Reading

Reading is a vital tool for learning and for life.  Here at Westwood with Iford School we believe that in order for children to become able and independent readers they need to have:

• Fluency – children who can read at a comfortable speed with appropriate expression.
  

• Accuracy – children who can ‘decode’ words they are reading without interrupting the flow.
  

• Understanding – children who can follow the content of what they read.
  

• Enjoyment and confidence—children who will become lifelong readers because it is a useful and pleasurable thing to do.
  

One of the best ways you can support your child at home is to read with them. 

Research has shown that parents who read regularly with their children and model good reading are supporting their language development and love of books.


Here to help


We talk a lot about phonics and the teaching of reading has changed quite significantly over time. Here is a glossary of terms you may have (hopefully!) heard your child mention:

Phonics – the learning of letters and sounds

Phoneme – the sound a letter makes

Grapheme – the written letter

Blending – running sounds together to make a word

Segmenting – breaking a word up into its component sounds

Tricky words – words that cannot be decoded using phonics

cvc – c = consonant (b/c/d/f), v = vowel (a/e/ee)

Digraph - a sound made with two letters eg. sh  ai  oi

Phonetically plausible – written phonetically that it can still be read although it is spelt incorrectly eg. torl  werk  cabij