Schools are now familiar with the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (EIF) 2019 and are aware that every inspection in primary schools will include a “deep dive” in reading.

A key focus of any reading deep dive will be on establishing whether a school has strong phonics teaching; however, school leaders and teachers must also show that they are aiming to develop understanding of language and enjoyment of reading from early years onwards.  In Gill Jones’ blog https://educationinspection.blog.gov.uk/2019/11/04/early-reading-and-the-education-inspection-framework/ she notes the seven aspects of early reading inspectors will look at including whether teachers instil in children a love of literature: the best stories and poems.

Once the school has decided on an ambitious literature framework for their children (See P28 of The Reading Framework for an audit on encouraging a love of reading for guidance and a Storytime Audit) the next steps are to work on delivering memorable and inspiring story times. This session will provide your teachers and support staff with specific training in reading stories to their classes in an engaging and effective way.

This free session, led by Patrice Baldwin, ‘Drama for Learning’ trainer, will help teachers to read stories to (and with) their classes, in engaging, interactive and dialogic ways.  Activities will be offered that help support and develop children’s active listening and reading skills and deepen their knowledge and understanding of the stories that teachers read to (and with) them.  Strategies for stimulating and scaffolding the children’s thinking and inter-thinking about the characters, settings and plots in a story will be considered, as will ways of focussing on images, the text and the interplay between them in picture books.  The use of preparatory activities for introducing unfamiliar vocabulary and the use of follow-up activities, such as ‘active storytelling’ and ‘story-mapping’, will also be considered.

Objectives:

• To increase teachers’ knowledge and understanding of strategies they can use, before, during and after reading a story to a class
• To focus on dialogic teaching and learning in relation to children’s thinking and inter-thinking, about stories they have heard together.
• To help teachers consider when and why they might purposefully pause, whilst reading a story

Outcomes:

• Teachers will be able to confidently plan for and use new strategies before, during and/or after a story-reading
• Teachers will reflect on the cognitive and affective impact on their children, of using the various new, interactive strategies

This session is free and for VNET members only.