Functional Reading
At Stanley School, reading is meaningful and purposeful. Functional reading skills enable our pupils to navigate daily life with greater independence and confidence.
Reading for Real Life
Functional reading means using reading skills for genuine, everyday purposes: understanding signs and symbols that help with navigation and safety, reading instructions to complete tasks independently, accessing information for daily activities like choosing meals or finding items, making choices using written information such as menus or timetables, and staying safe by reading warnings and notices.
Starting with What Matters Most
We begin with environmental print and symbols that pupils encounter every day. Around school, this includes classroom labels, toilet signs, fire exit signs, visual timetables, and menu boards. In the community, pupils learn to read shop names and logos, road signs and pedestrian crossings, public transport information, café and restaurant signs, and supermarket sections. They also read personal items like names on belongings, clothing labels, food packaging, and personal timetables.
Embedding Reading Throughout the Day
Functional reading happens naturally during morning routines when pupils read visual timetables and check personal schedules. At Snack, they read "menus" and make choices, follow pictorial recipes when cooking, and understand food labels. During learning activities, they follow visual instructions, read equipment labels, and use written checklists. On community visits, they read shopping lists, find items using labels, read prices when making purchases, and follow directions using signs.
How Skills Progress
Pupils begin by recognising their own name and familiar names, matching objects to photographs, and understanding that symbols carry meaning. They progress to reading familiar logos and signs, following multistep visual instructions, and building sight vocabulary of common words. Eventually, they read and follow written instructions independently, use written information to solve problems, and adapt their reading strategies for different purposes.
Our Teaching Approach
We make reading meaningful by using real objects and authentic materials like actual food packaging, shop receipts, and genuine forms. Teaching happens in the context where reading will be used, with practice in real situations. Consistent use of the same symbols and signs across school, combined with frequent opportunities to practise, builds automaticity and confidence.
We begin with high levels of support, using visual support alongside text and providing models and examples, then gradually reduce prompts as skills develop. We celebrate when pupils use functional reading independently, highlighting how their reading skills increase their independence and sharing achievements with families.
Resources and Partnership Working
We use a symbol system called Widgit to create personalised visual support such as timetables and choice boards, real-life materials, photographs of familiar places, and technology including apps for shopping lists, visual timers, and communication aids.
Working closely with families, we identify functional reading priorities for each pupil, share strategies that work in school, provide resources for practising at home, and celebrate progress in real-world contexts.
We assess functional reading through observation in natural contexts, examining how much support is needed, whether skills transfer to different places, and evaluating the impact on independence. Targets are specific to individual needs, meaningful and relevant to daily life, achievable with appropriate support, and reviewed regularly with input from pupils and families.
Our functional reading programme prepares pupils for greater independence in school and community, successful transitions, employment opportunities where appropriate, adult life with maximum independence, and safety through understanding warnings and instructions.