Our Vision
Reading vision and statement
At AJA we aim to inspire children to become lifelong readers and to enjoy reading for pleasure. We also believe that every child should be given the tools to develop into an enthusiastic and confident reader both at home and at school. Reading improves language and vocabulary, inspires imagination and gives everyone the opportunity to develop and foster new interests.
Your child's reading experience is much more than the reading book, which comes home from school. Reading is happening all the time in a classroom and in the school. It is taught in specific reading and English lessons, but children are practising and using their 'reading' constantly across all subjects too.
We have been working to develop a love of reading at our Academy. Over the last few years, we have introduced time for all pupils to read in class through dedicated daily class stories. We have also invested in new books, new library furniture and tried to create spaces in school which lend themselves to reading. Each classroom has a dedicated reading area, which includes a variety of class books (Fiction and non-Fiction) which the children can choose and read for pleasure.
We acknowledge and value the important role played by the family in supporting children’s reading development by reading to them and listening to them read. Reading to and with your child, every evening for at least ten minutes can make a dramatic difference to a child's achievement within school.
Books are taken home on a daily basis along with a reading record so that children can be heard reading and a comment (even a brief one) can be made. Children should read and a comment should be written in their reading records at least 4 times a week.
Reading teaching is delivered throughout the school to develop comprehension skills through VIPERS. These are the key reading skills for children to be able read and comprehend a wide range of literary texts. Vocabulary, infer, predict, explain, retrieve and summarise.
From 2017, the school launched Accelerated Reader – a programme of reading and assessment – to ensure children are reading with sufficient challenge. The children carry out termly comprehension assessments that give them a reading level, which then allows the pupils to choose books at the optimal point to best support their reading development. Book quizzes and assessment track the children’s progress in understanding of texts, number of words read and other key reading skills.
The recent introduction of MyOn has given the children the opportunity to choose what they want to read, in a digital environment in which they are comfortable, motivating them to become better and more confident readers. Children can also complete a quiz on the electronic books that they have read and use other interactive tools to enhance their reading experience (including having the books read to them).
Reading is the key to learning. If we want our children to thrive, teaching them to read is not enough – they must learn to enjoy it
