English
Reading at Offmore
Reading is at the heart of Offmore and we are passionate about empowering children to become lifelong readers. We have an inviting and well-stocked library where classes can often be found snuggled up with a book or eagerly listening to an adult or older child read.
Take a look at our Library!
Early reading policy
offmore phonics and early reading policy 2026.pdf
Offmore Reading Spine
During English lessons, and other lessons across the curriculum, children are exposed to a wide range of rich texts and different genres. They get to explore both fiction and non-fiction books and this gives them the opportunity to understand both the texts' audience and themes.
Guided Reading
Guided reading sessions focus on the teaching of reading skills and enable the children to confidently retrieve information, become familiar with new vocabulary and develop their love of reading. We use Reading Vipers to help develop our skills of:
V - Vocabulary
I - Inference
P - prediction
E - explanation
R - Retrieval
S - Summarise/sequence
Below are some examples of what VIPERS looks like across the different key stages.
Coming soon!
Phonics
The beginning of phonics at Offmore Primary School starts in our Ducklings (2 year olds). Children learn and practise many of the skills that they need for reading and writing from a very early age. They do this through a wide range of activities and experiences, at home, in settings and in school. They explore and learn through singing and saying rhymes, making and listening to music, talking with others, sharing books with adults and other children, dressing up, experimenting with writing and using puppets and toys to retell and make up stories.
When children enter the Reception class they take part in high quality phonics sessions every day.
At Offmore Primary School we The Offmore Alien Systematic Synthetic Phonics programme our very own friendly Offmore alien mascot who teaches us actions for each sound and a jingle for the letter formation.
Please find out more by clicking the link below to take you to our Early Reading phonics page.
Home Reading
All children at Offmore are expected to read at home with an adult at least 3 times a week and for it to be recorded in their reading diaries. Our belief is that this doesn't only help to develop their reading skills but also promotes a lifelong love of reading. We have a school leader board in the hall and each week the class teacher works out the percentage of children that have read the required amount of times at home. These scores then get added to our leader board so everyone can see which class is doing the most reading. Children that have read the required amount of times each week are entered into a prize draw for a special Tea Party at the end of each half term.
As the children move through the different Key Stages they become more independent in recording what they have read in their diaries. Children will work their way through book band colours until they become free readers. We feel it is really important for children to choose their own books as this promotes reading for pleasure and is more enjoyable for the children. Each class has their own selection of books that children can use to read in school.
English in the Early Years
Take a look at the stories and rhymes they cover whilst in Early Years;
Early Years story telling journey
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development in English
english smsc statement complete.pdf
Useful Websites
These links take you to sites with lots of different games to help you develop your reading skills.
GENRE
ttp://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/mythmachine.htm
GRAMMAR
http://www.funenglishgames.com/grammargames.html
http://www.slimekids.com/games/grammar-games/
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hme/k_5/grammar/
