Phonics and Early Reading

Through our phonics programme ‘Read, Write, Inc. this structured and engaging approach supports children in developing secure decoding skills through daily practice. Regular assessments ensure pupils are accurately grouped according to their phonic knowledge, enabling them to build confidence as they learn and apply new graphemes.

To strengthen the home–school partnership, children take home a decodable reading book that closely matches their current phonics learning, alongside a Book Bag Book chosen to support their individual level of phonic awareness.

Classroom Reading Environments

Every classroom features an inviting book corner containing a broad selection of fiction and non-fiction texts. These spaces include carefully chosen prompts and questions to support independent comprehension skills. Many of the books available have been selected by the children themselves through the School Library Service mobile library exchange, ensuring choice and ownership of reading.

The School Libraries

Our school libraries offers a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and high-quality picture books. With support from the School Library Service, we ensure our collection remains current, engaging and appropriate for different ages and abilities. Children visit the library at least once a week to choose and renew their own self-selected library book, encouraging reading for pleasure regardless of ability.

The library is also used throughout the week to support curriculum learning, including researching topics and learning how to use a library search catalogue. Children can also choose reading as part of their Golden Time activities. To further promote a love of books, we run ‘Books with Legs’, a book recycling initiative where families can donate pre-loved books for others to enjoy.

Reading Across the School Day

All classes have daily opportunities for independent reading. During these sessions, staff listen to individual readers, celebrate successes and identify next steps, which are shared with families.

• Nursery and Early Years children enjoy daily core story sessions.
• Years 1 and 2 take part in daily guided reading lessons using high-quality texts as drivers for learning. These sessions develop key comprehension skills such as prediction, inference and sequencing.
• Every class also has a daily story time, where teachers read aloud engaging and age-appropriate texts to promote enjoyment and a love of stories.

To extend reading opportunities beyond the classroom, book boxes are available in the quiet area of the playground at lunchtime—an initiative requested by the children through Wildground Wishes.

Reading Provision Overview

Across the school, reading provision includes:

• Sensory and core story sessions
• Active storytelling and singing
• Read Write Inc. phonics
• Guided reading
• One-to-one reading
• Independent reading
• Daily read-aloud sessions

Powerful Poetry

We recognise the important role poetry plays in developing vocabulary, speech, confidence and expressive reading skills such as pitch, volume and intonation. Through our Powerful Poetry initiative, children are introduced to a high-quality poem at the start of each English unit, linked thematically to their topic.

Children explore poems through performance, actions and discussion, ensuring pupil voice is central. For example, Year 2 children used poetry to launch their learning about rescue, describing dangers of the sea and confidently reciting poems using their own actions.