Initial notes from reading

By the end of year 6, pupils’ reading and writing should be sufficiently fluent and effortless for them to manage the general demands of the curriculum in year 7, across all subjects and not just in English.

• Emphasis on being a "frequent reader"

Simple view of Reading

Reading has been described as the product of decoding and comprehension, a model first proposed by Gough and Tunmer in 1986, who called it the Simple View of Reading. It has been fundamental in changing the debate about the teaching of reading over at least the last 20 years.

Comprehension does not refer to reading itself but, rather, to the way in which we make sense of words, sentences and the wider language we hear or read.

Decoding refers to:

• reading unfamiliar words (words that have not been read before) by saying the sounds corresponding to the letters in the words and then blending the sounds together, either aloud or silently

• reading familiar words accurately and silently ‘at a glance’39, that is, no longer saying the sounds consciously.

• "reading miles" and "fluency"

• Into KS2, focus shifts to get print experience and support with spoken language. Developing vocabulary. Become "independent, fluent and enthusiastic".

• At KS3, "pupils continue to develop an appreciation and love of reading understand increasingly challenging texts and read critically through reading widely".

Reading at key stage 3 should be wide, varied and challenging. Pupils should be expected to read whole books, to read in depth and to read for pleasure and information.

However, pupils who are not yet reading fluently as they get older require further timely and targeted support. They also require substantial practice in reading texts that include only the words they can decode at their current stage of reading development.

- once pupils can read, their language comprehension is driven by the amount they read – their ‘reading miles’ – as well as the books and other texts they continue to hear read to them, and opportunities to listen and speak

- older pupils, in primary and secondary schools, who continue to struggle with decoding also need to be taught through a systematic synthetic phonics programme

pupils with identified SEND (Section 5) who struggle to decode and read words ‘at a glance’ are likely to derive most benefit from direct reading instruction that focuses on systematic synthetic phonics

listening to, thinking deeply about and discussing a wide range of texts, including literature, develops pupils’ love of reading and enhances their vocabulary

reading widely, both in school and in their own time, establishes pupils as readers.

Book Club (and Other ideas)

Secondary schools have additional timetabling challenges, but book club (or library time) should happen at least fortnightly with an adult (or adults), either a librarian or another adult with a particular interest in reading. Leaders should not expect this to take place in the time allocated in the curriculum to English.

• Ideas about how to run "Book Club" on p.94

• Check what pupils are enjoying, so they can recommend books to each other

• Advertise what others have enjoyed through classroom displays, signs and sticky notes in the books themselves: ‘Pupils who read this book also enjoyed...’

• Ask pupils to provide a two- or three-word book review and offer them vocabulary suggestions: ‘page-turner’, ‘fascinating’, ‘engrossing’, ‘intriguing’, ‘hilarious’, ‘ridiculous’, ‘heart-wrenching’, ‘excellent characters’, ‘scary and sad’, ‘made me angry’, ‘tedious’ (rather than ‘boring’).

• Set up a pupils’ noticeboard for their own notes about books, and photos of themselves reading the books at home.

• Maintain ‘Top Ten’ lists of fiction and non-fiction.

Also suggests that intrinsic rewards are stronger than extrinsic in term of reading achievement.

Warns against the Accelerated Reader-type approach which it says "might well put pupils off".

It should not be driven by their determination to move onto a next level or band, or to gain a certificate for reading more words. Rewarding pupils in this way may offer a short-term boost, but the motivational effect quickly wears off. It says, in essence, ‘This task is useful but undesirable, so here is a reward for doing it.’ The danger is that calculation replaces motivation: ‘If I choose easier books, I can read more books and words.’ Further, if pupils’ focus is on counting the number of new books or words, they are unlikely to re-read a book, even if they loved it. They begin to value themselves and others according to the number of books read or the ‘level’ at which they are reading.

Teachers should also be wary of restricting pupils to reading books from within one coloured level or band and labelling pupils as being on a specific colour. They should consider how pupils might feel embarrassed at being on a lower colour than their peers.

Organising and teaching catch-up

daily practice

School leaders and special educational needs co-ordinators in primary and secondary schools must take responsibility for ensuring all these pupils make rapid progress. Given that many secondary teachers and support staff will not have had training to teach reading, it is essential to provide this.

Although, ideally, in primary and secondary schools, reading interventions would be timetabled outside lesson time, this is not always possible. But since good reading is essential if pupils are to access the full curriculum, schools will need to make difficult choices about what activities pupils have to miss. Leaders may also have to overcome the concerns of teachers and of parents about pupils’ absence from some mainstream lessons. Neither the DfE nor Ofsted can direct what is appropriate in individual schools, but both support schools in their decisions where they have a clear rationale for their choices and evidence of their impact.

Where possible, teaching should happen at the same time every day, so that the pupils know what is planned and do not have to cope with changes. While in primary schools, it may be possible for interventions to happen in the same place every day, this is harder to manage in secondary schools. Leaders may have to be creative to achieve this. It is vital that leaders support and monitor interventions closely and the impact on pupils’ progress is evaluated regularly