"Reading is a passport to many adventures"

Mary Pope Osborne

"Reading gives us some place to go when we have to stay where we are"

Mason Cooley

Our school is a reading school and we strive for children to develop a love of reading throughout their time with us. We provide children with a wide range of high-quality texts in a range of genres and topics to ensure that they have access to a wealth of texts by the time they leave primary school.

We aim for all children to have the ability to read by the time they leave key stage one. Early priority is given to the development of reading ability in regards to the level and range of words the pupils are able to decode and read aloud. We ensure that children are exposed to a wide variety of text types and are taught the necessary skills for reading in each year group with staff addressing gaps in learning and assessing regularly to ensure knowledge is embedded.

By the end of key stage two, we aim for all children to have made sufficient progress to meet or exceed age related expectations. Pupils are expected to complete home reading supported by parents with books matching the phonics sounds the children are learning sent on a weekly basis in the early years and key stage one. Once children have completed the phonics programme, we ensure they read books for enjoyment and at an age appropriate level.

Our reading curriculum is guided by Literacy Tree, a comprehensive and thematic approach to primary English that places children's literature at its heart.

Literacy Tree is an award-winning platform that immerses children in a rich literary world, fostering strong engagement and providing meaningful contexts for learning primary English. Through this Teach Through a Text approach, children become critical readers as they encounter a wide range of significant authors and diverse texts, including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.

As a whole-school approach, Literacy Tree ensures that children explore at least 100 literary texts and experience the works of over 75 unique and significant authors throughout their time at our school. This curriculum provides complete coverage of all National Curriculum expectations for reading comprehension.

Staff carefully select the texts used for the teaching of reading once children have completed the phonics programme. Staff ensure to include a range of genres and text types in their teaching of reading, with every text being chosen due to its literary merit rather than links to topics or times of year.

Our team of reading ambassadors drive forward the love of reading in our school and carry out a number of roles, responsibilities and incentives to support pupils in their reading journeys throughout school.