Intent

Reading is central to Godolphin's curriculum and we are dedicated to raising the engagement and attainment in reading for every pupil. Our intent is that all children will develop a love of literature and we will ignite this passion through the delivery of engaging lessons around a high-quality text. 

We use the Power of Reading approach to teaching comprehension which enables children to think deeply about a range of texts, explore and analyse key details and discuss their thoughts, ideas and theories. Pupils use a range of strategies to fully unpick a text such as responding to illustrations, role plays, freeze frames, hot seating, debate and much more. Not only do these strategies fully immerse children in literature and provide the tools for deeper understanding but the children absolutely love this detailed attention to the text and they thrive on being able to work thoughtfully to learn more. 

There are many approaches that Godolphin use in reading lessons to ensure that pupils make rapid progress but some key highlights are that we believe that every child, regardless of their starting points should be included in challenging question types that allow pupils to make connections and to think deeply. To do this, we use a strategy called Solo Taxonomy to ensure our question types are planned purposefully and thoughtfully to enable all pupils to make progress. 

We also believe in the importance of teaching oracy and at Godolphin this is referred to as 'The Power of Talk'. Every lesson is vocabulary rich and mature, high-level discussion is expected and conducted. Holding a class discussion in reading is common practice and our expectations of how children express themselves and converse with each other is very high and it continually taught. We know the importance that strong oral communications holds for each of our pupils and how they will rely heavily on these skills for the future. It is our moral cause to teach these skills well and know that each of our pupils will be socially adept, confident speakers. 

Implementation 

Each half term, every year group will a class text to read and explore. These texts will cover a range of genres and themes and will include stories from different times, places and cultures. Alongside each class text, our pupils will also read poems, speeches, non-fiction and enjoy picture books. Our selection of class texts link to the topic area that the children are learning about. Our reading programme has been carefully selected so that children can make connections, build on prior learning and embed their knowledge to enable them to apply new skills and become able readers. 

Accelerated Reader

We have a two-pronged approach to teaching reading at Godolphin, one side being high quality comprehension lessons and the other side a tailored individual reading programme. We know that if both areas are delivered well and with determination that our readers will make progress. 

We use Accelerated Reader to track the reading of every child in their school, support them with the book choices and make sure they are reading regularly at the appropriate level. Parents are also able to track their child's reading progress on Accelerated Reader by logging into Home Connect to view their child's latest quiz scores and book levels. 

Each week, every class has three 'Relax and Read' sessions where they are given time to concentrate on personal reading and enjoy their book. Teachers use this time to continually provide guidance in individual reading progress. 

The Power of Talk 

Oracy is the ability to communicate effectively and so all teachers at Godolphin are oracy teachers. We view this as a moral cause. In every lesson, teachers will model and scaffold how to speak with confidence, to select appropriate and ambitious vocabulary and how to structure high-level talk. At Godolphin, this approach is known as The Power of Talk. 

Impact

The impact of our approach is that children at Godolphin are immersed in a world of literature and as a result they have access to a wide range of books, they can monitor their own progress and they can recall vocabulary and knowledge that they have acquired through learning. There is a clear love for reading at Godolphin. 

As a result, our progress and attainment in Reading is above the National Average. 

Please click the link to view progress and attainment in Reading. 

https://www.thegodolphin-jun.academy/ofsted-and-performance-data/