At the heart of everything we do at Hanley Swan there is a broad and balanced curriculum that is delivered with enthusiasm to ensure steady progress. When children leave Hanley Swan we want them to have developed a love and passion for reading and to be able to discuss fiction and non-fiction texts using the skills that they have been taught.
We begin by delivering a strong foundation in phonics, in small groups, so that the children have the skills to decode and have the beginnings of being a fluent reader. This means that the children are accurate, read at an appropriate pace, take note of the punctuation and have good prosody/expression. This is critical so that further reading skills can be developed because fluency is the bridge between reading and understanding.
Fluency is taught through:
Once the children are fluent we add in other reading skills such as:
At Hanley Swan the love of reading is deeply encouraged through book discussions, story times, book sharing and books are ingrained into the curriculum at every opportunity. Our school library is designed by the children and a wonderful place to enjoy a good book. We have book clubs, visits from librarians and a strong link to the High School which means that students from the High School also work with the children developing a love for reading.
Children are assessed regularly to ensure progress and that the reading book levels are just right for maximum enjoyment!