Reading

Our readers are engaged thinkers. They approach reading with a sense of wonder and purpose. They enjoy a variety of texts understanding, discussing and critiquing what they have read.

At Beaconsfield Upper Primary School, we have a strong emphasis on literacy and reading. We want students to be engaged thinkers, approaching reading with a sense of wonder and purpose. We want students to read a variety of texts, understanding, discussing and critiquing what they have read.

There are several elements for students to focus on when learning to read, and at BUPS we incorporate all of these in our instructional model:

• Phonics – Students are explicitly taught the sounds we use in English and the letters and combinations of letters that can represent these sounds. This is a complex process and one that is taught to students explicitly, systematically and cumulatively, allowing students many opportunities to practice and consolidate their understanding.
• Quality texts – We use decodable texts to build the foundational skills for students to become proficient readers. Using their understanding of phonics, students practice the skills of sounding out and blending to read text that contains the sounds they know and are learning. Once students are competent with these foundational skills, students explore a range of complex texts and quality literature to further their reading skills.
• Comprehension – Student’s understanding of text is just as important as their ability to read the words on a page. At BUPS, students have opportunities to listen and attend to the meaning of quality, rich literature texts through our text-based units, to learn new vocabulary, build their background knowledge, comprehend what they are reading and analyse aspects of literature and how texts are put together by authors.
• Enjoyment – We want all students to develop a love of reading, so they are given opportunities to read texts of their choosing simply for enjoyment and discovery. This also translates into students reading at home, where students can borrow quality texts from their classroom and the library to share with their families and read and listen together.