Reading at Ecclesall Primary School
EPS Reading Recommendations
Our EPS reading recommendations come from the Books for Topics website which consists of a range of high-quality and diverse books appropriate for primary age children. Contributions from a community of people including teachers, librarians, education lecturers and children’s authors make up the team of professionals who select the books. With a panel of 50 reviewers from across the primary education community, new books are tried out in a variety of school settings before they are recommended.
Every class in school displays the list of recommended titles and the books are available for children to read. Classrooms provide rich reading environments and reading areas. Children have access to a wide range of high quality fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts within the classroom and in our school library. Story-time books are selected to ensure that they broaden children’s experiences of literature, life, diversity and cultures. Teachers select the books to include in story times, book clubs and as book study titles. Our list of books promote reading for pleasure, discussion and learning throughout school.
The range of books on each year group list include some of the following;
- a balanced list of books crucial for developing language and literacy skills
- a range of high quality books with strong visuals for high interest levels
- stories about real life experiences including social issues and understanding of different emotions
- examples of diverse and inclusive titles with characters that are traditionally underrepresented in children’s books
- themes including different types of families, physical disabilities, BAME main characters, real life heroes and characters with medical conditions
- classics such as Mog, The Iron Man, Charlotte’s Web and Tom’s Midnight Garden
- rhyming and poetry books
- a selection of fiction and nonfiction texts
- books with engaging illustrations,
- larger than life memorable characters
- enjoyable to read aloud
- increasing complexity of themes
- books are selected either for reading independently or together with an adult
- many titles chosen especially for making children laugh
- protecting the planet
- chapter books suitable for older children
- titles that help children to think critically
Reading Intent:
At EPS our promise is to make reading irresistible for all children so that they acquire a lifelong love of reading, books and authors. Reading will always be prioritised so that children become motivated, fluent, skilled and attentive readers, who develop understanding and confidence to ensure the process is pleasurable and enriching.
Implementation: To achieve our aim of encouraging the love of literature, children are exposed to a wide range of high quality reading material. Staff use reading as a stimulus to excite children’s imagination, engage interest, develop thinking and expand their vocabulary.
From the earliest opportunity our children enjoy a wide range of stories, rhymes, poems and songs. Each year group read books from their recommended reading list and adults regularly share different texts with their class. Children talk about and identify which books they enjoy, through story times, discussions, play, book clubs, peer to peer book reviews and library visits. We are very proud of our school library and children visit with their class to enjoy the space and to listen to and choose a range of texts and genres.
Classrooms provide rich reading environments and reading areas. Children have access to a wide range of high quality fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts within the classroom and in our school library. Story-time books are selected to ensure that they broaden children’s experiences of literature, life, diversity and cultures. Each year group has a list of texts which are available in the class reading area for children to access. We are dedicated to making reading as high-profile as possible, with reading workshops, book studies, visits to the community library, author assemblies, Book Week (coinciding with the national ‘World Book Day’), our annual book fair, The Sheffield Book Awards, poetry day and author visits arranged throughout the school year. Children read independently across all subjects every day.
Impact:
All children will develop a love of reading and will be able to talk confidently about the books they enjoy making connections and comparisons between genres, texts and authors. They will develop the skills to become fluent, confident and able readers supporting their learning across the whole curriculum. The strong foundations we provide will underpin our children’s future learning and ultimately their ability to become effective communicators. We want all children to love books and reading.
Recommended Reads