At Nova Pioneer, we believe that a strong foundation in reading and phonics is essential for students to become confident, lifelong learners. Our comprehensive approach ensures that students not only learn to read but also develop a deep understanding of language that will serve them throughout their academic journey and beyond.

What is Guided Reading?

Guided reading is a cornerstone of our literacy instruction. This small-group instructional approach allows teachers to support each reader’s development by engaging them with texts that are appropriately challenging. During guided reading sessions, students read a text selected at their instructional level, and the teacher provides targeted instruction to help them build strategic reading skills. These sessions are crucial for developing the “in-the-head” networks of strategies that enable students to process increasingly complex texts. Through guided reading, students engage with every aspect of the reading process, which empowers them to apply these skills across all areas of learning.

Our Guided Reading Programme: Reading A-Z

At Nova Pioneer, our Guided Reading Programme utilises the Reading A-Z platform, which offers an extensive library of over a thousand texts across 29 reading levels. This programme ensures that our students in Grades R-5 receive weekly guided reading instruction tailored to their individual needs. The diverse range of texts includes multiple genres and covers a variety of school subjects, making reading both educational and engaging.

Reading A-Z also provides resources to support foundational reading skills, vocabulary, grammar, and writing, ensuring that students are well-rounded in their literacy development. This differentiated approach allows teachers to meet students where they are, providing the right level of challenge to help them progress confidently.

Blended Support: RAZ-Kids

To further support reading development, all Nova Pioneer students in Grades R-5 have access to RAZ-Kids. This award-winning platform offers a vast collection of leveled eBooks that students can access both during school hours and at home. With hundreds of eBooks available at 29 different reading levels, RAZ-Kids makes it easy for students to find content that matches their reading ability. This blended approach encourages continuous practice and reinforces the skills learned during guided reading sessions.

Phonics and Grammar Instruction: Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar

Phonics and grammar are critical components of our literacy instruction. We use the Jolly Phonics programme, a fun and multi-sensory method that teaches children to read and write from an early age. Instead of focusing on the alphabet, Jolly Phonics emphasises the 42 letter sounds that serve as the building blocks for decoding the English language. Students learn to blend these sounds to read words and to segment them when writing. 

The Jolly Phonics programme covers five key skills that are essential for mastering phonics:

1. Learning the letter sounds
2. Learning letter formation
3. Blending sounds for reading
4. Segmenting sounds for spelling
5. Recognising tricky words

As students progress, they are introduced to alternative spellings and continue to build on their phonics foundation with Jolly Grammar. This programme extends phonics instruction to include spelling, grammar, and punctuation concepts, all taught in a systematic and multi-sensory way. Through Jolly Grammar, students learn age-appropriate definitions and gradually build on them each year, deepening their understanding of how language works. This knowledge enables them to write clearly and expressively, laying the groundwork for effective communication.

At Nova Pioneer, our approach to reading and phonics is designed to build confident, capable readers and writers. By combining guided reading, differentiated resources, and comprehensive phonics instruction, we equip our students with the tools they need to succeed in all areas of learning. We are committed to nurturing a love of reading and providing the foundation for lifelong literacy success.

 

In celebration of ‘Make A Difference Day’ earlier this year, Nova Pioneer Midrand students successfully embarked on a book collection drive with the hope of donating their books to a school based in the Alexandra township, North of Johannesburg this December.  

The learning model of the Nova Pioneer schools fosters a great love of reading through daily read-aloud’s, guided reading and writers’ workshops. Our students donated pre-loved books to children who do not have easy access to books. “It was so heartwarming to see the enthusiasm from our Novaneers to share their books. They understand the magic of stories that lie between the covers of a book. Even the youngest students enjoy engaging with non-fiction text as they learn about the world around them,” says Jeanine Kerr, School Leader at Nova Pioneer Midrand.

Teachers know that the fastest and most effective way of improving academic results in children is to get them reading. Exposure to the written word builds vocabulary, comprehension, ability to predict and infer and improves writing skills. Other academic subjects also benefit indirectly from reading more. 

“As a school that is firmly entrenched in our culture principle, we believed that donating these books was an opportunity to give a gift of learning to other children,” says Kerr. 

Nova Pioneer Midrand offers private education and is currently enrolling from Grade 000 to Grade 7 in 2021.  For more information and application queries contact us via email on  admissions.midrand@novapioneer.com or call us on 064 946 6724.

Our Novaneers have once more shown us what it means to take charge of their own learning. The closing of schools did not mean books had to be shut for our students at Nova Pioneer, Ormonde. They carried our reading culture home as they continued to prepare for the South African Literacy Association reading competition which, for the first time, took place remotely.

 

National Winners

 

Despite the challenges brought by the pandemic, our students submitted videos of themselves reading their favourite books for the English Home Language prepared reading competition. Four of our students entered Reitumetse Mosikare and Lesedi Mosebo who both received a B symbol, Zahra Chalwe an A+ and Tshedza Sithagu an A++ in the provincial round. We wish to congratulate all these learners for their dedication to reading. 

Of these students, two proceeded to represent Nova Pioneer at the National Final Round. Zahra Chalwe contested in the English Home Language prepared reading grade 5 division. She was awarded 4th place after confidently reading from her book titled Wonder by R.J Palacio. Tshedza Sithagu who competed in the grade 6 division was awarded 3rd place after she had displayed her love of reading when she read from Horse for Angel.

 

“We Love Reading”

 

Tshedza Sithagu (Grade 6 student) expressed that she is beyond grateful for this opportunity. “Thank you for this award. I love reading and writing these are very close to my heart. I am excited and thankful for being recognised for my reading.”

This is what Zahra Chalwe (Grade 5 student) had to say, “Participating in the national rounds makes me feel proud, happy, nervous and excited. This is very big for me and, I know it will be hard and challenging but if I practice and try my best I know I will make it.”

At Nova Pioneer, we foster the culture of reading by allowing learners to choose the reading materials they wish to engage with. Furthermore, we provide platforms such as reading clubs to foster the love of reading outside of the classroom.

Written by Khensani Mabona – Resident Teacher at our Ormonde Campus.