How we teach reading
Right from the beginning of nursery, we teach children to read. At age three, the focus is on listening to stories, poems, songs and nursery rhymes; gaining an understanding of print by sharing books with adults; playing with sounds and rhyming words; and beginning to understand the link between spoken and written words. Phonics sessions take place daily (see Success for All) and by the summer term, children will begin to recognise some sounds. For advice on how you can support your child with reading, see the 'Helping my Child' section of this page.
Once in Reception, many children begin to ‘fly’ with reading. The building blocks put in place in nursery mean that children can hear the different sounds in words and have a wealth of story and rhyme experiences to draw upon. Children move through sounds quickly as new ones are regularly introduced. They are taught to blend sounds to make words (c-a-t) and learn ‘red’ and ‘green’ words as sight vocabulary—words that can be read immediately without blending. Children are introduced to books early in Reception and progress is often rapid!
In Year 2, children continue daily phonics sessions and take part in Routes to Reading, a structured programme that develops both reading fluency and comprehension. Routes to Reading supports children in practising key reading strategies, building confidence and enjoying texts of increasing complexity.
As children move through Key Stage 1, the focus shifts to developing reading fluency and comprehension. Children are taught to read longer, more challenging texts, fostering a love of reading and knowledge of different authors. Any child not making expected progress is identified through regular assessment, with targeted 1-to-1 support put in place to help them catch up.
Throughout Key Stage 2, children take part in daily Whole Class Reading sessions. Each morning, children spend 45 minutes with their teacher reading a short text or extract. The text is read aloud by the children, vocabulary is clarified and discussed and there is a strong focus on fluency, pace and expression. Children answer fact retrieval questions before moving on to inference and deduction tasks, either independently or in discussion with a partner.
Children across KS2 also use MS Teams Reading Accelerator, which supports independent reading and provides immediate feedback. The programme helps children to practise comprehension, fluency and expression, giving teachers valuable insights to target support effectively.
For children who need additional support, we run Reading Quest, a daily intervention programme that provides targeted practice in reading skills, comprehension and fluency. Reading Quest ensures that all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential as confident readers.
Teachers provide texts in advance of sessions so children can read them beforehand. This preparation allows children to practise, absorb new vocabulary and engage more fully in their reading lessons.