"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.

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.

World Book Day 2024

The whole school celebrated World Book Day this year by dressing as a word. The children (and staff) thoroughly enjoyed the day and the children completed some fantastic work. Children moved to different classes to complete book related activities with different teachers. 

Library Visits

In Reception we have visited Barnsley Library to explore the library, have a group story time and sharing books with our grown ups. We really enjoyed spotting different Barnsley landmarks on our walk to and from the library and comparing the old and new tractors!

Our nursery children walked to the Library @ the Lightbox today. We enjoyed a song, rhyme and story session with Beth and had time to explore the children’s library. Our families had the opportunity to join the library and we borrowed books to bring back to nursery.

Author Events

The reading ambassadors did an amazing job running the tombola stall at MOTO! They raised £385 for Mind charity!

50 Recommended Reads

We have purchased the 50 recommended books to read for each class in Years 3-6 to further develop our love of reading in school. Children will have a checklist of the 50 books to work through before the end of the year. There are so many different kinds of books in each selection from graphic novels to non-fiction texts and beautifully illustrated picture books. We are very lucky to have such wonderful books in our school!

Meet our Reading Ambassadors for the year 2023-2024! We are very excited to welcome a new team of Reading Ambassadors this year who are very excited to get started in their new role. Each Reading Ambassador will be assigned to a class in school to help them develop a love of reading. Throughout the year, the Reading Ambassadors will visit reading lessons, read stories, listen to class novels and ensure that our beautiful books displays are respected and used appropriately. They have already made a start in the school library; they have added fairy lights and labels and it looks great!

July 2023

Our reading ambassadors were honored to collect a cheque from MOTO In The Community to purchase some of our 50 recommended reads. Thank you to MOTO for your kind donation.