Reading at Gade Valley

At Gade Valley Primary School, we value reading as a key life skill, and are dedicated to enabling our pupils to become lifelong readers. We believe reading is vital for success and that for pupils to achieve in reading, they need to have an embedded love of reading. We have many initiatives in place to help engage and encourage our pupils.

Golden Tickets

At Gade Valley, we encourage our pupils to read at home at least five times a week. When the pupils have read five times, there are given a Willy Wonka Golden Ticket, which is then put into an exciting weekly draw. The EYFS/KS1 and KS2 winners are announced during our weekly sharing assembly and are presented with a delicious Wonka Bar by none other than Willy Wonka and his Oompa Loompas!

Reading certificates

Reading at home is rewarded with special stamps in Reading Records and Planners, as well as certificates and badges. The pupils can earn the following rewards:

• 50 reads earns you the red reading certificate
• 100 reads earns you the bronze reading certificate
• 150 reads earns you the silver reading certificate
• 200 reads earns you the gold reading certificate
• 250 reads earns you the blue reading certificate and silver star badge
• 300 reads earns you the yellow reading certificate and gold star badge

Once upon a time

Pupils at Gade Valley finish each day with a 15-20 minute ‘Once upon a time’ reading session in which the teachers model reading for pleasure using a high quality text. These sessions help create a calm learning environment which is conducive to reading for enjoyment.

Whole school events

To celebrate books and reading, we organise many events throughout the school year. Some of these events include Roald Dahl Day, Book Week, World Book Day, Storytelling Week, drama workshops led by external companies, author visits and an annual summer holiday reading competition. We organise regular Buddy Reading sessions where classes are paired up from across the school to read together. In addition to this, we have surprise Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) sessions, which are announced by our Eco Council playing musical instruments around the school. Every year, the school enjoys a visit from the Scholastic Book Fair, which provides pupils with opportunities to discover new authors.