English Reading
Welcome to English at Gorsemoor
It is our belief, that the purpose of education is to provide young people with the knowledge and skills to prepare children for their diverse working lives, build character, teach knowledge for its own intrinsic value and ignite a love of learning. We believe that English is the bedrock of our curriculum. The ability to read unlocks a wealth of information across the whole curriculum and beyond, allowing our pupils to travel to far off places, discover endless fascinating facts and see the world from a different perspective. Writing enables them to communicate this knowledge and their own ideas, opinions and feelings. We aim to provide pupils with a rich bank of vocabulary and speaking and listening skills to enable them to express these thoughts and views considerately and effectively. At Gorsemoor Primary School, we strive to promote the relationship between reading and writing and encourage a life-long love of literature, which will continue to inspire them throughout their futures.
English: unlocking the voices of others; facilitating our own.
Reading
At Gorsemoor Primary School we teach reading through a Whole Class Reading approach, allowing all pupils to experience and appreciate a rich variety of texts and develop key comprehension skills. We also recognise and actively promote the importance of reading for pleasure and aim to instill in pupils a lifelong love of reading and an understanding of the relationship between Reading and Writing. A priority of our Covid-19 response has been to ensure that pupils are still able to access high quality reading resources through remote learning and that a love for reading continues to be fostered through daily story time, author activities and the continuation of our Rainbow Readers scheme.
Click here to download the I am a reader document
Through Whole Class Reading from Year 1-6 pupils are introduced to the Reading VIPERS (Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explanation, Retrieval and Sequencing / Summarising). This consistent approach throughout school enables pupils to become secure in each skill as they are introduced and further consolidated. Through Reading lessons, pupils are exposed to a wide variety of texts taken from a range of sources including whole books, excerpts, newspapers and magazines as well as video and picture stimuli.
The Reading VIPERS focus on each of the following skills:
KS1 Content Domain Reference |
VIPER |
1a draw on knowledge of vocabulary to understand texts |
Vocabulary |
1b identify/ explain key aspects of fiction and non-fiction, such as characters, events, titles and information. |
Retrieve |
1c identify and explain the sequences of events in texts |
Sequence |
1d make inferences from the text |
Infer |
1e predict what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far |
Predict |
KS2 Content Domain Reference |
VIPER |
2a Give/explain the meaning of words in context |
Vocabulary |
2b retrieve and record information/ identify key details from fiction and non/fiction |
Retrieve |
2c summarise main ideas from more than one paragraph |
Summarise |
2d make inferences from the text/ explain and justify inferences with evidence from the text |
Infer |
2e predict what might happen from details stated or implied |
Predict |
2f identify/explain how information/ narrative content is related and contributes to meaning as a whole |
Explain |
2g identify/explain how meaning is enhanced through choice of words and phrases |
Explain |
2h make comparisons within a text |
Explain |

