At Blackwater, we believe that firm foundations in reading and writing are key to educational success.
Children are taught to read and write in reception through daily phonics sessions, with opportunities to practise their skills through well-planned, exciting, child-initiated activities.
From Reception, we use the Optima reading programme to hone reading skills daily. All children practise essential reading skills, then enjoy applying them to be able to read well-chosen and engaging texts.
Across the school, all children have lots of opportunities to read for pleasure; choosing from our well-stocked bookshelves including a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry as well as newspapers and magazines in every class. We have comfy and attractive reading areas throughout our school corridors.
We use the VIPERS question stems to build reading comprehension skills in our children; parents are given these too and encouraged to use them when reading with their child. In classes we regularly use Book Talk to further develop reading comprehension skills.
