Intent
Our reading curriculum is designed to ensure children are enriched in an engaging, relevant and aspiring manner. We aim to help children develop essential reading skills and a pleasure for reading that transcends beyond their current academic setting and enriching their daily life as global citizens. Texts introduce children to the colourful tapestry of life, including diversity and inclusion.
At the beginning of our reading journey, within EYFS, children develop good phonetic knowledge, teachers tailor learning to encapsulate the needs of all the children.
Within Key Stage One, we focus on
- fluency
- decoding skills
- vocabulary
- age-appropriate comprehension skills
Our curriculum theory is informed by The Simple View of Reading, which outlines the skills that contribute to early reading comprehension. We view individual’s reading comprehension as a product of their decoding skills and language comprehension, which is developed once decoding and fluency is secure.
Additionally, through daily reading sessions using high quality texts, learning is bespoke to the needs of the children and immerses children in rich vocabulary and appropriate skill progression.
Within Key Stage Two, at Harlescott Junior School
Reading is a vital part of our curriculum, designed to inspire a lifelong love of books and develop confident, fluent readers. Through a rich and diverse selection of texts, pupils explore a wide range of genres, authors, and cultures, deepening their comprehension and fluency skills. Our approach combines whole class reading through guided reading sessions, and independent reading opportunities, ensuring every child is supported and challenged appropriately. We believe that reading doesn’t just happen in a guided reading lesson but is a skill which is used in all parts of our curriculum.
Children also enjoy an age- appropriate daily story, nurturing a lovey of listening to books as much as reading them. As a point of development, we have put a strong emphasis on vocabulary development and discussion, helping pupils articulate their ideas and engage meaningfully with what they read. Reading at Key Stage 2 is not just about decoding words—it’s about understanding, enjoying, and connecting with stories and information in a meaningful way.
Implementation
The delivery of this curriculum will ensure:
- Reading is at the heart of our classrooms at Haughmond Schools; with classroom libraries or reading areas that children can frequently enjoy, and each day children’s love for reading is kindled through a daily story.
- Children are taught to read through a systematic, synthetic phonics helping them to become confident, fluent readers.
- Children with additional needs are supported to close the gap through regular additional reading, bespoke additional support or intervention.
- Comprehension skills are taught in KS1 in an age-appropriate manner.
- In KS2, Children have comprehension of the text they read. Developing inference skills, enjoying different types of text, exposure and understanding of new vocabulary, whilst developing fluency in doing so.
Impact
By delivering the curriculum in this way:
- Children develop into confident readers with good reading fluency and comprehension skills, which transcends across the curriculum.
- Children develop a love of reading which they can share and be proud of.
- With exposure to a wide range of quality texts children develop a pleasure for reading and a sense of life beyond.
- The impact is clear to see; progress is increasing steadily and children in our schools understand how reading is a pleasure and an important life skill.
‘Reading is the gateway into unfamiliar places, other people and alternative experiences. There are three aspects to reading in schools: the first is the teaching of reading, the second is reading in subjects beyond English and the third is reading for pleasure.’
Mary Myatt
Phonics
Phonics is recommended as the first strategy that children should be taught in helping them learn to read and spell.
Words are made up from small units of sound called phonemes. Phonics teaches children to be able to listen carefully and identify the phonemes that make up each word. This helps children to learn to read words and to spell words.
This first video demonstrates the pronunciation of synthetic phonics.
GPCs
Blending
Segmenting
Phonics in Reception
Reception children start learning to read using Jolly Phonics. This is a structured programme and resource for learning that is built around a systematic approach to letter sounds and phonics. Our pupils take part in daily activities in order to learn their sounds that help them to read and write. Children take home a phonically decodable reading book that matches the phonic sounds they are learning. Parents are asked to listen to their child read at home and liaise with their class teacher using their child’s homework diary. We will provide support so that families can feel confident helping their child to read.
Key Stage One (Year 1 and Year 2)
Year 1 children continue to learn phonics following the Letters and Sounds Programme. Children’s home and school reading books match the phonics sounds they are learning. Year 1 children take a test to assess their phonetic decoding in June. If children need further support with their phonetic decoding then this support continues into Year 2 and beyond until all children know all of their phonic sounds and can decode words confidently. We identify any children at risk of falling behind and provide small group intervention work to help pupils catch up straight away. The site has a sound icon next to each phoneme so you and your child can hear what it should sound like when reading.
When children have completed the phonics programme, they choose from colour banded books that match their reading age.
Sundorne Infant School
Our Vision
At Sundorne Infant School and Nursery we are passionate about cultivating a love of reading for each child. A step within each of out classrooms will reveal how reading is at the heart of our classrooms, with designated library areas in each one. We offer a range of quality texts for children to explore and delve into. We are passionate about allowing each child to be immersed in the wonderful world of experiences and travels all through the power of a book. We relish an end of day story within each classroom.
Starting Point
Reading acquisition begins with the Jolly Phonics scheme in EYFS, helping children to develop via a synthetic phonics program. Children are taught to break up words into smaller units (phonemes) and blend these back together to decode the word. Over time, through enjoying books read to them, both at school and at home, in addition to plenty of practice, fluency is achieved. Children are introduced to book talk, and plenty of scope for book discussion is embedded.
Reading Comprehension
Once decoding and fluency is established children are introduced to comprehension skills. Comprehension skills are segmented and taught strategically, with decoding and vocabulary forming the bedrock of reading comprehension skills.
Vocabulary
Here at Sundorne Infants School and Nursery, we are passionate about vocabulary and the significant impact it has on a child’s ability to convey their thoughts, feelings and hopes.
Within each Whole Class Reading text we have carefully selected vocabulary to help children build their inner word banks. These are taught via identifying them within the text, and then exploring the meaning using the bespoke dictionary tables, as seen right.
These tables are collated into separate Whole Class Reading Dictionaries each half term so the vocabulary can be revisited.
Reading Comprehension Skills
We use ‘The Pawsome Gang’, an age-appropriate method to teach the five crucial elements of reading comprehension– vocabulary, retrieval, predicting, inference and sequencing. Each element is assigned a charming character– Victor Vocab, Rex Retrieval, Predicting Pip, Inference Iggy and Sequencing Suki. Children are taught the associated skills for each element initially through a guided and discussion based approach. As children grow in confidence and display a good understanding of the key concepts, we offer a more structured with recording approach.
In order to develop reading and comprehension skills throughout EYFS and KS1 we have segmented reading comprehension learning as such:
Whole Class Reading Texts
Whole Class Reading texts are carefully chosen from the Pie Corbett Reading Spine and a range of high-quality diverse literature, or are linked to our topics and areas of learning, helping to create meaningful cross-curricular opportunities. Books are selected to reflect different cultures, experiences, family structures and perspectives, broadening children’s understanding of the world whilst nurturing curiosity and a love of reading. This approach ensures that all children encounter both mirrors of their own experiences and windows into the lives of others, promoting empathy, inclusion and respect for diversity.
Theory
Our curriculum theory is informed by The Simple View of Reading, which outlines the skills that contribute to early reading comprehension. According to the original theory, an individual’s reading comprehension is the product of their decoding skill and language comprehension (Gough & Tunmer,1986).
SEND and EAL
We are committed to helping each child and for children with SEND and EAL we offer
- SEND and EAL children have additional reading opportunities,
- Additional support during Whole Class Reading
- Talk Boost is utilised to help children develop their vocabulary
- Throughout Year One Phonics tracking is completed to identify children who require additional support with their phonics and decoding skills.
- Interventions- including bespoke learning to address gaps for Year Two children who have not past the Year 1 Phonics Screening.
- Interventions are also delivered to plug gaps, with aims to deliver this on the same day.
Home Reading
Here at Sundorne Infant School we highly value the relationship between home and school reading which has a considerable impact on a child’s overall education and life trajectory. We strongly recommend home reading at least three times a week, at a time that is convenient for your family e.g., after school, after tea, before school etc.
In order to incentivise this we run a reading competitions to actively encourage children with home reading.
Reading Newsletter
To celebrate and promote our love of reading, we produce a termly Reading Newsletter for children and families. The newsletter showcases our class texts, recommended supplementary reads and exciting reading initiatives taking place across the school. It also provides ideas and inspiration to support reading for pleasure at home, helping to nurture lifelong readers and strengthen the partnership between school and home in developing a positive reading culture.
Birthday Books
At our school, we are proud to promote our Birthday Books initiative. Instead of bringing cakes or sweets to celebrate their birthday, children are invited to donate a book to their class. This special gift becomes a lasting part of the classroom library, which can be enjoyed by classmates for years to come.
The initiative helps to foster a love of reading, enriches our collection of high-quality texts and supports children’s literacy development. It also provides a healthier and more inclusive way to celebrate birthdays while reducing the practical challenges associated with distributing food treats in school.
By giving the gift of a book, children can make a meaningful contribution to their class and leave a lasting legacy that inspires a lifelong enjoyment of reading.
Reading for Pleasure
If you are looking for ideas for a book, click here for inspiration.
‘Let there be half an hour of story time at the end of every day in primary schools. Make this the half hour they all long for, that they don’t want to be over. Let the children go home dreaming of the story, reliving it, wondering.’
Michael Morpurgo