At Bispham Drive Junior school we want to foster a lifelong love of reading; where children choose to read and share their pleasure of reading with others. We believe that reading is the most important factor to enable children to access all other areas of learning and that every child can be a reader. Alongside promoting an enthusiasm for reading, we teach children a wide range of reading skills so that they can decode and read fluently and for meaning. This year, we are excited to be part of an Open University research group for promoting reading for pleasure pedagogy.
In school we use a book banding system which gives a colour to each book we have. This colour indicates the degree of difficulty in terms of language and theme and enables each child to explore a wide range of titles knowing the challenge each will represent. We monitor each child’s progress through the colours to ensure they are continually improving whilst embedding core reading skills.
We support the development of each child’s reading in a number of ways. Any children who still need help with decoding words in books will receive reading and phonics support to enable them to keep pace with their peers. Regular reading with teachers and guided reading work reinforces their own practise all through the school.
We work hard to promote a positive reading culture in school. There is a light and spacious library with many books for the children to choose from and they are encouraged to do so as frequently as they wish. The library is also open during Thursday lunchtime for those who wish to browse.
All of the work we do in school is made more successful if children read regularly at home and we ask parents and carers to help ensure this happens.
