Meet Zoey the Reading Dog!

Zoey comes into school three days a week to work with children on their reading. She is a gentle-natured, non-shedding cockapoo who absolutely loves children and enjoys her job very much! She provides a soothing environment where children can develop their reading skills, fluency and 'story voice' by reading to a non-judgemental listener - while Ms Beer listens in. Zoey's appraisal target is to read with every child in the school! She lives with Ms Beer and enjoys long walks in the park, running after balls, cuddles and eating. 

Reading Mentors

Each year, we carefully select a team of Year 6 Reading Mentors. These children are trained in early reading prompts and mentoring skills, and support children in Key Stage 1. Reading Mentors are confident, independent readers who make fabulous role models for our younger children and help to instil in them their own love of reading. They are full of enthusiasm to help the children develop as young readers and, in their turn, the Key Stage 1 children love and look forward to their Reading Mentor time.
1:1 Reading
Our class-based teaching assistants work individually with focus children to boost their reading skills. These special partnerships give children regular opportunities to read 1:1 with an adult, using the three-read structure of Little Wandle reading sessions to increase their fluency, embed vocabulary and develop understanding:

First Read: focus on decoding
Second Read: focus on prosody (reading with expression)
Third read: focus on comprehension

All our teaching assistants are also trained in using reading prompts effectively to help move children’s reading forward. There’s an emphasis on selecting books that will enthuse the children, focusing in on their strengths as readers and developing other skills that will move them towards becoming confident, independent readers.

Phonics and Reading

In Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, children engage in lively interactive Phonics sessions that combine synthetic phonics with early reading skills. At Snodland, we believe in giving children a sound foundation in Phonics alongside skills in problem-solving, fluency, comprehension and self-monitoring. We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds programme across the school to ensure greater consistency for our children; they learn and practise sounds and tricky words, then practise reading and rereading texts which use the sounds and words they have learned, both in school and at home.  Until our children become ‘free readers’, we use the Collins Big Cat Letters and Sounds scheme of decodable readers, which link to the Little Wandle phonics scheme. 

The children also take home non-decodable books for their parents to read to them, in order to broaden their vocabulary and understanding of the world as well as developing a love of books.  All our teachers and teaching assistants have completed the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds training to ensure consistency across the school. 

Pathways to Read

From Year 2 upwards, we follow Pathways to Read. The text provided, are all based around engaging stories and topics that the children really care about. The planning incorporates high-quality discussions that revolve around the essence of rich language. The programme gives pupils the opportunity to participate in fluency practice and a variety of reading activities, allowing them to enhance their vocabulary, make predictions, retrieve information and respond effectively using their mastery keys.

Many of the recommendations from ‘The Reading Framework’ are threaded throughout the programme. This includes a greater emphasis on reading fluency and pupils actively participating in oracy and reading aloud.

Reading Environment 

At our school, we're passionate about fostering a love of reading in every child. We know that engaging with books is a powerful way for children to learn and grow. We make sure we invest time in making our book corners vibrant and welcoming, and a space for all children to recognise aspects of themselves and their own, unique world, as well as to learn more about different people and their differing worlds.

To keep things fresh and exciting, we rotate and replenish the books in our book corners each short term. This means the books your child encounters might be relevant to their current learning topics or cater to their individual interests. We also want to expose children to a diverse range of authors and genres they might not discover at home.

Beyond the classroom, our school library is a buzzing hub for reading. It's a vibrant yet cosy space where children can immerse themselves in books. The library is a flexible and welcoming environment, perfect for: enjoying with their teachers and classes during dedicated library time; quiet reading alone, or with friends, during lunch breaks; and browsing and reading with parents after school.

We believe that by providing these rich and varied opportunities, we can truly ignite a passion for reading in all our children. We encourage you to ask your child about the books they're enjoying and explore our library together!