We are passionate about inspiring a life-long love for reading and we are dedicated to equipping our children with the skills and knowledge that they need to communicate in the global community. We recognise each child’s identity as a reader with their own unique talents and targets, and aspire to create a learning environment in which their enthusiasm for English can thrive.

We use Letters and Sounds and Phonics Bug as a basis for our phonics teaching, whilst our principal schemes for reading are Dandelion Readers and Pearson’s ‘Bug Club’. These schemes are enriched by a wide variety of other books to nurture a love of reading.

Each classroom has a reading area or book corner designed to inspire and foster a love of books and an attitude of reading for pleasure. We provide a relaxing environment in which children are invited to read, as well as interesting and stimulating displays about authors or book reviews written by children for their peers. Classrooms are equipped with a diverse range of contemporary fiction and old favourites, information, non-fiction books, biographies, poetry and graphic novels suitable for the ages and reading levels of the children within the class.

Children are encouraged to read at home for at least ten minutes every day and we endeavour to provide good quality and exciting texts. There are numerous opportunities for children to engage with books throughout the school day; all year groups incorporate a class story session into their daily routine, with a focus on high-level vocabulary. We have further enhanced these reading experiences by involving the wider school community. In previous years, we have held reading breakfasts for children to read with teachers, parents, carers, and governors; we have invited children’s authors and illustrators to work with our classes; and we have held reading competitions to get children excited about reading independently.

Our children are confident and effective communicators who enjoy reading. The Year 1 Phonics Screening helps to ensure that children are efficient decoders and is used to inform interventions in Year 2 and Key Stage 2. In addition to their ability to decode, children also need good comprehension skills before they become proficient readers. We use a Progress in Reading assessment (PIRA) each half-term to assess attainment and to monitor progress as children move through the school. We also monitor attainment against the Early Learning Goals at the end of reception and for statutory assessments in Year 2 and Year 6.