Reading
The Teaching of Reading
Our teaching of reading encompasses all four key areas: fluency, decoding, comprehension, and reading for pleasure. We believe that every child should develop the skills to read with accuracy, confidence and understanding, while also nurturing a lifelong love of books. Reading is taught through a balance of approaches, including close reading and extended reading, alongside regular fluency lessons.
Children learn to decode confidently through systematic phonics, develop fluency through structured practice, and strengthen comprehension by engaging with carefully chosen, high-quality texts (fiction, non-fiction, and poetry). We also place strong emphasis on reading for pleasure, encouraging pupils to enjoy books independently, with peers, and as a whole class. Every class has a class reader which is read aloud daily, supporting vocabulary development, shared enjoyment, and deeper engagement with texts.
Curriculum Organisation
Reading is planned and taught using objectives from the National Curriculum, ensuring that pupils experience a wide variety of whole texts across English and the wider curriculum. Reading provision includes:
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Extra 1:1 reading sessions for targeted pupils.
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Daily phonics sessions, using the Read Write Inc. programme, for pupils in Foundation Stage and Key Stage One and for targeted pupils in Key Stage Two.
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Regular fluency lessons designed to build accuracy, pace and expression in reading.
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Exposure to a wide range of quality literature, carefully chosen to broaden children’s understanding of language and the world around them.
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Planned opportunities for independent, paired and shared reading.
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Whole class reading sessions - close and extended reading lessons
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Strong links between reading and writing, especially through the novel study approach and across the wider curriculum.
Promoting Reading for Pleasure
We recognise the value of children sharing books with adults, whether at school or at home. Each child takes home two types of books:
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A decodbale book or phonically-matched book linked to the progression of the Read Write Inc. phonics scheme.
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A book from our class collections, chosen to promote reading for pleasure and to be shared with family members.
In addition, children have access to the school library and are encouraged to select books that reflect their interests.
To further promote the enjoyment of reading, we arrange a variety of activities, including World Book Day, National Poetry Day, booknics, secret storyteller sessions, and author visits, all of which help to foster a positive culture of reading across the school.
The document below outlines our reading curriculum in greater depth.