Intent:

Reading provides us with so much more than words on a page. It opens us up to a whole world of wonder, amazement and opportunities.  At Riverside School we believe in sharing a love for reading with every pupil in a way which is both meaningful and personalised.  This may include sharing stories through puppetry; storytelling; sensory stories; multi-sensory approaches; massage stories; sharing a story; or just simply reading or listening to a book as a class.  Every pupil at Riverside School is supported to be able to access reading in their own individual way through our Foundation, Phase 2, Phase 3, Phase 4, Phase 5 and Free Readers pathway.

Implementation:

At Riverside School we are on a reading journey committed to ensuring we are giving our pupils the most appropriate and meaningful phonetical and Literacy education possible.  We use a variety of reading approaches to meet the diverse needs of all pupils following our pathways to reading using the Little Wandle Systematic Synthetic Phonics scheme, including a Foundation pathway using a pre-phonics approach where we use the engagement areas as a support. At Riverside School we are committed to ensuring that every pupil has the opportunity to access a personalised curriculum and we believe including their reading journey should be no different. Adaptations to the Little Wandle scheme is made in a personalised manner to achieve this.

Impact:

Our aim is for all pupils to share a love of reading. This might be through learning to read using the Systematic Synthetic Phonics or to be immersed in stories which further develops their language. Depending on which learning pathway pupils take will guide what ‘Reading at Riverside’ looks like for them. We have high aspirations for all of our pupils. For those pupils on Phase 2, 3, 4 and 5 we are working towards supporting them to access who can access a range of texts for pleasure and enjoyment. Our aim is for these skills to be transferred beyond the classroom whether this is around Riverside School within the Riverside Lounge creating menus, serving customers or ordering food. Moreover, we aspire for pupils to continue to apply their learning beyond Riverside School, providing opportunities and skills for life, at home and in the community.

Click the links to the right for further information on our Pathways.