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18/03/24

Y6 cyclists enjoyed a fantastic start to bikeability! Team Shakespeare learnt how to stay safe by controlling speed, looking over our shoulder for approaching traffic and how to signal to other road users a desired direction of travel. pic.twitter.com/yNKr3ctiyf

18/03/24

Y6 cyclists enjoyed a fantastic start to bikeability! Team Shakespeare learnt how to stay safe by controlling speed, looking over our shoulder for approaching traffic and how to signal to other road users a desired direction of travel. pic.twitter.com/grLClqOlUT

18/03/24

Y6 cyclists enjoyed a fantastic start to bikeability! Team Shakespeare learnt how to stay safe by controlling speed, looking over our shoulder for approaching traffic and how to signal to other road users a desired direction of travel. pic.twitter.com/nX2FE6OwVl

14/03/24

In DT, Year 2 have been experiencing different ways of joining fabric. They used staples, safety pins, sewing and gluing. pic.twitter.com/DILMMrnbon

14/03/24

Year 5 having great fun at the hockey festival pic.twitter.com/DaTjFGNt7o

13/03/24

Why not read a. Exciting science book this week in celebration of science week. We started the week with the mind-blowing book ‘Atoms’ (one of our beautiful new library books) and here are some further recommendations. pic.twitter.com/IgTGrIvliG

13/03/24

Our fantastic school choir performing at the Scholars’ Education Trust annual music concert. pic.twitter.com/QyiTeMpGRd

13/03/24

Year six basketball players deciding whether to pass or not in their tactics unit. pic.twitter.com/ZxfcsTZvSO

13/03/24

One of our wonderful year six pupils delivering a session on dyslexia and neurodiversity in advance of Autism Awareness Week. Amazing confidence and engagement with her audience and I particularly loved the book recommendations section! pic.twitter.com/qrO37QBJsf

13/03/24

Happy International Women’s Day to all our lovely girls, mums, aunties, grannies…Why not read one of these books about women who have changed the world…

13/03/24

A little late - but photos from Team Dahl's World Book Day trip to . We explored their wonderous library, solved riddles and delved into the mysteries of their cataloguing system! (2)#English pic.twitter.com/UIjtQNRGQ7

13/03/24

A little late - but photos from Team Dahl's World Book Day trip to . We explored their wonderous library, solved riddles and delved into the mysteries of their cataloguing system! (1)#English pic.twitter.com/yNfHmmfjOJ

12/03/24

Ladybirds have been investigating shadows this week as part of . We also added holes using a hole punch to see how this affected our shadows. pic.twitter.com/q5i3xR8Ame

12/03/24

Year 3 Investigating the motion of pendulums as part of pic.twitter.com/M5R8YtgjNq

11/03/24

Wishing the SET Muslim community the blessings of the holy month pic.twitter.com/McyutIKdIT

11/03/24

Y5 & Y6 keen writers were treated to a day of poetry, short and creative story writing. We were inspired by Simon Lamb’s ‘A Pocket Poem,’ Kit Wright’s ‘Magic Box’ and Harris Burdick’s picture stories. A fantastic day for our children to showcase their writing talents. pic.twitter.com/ERXPJ2GIcF

08/03/24

Happy International Women’s Day to all our lovely Harpenden Academy girls, mummies, aunties, grannies…Why not read one of these fantastic books about women who have changed the world…#reading pic.twitter.com/WYZFJBkiyY

08/03/24

What a wonderful morning already celebrating World Book Day: watching Gandalf teaching a lesson and receiving a visit from Harry Potter to share his book review! pic.twitter.com/7k8gldtIb8

07/03/24

Year 4 creating movie trailers for our class text Coming to England by pic.twitter.com/G2wejV5OGX

07/03/24

Book swop in Y6 went down a treat! pic.twitter.com/0AEbjKcHul

07/03/24

Ladybirds loved using the library today to choose books and enjoy them with their friends. pic.twitter.com/6ezryjUYvL

07/03/24

Year six reader enjoying their Drop Everything and Read session! pic.twitter.com/rPdCWUTY3O

07/03/24

Ladybirds have loved coming to school as their favourite characters today. Can you guess who we are? pic.twitter.com/vP5MrIQv6U

07/03/24

Elmer Class enjoyed a book themed PE lesson this morning. They made letters out of their bodies and did a book themed relay. pic.twitter.com/NgIu7U32In

07/03/24

Potter Class have been enjoying reading books for pleasure in the library this morning. pic.twitter.com/1AQeUzXo3u

Reading for Pleasure

March 2023 Parent Survey Results

An Intro to Reading in the Early Years ppt

At Harpenden Academy we recognise the relationship between attainment in and enjoyment of reading. We aim to develop positive attitudes towards reading and foster a love of books through the school’s enthusiastic reading culture. As a school we take specific action to ensure we are equipping pupils with the skills to become readers and to ensure reading is promoted as a high-value activity. We use the several strategies detailed in this report to organise reading for pleasure and support Harpenden Academy pupils in becoming confident, keen and capable readers.

Supporting Staff

In order to teach reading effectively, staff need to have the necessary knowledge and skills. Our monitoring cycle and staff self-review identifies areas of strength and weakness in teaching and these are addressed through whole school CPD; targeted ‘courses’ for individuals and further peer to peer support to share good practice. We use in-house expertise as much as possible to share good practice.

The structured, systematic teaching of phonics taught daily in Reception and KS1 using Jolly Phonics which ensures staff are equipped to cover all areas of phonics successfully. We use data analysis to identify areas of need and regularly review, and where necessary adjust, class and catch-up provision.

Teaching the Reading Curriculum

Our data analysis identifies pupils who have fallen or who are at risk of falling behind in their reading and interventions are put in place. These are either small teaching groups in addition to classroom provision or specific strategies used within whole class teaching to help accelerate progress. Half termly pupil progress review meetings between Senior Leaders and class teachers judge the impact of interventions and groupings are amended or teaching support redeployed according to need. We acknowledge that reading enjoyment and reading achievement are interdependent, so identification of need is key to ensuring all our pupils can participate fully in the reading curriculum.

Vocabulary development is recognised as a priority, so teachers use all available opportunities to clarify and extend pupils’ understanding of new words. Guided reading sessions are a prime opportunity to do this but new subject vocabulary is also introduced in science, maths and topic lessons. In the early years, pupils’ vocabulary extension is planned for within focus activities.

We recognise the need to increase pupils’ reading stamina and their independence, so pupils are given opportunities to read alone, silently, and as they reach KS2 also to complete ‘read and respond’ exercises to test their comprehension. They learn to make choices about what to read using the selection of books in the class ‘book box’ and from the Library.

Throughout school, teachers read aloud to their classes several times a week. We value reading aloud and hearing books read and recognise that sharing a text is a special time which should be guarded despite the time pressures of the curriculum.

Developing the Reading Environment

Each class in Reception and KS1 has its own book corner containing a range of reading materials. Each day, time is allocated for pupils to select books read in a ‘cosy corner’ or in other shared school spaces for example the outdoor garden. Our pupils enjoy reading together and can regularly be witnessed reading play-scripts aloud or sharing a big book with a friend.

The school library is a resource used by all classes, but is currently under development due to the move. The aim is that the school library can be used as a reference library to support teaching and learning in cross-curricular topic and subjects such as science, history and food technology. The school is designed, with large areas of open areas, like the library so it can increasingly be used for independent research, particularly as pupils move into upper Key Stage 2. We want pupils be involved in running the library so once restocking and cataloguing has taken place, Junior Librarians will be nominated and trained.

Corridor and classroom displays regularly show pupils work associated with key texts or authors e.g. Horrid Henry or Roald Dahl. This not only shows and celebrates what pupils have learnt but also extends the pupils’ knowledge of authors and ‘must reads’.

Reading is promoted and utilised in all subject areas, whether this be on-screen reading as part of topic research; keeping up to date by reading child friendly  websites; or using information books to extend knowledge in a range of subject areas.

Celebrating Reading

Adults in school are the pupils’ role models, so we demonstrate that we are readers by sharing with pupils what we are currently reading. Teachers and other adults talk enthusiastically about reading and weave their love of reading into assemblies and presentations. Authors and poets are invited into school and work with year groups.

Classes visit the local library to encourage membership and good habits outside school time.

Engaging Parents

Our families support pupils by reading with or to them each day, either after or before school, and signing their reading diaries. They are informed about pupils’ reading levels and of course attend Parents’ Evenings and school events to find out about the reading curriculum.

We know that we can do more to inform parents about and involve parents in reading for pleasure, so we use parent workshops to help parents learn about the methods we use.

Moving Forward

Raising pupils’ attainment in reading is a priority for every member of the school staff as is developing a love of reading. In the knowledge that excellence and enjoyment are reciprocal processes, we strive to enhance and support children’s reading, so Harpenden Academy pupils love to read because they can read.

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