Our love of reading at WIS
At WIS, we love reading. We love being transported into different eras, different places, with different characters to befriend and exciting adventures to be had.
At Westbury Infant School, the teaching of reading is prioritised across the school, be that the earliest steps of phonic familiarisation, or the greater depth aspects of understanding the complexities of authorial technique and other higher level reading skills.
Below, we illustrate how we address the Seven Aspects of Reading in our school.
wis seven aspects of reading .pdf
We prioritise the importance of reading: learning to read, reading to learn and reading for pleasure. We believe that reading should be inspiring, fun and empowering - not just a compulsory part of the curriculum. Unless it's something that excites children, they're unlikely to become an eager reader for life.
Wider Reading
RWI - reading at home
Once your child is able to recognise and blend the Set 1 single letter sounds they will start bringing books home to practise. These will start off with simple words and lead on to stories as they progress through the RWI programme.
Oxford Owl (Read, Write Inc) https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/ now have lots of RWI
reading books online for you and your child to access. It is completely free, you just need to register as a parent to access their extensive library. If you click audio, the story will be read to your child or you can choose it in book format to read as normal. Just choose books from the RWI colour books that your child is reading in school.
We teach daily phonics in EYFS and KS1 using the RWI programme. For more information see the RWI page.
Reading for pleasure
Instilling a love of reading is a really important aim of our reading curriculum, so children do get opportunities throughout the week to read for pleasure and share a wide variety of stories.
Have a look at this wonderful selection of books for some ideas of stories to share at home.
Image from https://practicingnormal.com/
Reception
Year 1
Year 2
Useful reading websites
Audible
Website: https://stories.audible.com/start-listen
Key stages: early years foundation stage to key stage 2
Description: all children’s audiobooks are available for free while schools are closed.
Registration: not required
Authorfy
Website: https://authorfy.com
Key stages: early years foundation stage to key stage 2
Description: access to masterclasses on texts from a range of authors, including videos from the authors and activities linked to novels.
Registration: is required
Book Trust
Website: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/bookfinder/
The Children’s Poetry Archive
Website: https://childrens.poetryarchive.org/
Key stages: early years foundation stage to key stage 2
Description: an archive of spoken poetry recordings. Children can listen to poems read out loud.
Registration: not required
Key stages: early years foundation stage to key stage 2
Description: a site with recommended booklists, categorised by age range and topic, including fiction and non-fiction. Family activities are included in the ‘Home Time’ section.
Registration: not required
Love Reading 4 Kids
Website: https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/
Key stages: early years foundation stage to key stage 2
Description: a site with recommended booklists, categorised by age range and topic, covering fiction and non-fiction.
Registration: not required
