About this curriculum
At EVPS the sharing and love of books is a huge priority to us, as we want children to love reading as much as we do. From their very first days at EVPS, our children are on this reading journey with us.
We aim to create pupils who can access texts with fluency and comprehension, so that they gain the independent skills necessary for accessing learning throughout school and throughout life. By helping children become readers, especially in their own eyes, we will enable them to be thinkers and learners, and be able to question and understand the world. They will learn to read, and in turn, they will read to learn.
Pupils will learn to read through explicit instruction, practice and experience, and they will have reading woven throughout all their learning. Developing the vocabulary of our children is also a key aim. Through the texts chosen and book activities, we will continuously extend their receptive and expressive language. We aim for pupils to feel confident that they are readers, and to understand what they get from their reading – meet new people, learn new facts, find out about other places, consider different points of view, experience adventure, experience different emotions through stories that are shared throughout the school, develop compassion for others and understand their place in the world.
Working Together
We work closely with families to develop children's love of reading and to ensure children make great progress in this key area of learning.
Here are a list of useful websites for promoting reading at home:
WORDS FOR LIFE
This site has lots of tips to get children reading; fun stuff to do; book recommendations; ideas for all ages up to end of KS2
Words for Life | National Literacy Trust | Words for Life
BOOKTRUST
This is an extensive site giving tips on how to share books; book lists & recommendations; catering for all ages including adults. Highly recommended.
BookTrust: Getting children reading | BookTrust
OXFORD OWL
Free eBooks; advice and tips for supporting children in KS1 & KS2; lots of games & activities that support reading skills; links to Oxford reading schemes. Definitely worth a look.
THE GUARDIAN
An excellent site dealing with all things ‘bookish’ – author interviews; reader reviews; what’s hot and what’s not... Probably most suited for kiddies who already have the reading habit, but a useful site for parents to keep up to date with children’s books.
Children's books | Childrens-books-site | The Guardian
LOVE READING 4 KIDS
This site regularly updates its reading lists for specific age groups. It gives synopses, reviews & recommendations. Useful for keeping abreast of what’s popular in children’s fiction.
Buy a Book. Support a School. Make a Difference | LoveReading4Kids UK
FIRST SCHOOL YEARS
Provides a checklist of tips for hearing your child read.
Tips on hearing your child read (firstschoolyears.com)
NETMUMS
Top ten tips on hearing your child read and a few related links.
Top ten tips to help your child read - Netmums
The Joy of Great Story!
Nothing beats sharing a beautiful book with your child and doing this on a regular basis, as part of your home routines, will bring enormous benefits to your child in terms of their reading skills and vocabulary development. Watch this video clip to see a master story teller at work! Michael Rosen shows us how we can use different voices, actions and expressions to really bring a book to life.
Michael Rosen performs We're Going on a Bear Hunt (youtube.com)
