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Wessex Gardens Primary & Nursery School

Wessex Gardens Primary & Nursery School

Reading

VIPERS Reading Domains

Teaching children VIPERS reading skills at Wessex Gardens Primary School is essential as it helps them develop comprehension abilities that are crucial for academic success and lifelong learning. VIPERS stands for Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explanation, Retrieval, and Summarising/Sequencing, offering a structured framework for teaching reading comprehension.

Importance of Teaching VIPERS at Wessex Gardens Primary School:

  1. Develops Comprehensive Reading Skills

    • By breaking comprehension into key areas, VIPERS helps children at Wessex Gardens Primary School master essential skills needed to understand and analyse texts effectively.

  2. Builds Vocabulary

    • Explicitly teaching vocabulary allows children to understand more challenging texts and enhances their ability to express themselves clearly in both spoken and written language.

  3. Enhances Critical Thinking

    • Skills like inference and prediction encourage children to think more deeply about texts, make connections, and draw conclusions, supporting higher-order thinking.

  4. Improves Academic Outcomes

    • Strong reading comprehension underpins success across all subjects at Wessex Gardens, as it equips pupils with the ability to interpret and engage with written material in areas such as maths, science, and history.

  5. Supports Differentiation

    • VIPERS allows teachers at Wessex Gardens to focus on specific skills, making it easier to support pupils who may struggle with certain aspects of comprehension, while challenging those who are more advanced.

  6. Encourages Active Reading

    • Teaching children to ask questions, retrieve information, and summarise content fosters active engagement with texts rather than passive reading.

  7. Prepares for Formal Assessments

    • The VIPERS framework aligns closely with the comprehension skills assessed in national tests like the KS1 and KS2 SATs, ensuring pupils at Wessex Gardens are well-prepared.

  8. Fosters a Love for Reading

    • Helping children understand and enjoy a wide range of texts can inspire a lasting passion for reading.

  9. Develops Communication Skills

    • Explaining and summarising content enhances pupils' ability to articulate their thoughts clearly, improving communication skills in all areas.

  10. Supports Lifelong Learning

    • Comprehension skills are essential for navigating life, from reading instructions to critically analysing information in everyday situations.

By embedding VIPERS into the curriculum at Wessex Gardens Primary School, pupils are equipped with the tools to read with understanding, think critically, and communicate effectively—setting them up for success in education and beyond.

The posters below are displayed in each classroom.