whilst we update this area of the site.

	English Year 1 and 2 Writing Progression Document 22 23	[pdf 359KB]
	English Year 3 and 4 Writing Progression Document 22 23	[pdf 593KB]
	English Year 5 and 6 Writing Progression Document 22 23	[pdf 589KB]