Reading

Intent 

It is our intent at Whingate Primary School to provide pupils with a high-quality education in English that teaches pupils to speak, read and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others effectively. 

Phonics is high priority and is emphasised in the early teaching of reading to beginners when they start school. Fluency in reading will be developed once children are secure in their phonics knowledge. All children are given the opportunity to read with an adult to progress their fluency. In these initial stages of learning to read, children will be read to regularly by adults in school to provide a model of fluent reading, engage in book talk, and to begin to develop a love of reading.

We encourage all pupils to read widely across fiction, poetry and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, to gain knowledge across the curriculum, and to develop their comprehension skills. 

Children have daily teaching or provision of reading from Nursery to ensure that their fluency, vocabulary and comprehension skills are routinely and consistently enhanced. 

We strongly believe that every member of staff should be confident in their delivery of phonics and reading skills. We support new and experienced staff in becoming reading experts through training, research and regular discussions with our reading team.

It is our intention to ensure that, all pupils can read fluently, with confidence, in any subject, developing a love for reading that continues in later life.  

Implementation 

The systematic teaching of phonics has a high priority throughout Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1; we currently use a synthetic phonics programme called ‘Read, Write, Inc’. 

All children in Foundation Stage, KS1 and, where necessary, KS2 have daily phonics sessions in small ability groups where they participate in sessions that are matched to their current needs. The teachers draw upon observations and continuous assessment to ensure children are stretched and challenged and to identify children who may need additional support. Timely intervention is planned for those children who are working below expected levels as soon as their needs are identified. 

We recognise that systematic, high-quality phonics teaching is essential, but additional skills and opportunities are needed for children to achieve the goal of being a well-rounded reader. Alongside the teaching of phonics, children access regular story time and reading sessions where fluent reading is modelled by the teacher and book talk is developed. When children have achieved the phonics National Standard, focus moves towards developing reading fluency and children’s comprehension skills through whole class reading sessions, the use of high-quality and engaging texts, and focused skill teaching. Our reading spine ensures texts used in year groups come from a wide variety of genres, include classic and modern material, explore and celebrate diversity, and, most importantly, are suitably challenging on both lexile and cognitive levels.

All children are regularly given the chance to read aloud or independently; if a child is not yet fluent then they will read to an adult on a timetabled basis up to five times a week. Their fluency will be regularly assessed to ensure they are making good progress towards being a confident and fluent reader.  

We teach reading skills daily to all children from Reception upwards. Each teacher plans units of learning between two and five weeks which focus on key skills such as inference, prediction or summarising. Teachers also plan and deliver units where the text is the unit driver and a range of skills are explored concurrently. Where a child is identified as needing reading support, we have a range of effective interventions that are linked to phonics, fluency, vocabulary or comprehension. 

We understand that vocabulary is a key component of the reading curriculum and that every classroom has an ethos that means children feel comfortable asking for words to be clarified. We work closely with our speech and language team to support any child that has a limited vocabulary. The texts we use are chosen carefully to expand the vocabulary of all our children and aim to widen their understanding and experiences.

Impact 

Through the rigorous teaching of systematic phonics, and a structured approach to fluency, the majority of children will become fluent and confident word readers by the end of KS1.  

As a Year 6 reader, transitioning into secondary school, we ensure that children are fluent, confident and able readers, who can access a range of texts for pleasure and enjoyment, as well as use their reading skills to unlock learning and all areas of the curriculum.  

We ensure that every child at Whingate is able to discuss the books they love and have had chance across their school career to experience texts that challenge and surprise them.

We firmly believe that reading is the key to all learning and so the impact of our reading curriculum goes beyond the results of the statutory assessments. 

Whole School Progression of Skills for Reading 2024-25

Whole School Reading Spine 2024-25