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Reading

Reading is at the heart of our curriculum. We encourage children to develop a positive attitude towards literature of all kinds and believe that parents play a vital role in this process. Children learn the knowledge and skills to become confident readers, so that they can read for both pleasure and information.

We want the children in our school to:

  • Enjoy reading all genre of books and appreciate the value and worth of reading in everyday life.
  • Read a range of different kinds of reading material fluently and with understanding
  • Make choices about the sorts of texts that they enjoy
  • Use reading skills to search for information
  • Use a full range of reading cues (e.g. phonics, grammar and context)
  • Read ‘between the lines’ and behind the images
  • Be exposed to literature that is beyond their current experience and fluency.

We use a number of different strategies to promote a child’s love of books and encourage them to become confident, independent readers. Children are provided with many opportunities to read, enjoy and share books as well as being emerged in language rich environments with access to a breadth of vocabulary and print. We have a range of reading books for children to borrow alongside a non-fiction library that contains a wide range of reading materials to support children of all abilities.

Throughout the school day children are provided with many opportunities to develop and strengthen their literacy skills. These include:

  • Daily phonics sessions in Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1
  • Daily supported reading sessions in Year 1
  • A focused reading programme in KS2 which allows for discussion, analysis and written responses to text
  • A focus text used in literacy lessons
  • Home reading books and a reading diary to record in
  • A class novel
  • Opportunities to role play and act out fictional scenes
  • Meeting real life authors

Where it has been identified that children need additional support to meet age related expectations, the school offer a range of intervention support strategies including:

  • Daily precision reading
  • Additional 1:1 reading with an adult or volunteer
  • Computer based intervention support programmes

Our school maintains a large stock of reading books for children to borrow and take home. These are organised according to different colour bands. The bands link to our school assessments. Staff regularly check and assess children’s ability to ensure the children take home books carefully pitched to their ability level.

Book Level Guide 2020 – 2021

  • 6th December 2024

    Our Autumn 2024 Pen License Winners

    Our Autumn 2024 Pen License Winners

    At Southwold, we take great pride in our beautiful cursive handwriting and excellent presentation. This week, children in Year 3 achieved their pen licenses and we could not be more…

    6th December 2024
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 25th September 2024

    Year 2 Explores Traditional Tales with Rapunzel

    Year 2 Explores Traditional Tales with Rapunzel

    Year 2 have been diving into traditional tales and were excited to meet Rapunzel in Literacy! They prepared questions and took turns role-playing as her in the hot seat, answering…

    25th September 2024
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 3rd May 2024

    ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’ With EYFS

    ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’ With EYFS

    EYFS have enjoyed immersing themselves in the story ‘We're Going On A Bear Hunt’ by Michael Rosen. Inspired by the book, they recreated the forest scene using natural materials.  

    3rd May 2024
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 5th March 2024

    Hand Writers Of The Month

    Hand Writers Of The Month

    Southwold celebrated the children who were awarded hand writer of the month for consistent high quality letter formation and joins in their writing in all areas of the curriculum. Big…

    5th March 2024
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 16th January 2024

    Make Sandwiches With Year 1

    Make Sandwiches With Year 1

    Year 1 enjoyed their food workshop on 'following instructions'. They used their step-to-step guide to make their own delicious jam sandwiches. They look scrumptious!

    16th January 2024
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 19th December 2023

    Our 2023 Pen License Holders

    Our 2023 Pen License Holders

    Congratulations to the last of our pen license holders for 2023 for showing the best care and presentation in their handwriting and work. Well done! 

    19th December 2023
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 15th November 2023

    Spelling Bee Winners

    Spelling Bee Winners

    Congratulations to our Spelling Bee runners up for getting through the Federation finals and coming home with trophies. We are all very proud!

    15th November 2023
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 1st November 2023

    Spelling Bee Finalists

    Spelling Bee Finalists

    After much anticipation the Spelling Bee #finalists have been announced. They will be competing with Orchard and Hoxton at the federation finals. We wish them the best of luck! 

    1st November 2023
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 20th September 2023

    First Week In EYFS

    First Week In EYFS

    EYFS had a great start to their first week in school! They enjoyed forming new friendships and exploring their new classrooms.

    20th September 2023
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 9th June 2023

    EYFS Minibeast Hunt

    EYFS Minibeast Hunt

    The children in EYFS enjoyed their minibeast hunt around their playground. One of them even found a woodlouse!

    9th June 2023
    jbrowne

  • 24th May 2023

    Our New Pen License Holders

    Our New Pen License Holders

    Well done to our new pen license holders who have shown great care and pride in their handwriting and presentation this half term!

    24th May 2023
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 16th March 2023

    Guest Author Visits KS2

    Guest Author Visits KS2

    KS2 had a special visit from author, Danny Wallace.  He shared his experience of how he become an author and the many books he has written, giving a sneak preview…

    16th March 2023
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 3rd March 2023

    Pen Licenses Award

    Pen Licenses Award

    Congratulations to our new pen licenses winners who have worked incredibly hard on their handwriting and presentation this week! We are very proud of you!

    3rd March 2023
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 22nd February 2023

    Pen Licenses Award

    Pen Licenses Award

    Congratulations to those who were awarded their pen licenses this week for showing excellent handwriting and pride in their presentation!

    22nd February 2023
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 6th January 2023

    Year 1 Make Sandwiches

    Year 1 Make Sandwiches

    To kick start the New Year, Year 1 have been learning about verbs and instruction writing in Literacy. They then completed a fun activity in pairs, where they followed instructions…

    6th January 2023
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 22nd September 2022

    Year 3 Narrate ‘The Stone Age Boy’

    Year 3 Narrate ‘The Stone Age Boy’

    Year 3 enjoyed retelling the story, 'The Stone Age Boy' in first person to the whole class. They used emotive language to describe feelings and expanded noun phrases to describe…

    22nd September 2022
    Fabiha Sultana

  • 3rd February 2022

    Librarians Busy at Work

    Librarians Busy at Work

    The librarians have been working really hard in their jobs. They have been ensuring the book shelves are tidy and the books are in the correct boxes. The Year 6…

    3rd February 2022
    jbrowne

  • 29th January 2021

    Reception Phonics

    Reception Phonics

    The children in Reception have now learnt all of the initial sounds. They have now started to use  sounds to write sentences in their daily Phonics sessions. Some children have…

    29th January 2021
    bshore

  • 16th September 2019

    Drama for Writing in Year 2!

    Drama for Writing in Year 2!

    Year 2 are reading 'Prince Cinders' in their Literacy lessons. To help them with their writing the children took it in turns to role-play being the prince and the hairy,…

    16th September 2019
    bshore

  • 16th September 2019

    Learning to be healthy in Year 1!

    Learning to be healthy in Year 1!

    This half term Year 1 have been learning about how to stay healthy. The children in Swan Class had a great time sorting healthy and unhealthy lifestyle choices in their Literacy…

    16th September 2019
    bshore