Markington CE Primary and Nursery School

We value the importance of reading to an adult.  In the Foundation stage and KS1 this is a frequent activity, with the children reading to teachers, teaching assistants and adult helpers.  In KS2 children continue to read their reading books to adults.  They read a range of other texts, through their work in other subjects.  They also develop the concentration skills to read quietly to themselves. 

The teachers' knowledge of each individual child’s needs and interests ensure that children are reading books which will allow plenty of opportunity to consolidate reading skills with the use of both phonically decodable books and other appropriate books of interest to the individual.  We aim to enthuse and excite the children about the books they read.

The children also take part in shared reading, in which the teacher’s role is to make overt what good readers do: modelling the process so that the children can follow his/her example. Because the teacher is the reader, he or she can support the pupils to appreciate material that may be slightly harder than they can read on their own. Pupils can concentrate on the meaning without having to decode each word for themselves. The teacher acts as model, demonstrator and instructor, leading a discussion about the interpretation of the text. The pupils listen to the text read aloud, join in and follow the reading, and learn from the teacher’s example of analysing the text.

Teachers use a mixture of small group & class guided reading sessions to guide the children through the text, by providing signposts to the most important and helpful features of the textual landscape, developing their ability to decode text, understand it’s meaning and consider the writer’s purpose

The older children at Markington Primary School regularly pair up with younger children, once they are settled in school, to enjoy paired reading.  This allows the children to develop their confidence and share their love of books.

They also have opportunities to read and share books for pleasure within the classroom through shared reading time and, in KS2 ‘Free Choice Friday’. 

Our poetry curriculum is carefully planned, building children's love of words, rhyme and rhythm from our youngest children - with nursery rhymes, songs, and stories.  As children progress through school, the texts gradually become more complex.

Poetry, reading and writing, is threaded through our curriculum for children of all ages and we value it as a form of expression. Writing it lets us get out our feelings and thoughts on a subject, while reading it encourages us to connect and find meaning in our experiences. We know that poetry can have a positive impact on the social and emotional learning of children and may offer them a new way of thinking about something.

See below for our poetry curriculum documents.