At Cassiobury Infant and Nursery School we believe that reading holds the key to enabling all children to access the full curriculum on offer. It is so important that children learn to read fluently as quickly as possible as fluent readers will learn more, because they can read and gain knowledge for themselves. Staff are passionate about the teaching of phonics and reading and are determined that every pupil will learn to read, regardless of their background, needs or abilities.

End of Year Expectations in: Reading

• Nursery
• Reception
• Year 1
• Year 2

To see some of the ways that we promote a love of reading at follow our Twitter hashtag #CassInfReading

END OF YEAR EXPECTATIONS

EYFS – Development Matters: Reading

Children develop at their own rates, and in their own ways. The development statements and their order should not be taken as necessary steps for individual children. The age/stage bands overlap because these are not fixed age boundaries but suggest a typical range of development.

In the EYFS, reading is covered in the ‘Specific Area’ of Literacy. By the end of their time in EYFS, Reception children who are working at age related expectations in Reading will achieve The Early Learning Goal (ELG).ELG

 Comprehension:

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary
• Anticipate – where appropriate – key events in stories
• Use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems and during role-play

ELG Word Reading:

Children at the expected level of development will:

• Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs
• Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending
• Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words

YEAR 1 – programme of study

The programme of study for reading at key Stage 1 consists of two dimensions:

• word reading
• comprehension (both listening and reading)

Reading – Word Reading

Pupils should be taught to:

• apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words
• respond speedily with the correct sound to graphemes (letters or groups of letters) for all 40+ phonemes, including, where applicable, alternative sounds for graphemes
• read accurately by blending sounds in unfamiliar words containing GPCs that have been taught
• read common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word
• read words containing taught GPCs and –s, –es, –ing, –ed, –er and –est endings
• read other words of more than one syllable that contain taught GPCs
• read words with contractions [for example, I’m, I’ll, we’ll], and understand that the apostrophe represents the omitted letter(s)
• read books aloud, accurately, that are consistent with their developing phonic knowledge and that do not require them to use other strategies to work out words
• reread these books to build up their fluency and confidence in word reading

Reading – comprehension

Pupils should be taught to:

• develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by:
  • listening to and discussing a wide range of poems, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently
  • being encouraged to link what they read or hear to their own experiences
  • becoming very familiar with key stories, fairy stories and traditional tales, retelling them and considering their particular characteristics
  • recognising and joining in with predictable phrases
  • learning to appreciate rhymes and poems, and to recite some by heart
  • discussing word meanings, linking new meanings to those already known
• understand both the books they can already read accurately and fluently and those they listen to by:
  • drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher
  • checking that the text makes sense to them as they read, and correcting inaccurate reading
  • discussing the significance of the title and events
  • making inferences on the basis of what is being said and done
  • predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far
• participate in discussion about what is read to them, taking turns and listening to what others say
• explain clearly their understanding of what is read to them

YEAR 2 – programme of study

The programme of study for reading at key Stage 1 consists of two dimensions:

• word reading
• comprehension (both listening and reading)

Reading – word reading

Pupils should be taught to:

• continue to apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words until automatic decoding has become embedded and reading is fluent
• read accurately by blending the sounds in words that contain the graphemes taught so far, especially recognising alternative sounds for graphemes
• read accurately words of two or more syllables that contain the same graphemes as above
• read words containing common suffixes
• read further common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word
• read most words quickly and accurately, without overt sounding and blending, when they have been frequently encountered
• read aloud books closely matched to their improving phonic knowledge, sounding out unfamiliar words accurately, automatically and without undue hesitation
• reread these books to build up their fluency and confidence in word reading

Reading – Comprehension

Pupils should be taught to:

• develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by:
  • listening to, discussing and expressing views about a wide range of contemporary and classic poetry, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently
  • discussing the sequence of events in books and how items of information are related
  • becoming increasingly familiar with and retelling a wider range of stories, fairy stories and traditional tales
  • being introduced to non-fiction books that are structured in different ways
  • recognising simple recurring literary language in stories and poetry
  • discussing and clarifying the meanings of words, linking new meanings to known vocabulary
  • discussing their favourite words and phrases
  • continuing to build up a repertoire of poems learnt by heart, appreciating these and reciting some, with appropriate intonation to make the meaning clear
• understand both the books that they can already read accurately and fluently and those that they listen to by:
  • drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher
  • checking that the text makes sense to them as they read, and correcting inaccurate reading
  • making inferences on the basis of what is being said and done
  • answering and asking questions
  • predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far
• participate in discussion about books, poems and other works that are read to them and those that they can read for themselves, taking turns and listening to what others say
• explain and discuss their understanding of books, poems and other material, both those that they listen to and those that they read for themselves

Teacher assessment frameworks at the end of key stage 1 (PDF)

At Cassiobury Infant School we follow the Read Write Inc. (RWI) phonics programme. RWI provides a daily structured and systematic approach to teaching phonics. It is used by more than a quarter of the UK’s primary schools and is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers.

The children are grouped homogenously according to their phonic ability thus allowing them to work at their own pace, developing their phonic skills and consolidate their knowledge and understanding.

Useful Links

Read Write Inc. (RWI) website

Phonics Screening Check: Sample materials and training video

Speed Sounds on the Oxford Owl website

Learn to Read with Phonics on the Oxford Owl website