At Nathaniel Newton we value reading as a crucial life skill. We teach reading skills daily through the delivery of the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Programme. This is further enhanced by a language rich English curriculum that is underpinned by a variety of different fiction and non-fiction texts, as well as poetry. By the time children leave us, they read confidently for meaning and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure. Our readers are equipped with the tools to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary. We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose.

Becoming a fluent, skilled and attentive reader starts at the earliest stages of a child’s learning journey. Reading is a skill we continue to develop throughout our lives, but starting this process as early as possible has significant benefits for our continued success as readers. This is why, as parents and carers, you play a vital role in supporting your child in becoming a fluent reader, who is confidently able to apply their reading skills across all areas of their lives.

The teaching of reading and reading comprehension within the classroom is only part of a child's learning, and the value that is given to reading at home is equally important. Parents who engage their children in books prepare them to become committed and enthusiastic readers: they can transform their attitudes to reading. If children learn to focus and share the enjoyment of the story; they learn how stories start and finish, and how a plot unravels and is resolved; they learn that books can transport them elsewhere.

We teach children to read through reading practice sessions three times a week. These 

• are taught by a fully trained adult in small groups of approximately six children.
• use books matched to the children's secure phonic knowledge using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments.
• are monitored by the class teacher, who rotates and works with each group on a regular basis.

Each reading practice session has a clear focus, so that the demands of the session do not overload the children’s working memory. The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills: 

• decoding
• prosody: teaching children to read with understanding and expression
• comprehension: teaching children to understand the text.

In Reception these sessions start in Week 4. Children who are not yet decoding have daily additional blending practice in small groups, so that they quickly learn to blend and can begin to read books.

In Year 2, we continue to teach reading in this way for any children who still need to practise reading with decodable books.

Reading Raffle

At Nathaniel Newton, we have a reading initiative to encourage children to read more regularly at home. Each time a child reads at home and gets their home reading diary signed, they will receive a raffle ticket to go in the class raffle box. At the end of each half term, the raffle will be drawn, and a golden token will be awarded to the winner. The winner can then spend their token in our ‘Nathaniel Newton Book Vending Machine’. The more the children read, the more raffle tickets they will get, therefore the more chance they have of winning the half termly class prize.

Should you require any further information regarding supporting your child with reading at home, there is lots of information in the front of your child's home reading diary.  If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact our English Subject Leader, Mrs. Carly Evans.

Nathaniel Newton 50 Reads Challenge

Each year group has a list of 50 books for you to try and read during your time in that year group.  Tell your class teacher or teaching assistant when you have read a book from the Reading Challenge, so they can keep track of how many you have read. Once you have read enough, you will earn a reward:

Number of Books	Reward
2	A certificate
5	Bookmark
10	Pencil
20	Reading Star Badge
30	Golden Coin for the vending machine
40	Golden Coin for the vending machine
50	£5 Scholastic Book Fair Voucher

Lots of these books can be found in our school library. Look out for the sticker on the front of the books to tell you if it is part of our challenge. Make sure to get the red reading diary signed to say that you have read or shared the book at home.

Book lists for each year group can be found below.