Reading

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.

Dr. Seuss

Reading Intent

Reading is at the heart of our curriculum. We believe that every child should leave primary school as a confident, fluent reader who reads for both purpose and pleasure. Our reading provision aims to develop decoding skills, comprehension, vocabulary, critical thinking and a lifelong love of books. It is ambitious and inclusive for all pupils including SEND and disadvantaged learners. Reading is foundational to accessing the wider curriculum.

It is our aim to encourage children to learn to love reading and to read regularly inside and outside of school. Each area within our school has its own dedicated library space as well as access to disciplinary reading texts. Adults model reading to children daily. Children have access to books to read purely for enjoyment in each classroom. Reading for pleasure is highly valued and encouraged to enable all of our children to become enthusiastic, life-long learners.

Reading is implemented through a text-rich curriculum that exposes pupils to a wide range of high-quality literature, including fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Texts are carefully chosen to broaden pupils’ vocabulary, cultural understanding and enjoyment of reading.

From Year 2 to Year 6, structured whole-class reading sessions develop fluency, comprehension and thoughtful responses to texts. Children are encouraged to discuss ideas, make inferences and engage critically with what they read.

A whole-school culture of reading for pleasure is promoted through regular story time, reading events, author visits and inviting reading environments.

Our reading policy aims to: 

• Provide a coherent, well sequenced reading curriculum that builds knowledge cumulatively.
• Ensure systematic, synthetic phonics is taught with fidelity to the scheme from the start of Nursery.
• Develop fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and reading stamina progressively.
• Promote a strong reading culture where reading for pleasure is valued and celebrated.
• Ensure equity of access so all pupils, regardless of background or need, achieve well.

Reading Implementation

Early Reading

Phonics

Early reading is a central priority across EYFS and Key Stage 1. A systematic phonics programme is implemented consistently to ensure all pupils develop secure decoding skills and reading fluency. Daily phonics sessions, matched reading books and regular assessment ensure that children are all well supported to make rapid progress.

• A validated systematic synthetic phonics programme is taught daily, with consistent routines and expectations.
• Staff receive regular training to ensure expert delivery.
• Children read fully decodable books matched precisely to their phonics knowledge.
• Assessment is frequent and informs rapid intervention for any child falling behind.
• Additional practice sessions focus on blending, segmenting, and fluency. 
• Immediate intervention for pupils who fall behind.
• Timely intervention is provided for any pupil who requires additional support, ensuring that all children are enabled to keep up and develop confidence as readers.

Little Wandle

Little Wandle is the vehicle used to teach reading in Early Years and Year 1. Pupils use The Big Cat Little Wandle Reading Books which are fully decodable and are matched to the Little Wandle programme of progression. This systematic, synthetic phonics scheme is taught daily from Nursery. 

Children are assessed regularly to ensure rapid progress and timely intervention. Books are carefully matched to the pupil’s phonic knowledge and based upon data generated from reading assessments. Staff receive ongoing training to ensure consistency and fidelity to the scheme. 

Please see our phonics page for more details.

Below are links to EYFS and Year 1 Little Wandle scheme regarding its content and approach which is used at Our Lady Immaculate.

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Reading Curriculum Beyond Phonics

• We use Ready Steady Read Together Year 2-Year 6 which is a carefully sequenced reading spine which ensures exposure to high quality, diverse literature.
• Whole class reading lessons explicitly teach comprehension skills, including inference, retrieval, prediction, summarising, and vocabulary.
• Fluency is developed through modelled reading, echo reading, repeated reading, paired, choral reading and performance opportunities. Fluency is taught explicitly its focus being: accuracy, pacing and expression.
• Repetition is important as it builds automacity and allows weaker readers to have success.
• Reading is embedded across the curriculum, enabling pupils to apply skills in all subjects.

Through, Ready Steady Read Together all year groups, immerse themselves in a new ‘vehicle text’ each half term; this vocabulary-rich text drives learning and hosts a wealth of reading and writing opportunities across the curriculum. Children will explore a broad range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry and culturally diverse texts and explore skills in recall, making inferences, developing vocabulary, making predictions and summarising texts. This enables them to experience literature which develops, fluency, vocabulary and understanding.

Through teacher modelling of expression, pace, intonation and prosody, children learn how skilled readers bring meaning to a text and how these features support comprehension.

Ready Steady Read Together, is aspirational for every child. It ensures that all pupils including those who may have barriers to learning, are given opportunities to develop their understanding of challenging texts. Shared reading is only one part of a child’s overall reading entitlement, which also includes other forms of reading such as independent reading, guided reading, story time, library use and access to a wide range of texts at home and at school.

Pupils will also be taught a range of key reading skills:

Through ‘word reading’ the ability to decode words – will be taught through the use of the synthetic phonics scheme ‘Little Wandle’.  Automaticity frees up pupil’s attention so they can focus on comprehension.Children will be assessed to determine the level of books they should be reading and to ensure that they progress appropriately. We pre-teach key vocabulary so that pupils can read smoothly without stumbling over unfamiliar words. This supports their fluency and comprehension.

In Key Stage 2 Precision Teaching – a very structured reading intervention, has proven to support  word recognition. This intervention has been successful in supporting a range of children across school.

Echo reading allows pupils to practise fluency in a supported way; particularly where texts include challenging vocabulary or sentence structures. Fluency is the bridge between decoding and comprehension.

Paired reading enables pupils to practise their fluency with support. It builds confidence and helps pupils to maintain accuracy and expression.

Choral reading gives pupils repeated exposure to fluent reading, building confidence and accuracy without putting individuals under pressure. It allows weaker readers to have a feeling of success and grow in confidence. We explicitly teach how punctuation affects meaning. Pupils can practise altering their expression to match the author’s intent.

We use repeated reading to build confidence and automaticity. Pupils become more fluent each time they reread a familiar text, which supports their understanding. Performance reading develops expressive fluency and motivates pupils, particularly those who are less confident readers.

Through ‘language comprehension’ pupil’s comprehension skills will be taught through high quality shared and guided reading sessions with teachers and teaching assistants; or through individual and group reading times and whole class reading activities. We have moved towards a whole class reading approach and we have found that children have become motivated to read and discuss more challenging texts.  Comprehension activities are designed to develop high quality talk and texts are often revisited and discussed in depth. Comprehension is the purpose of reading and develops alongside decoding.

Comprehension skills include:

• Retrieval
• Inference
• Prediction
• Sequencing
• Summarising
• Explaining themes and ideas.

Pupils are encouraged to independently apply their knowledge before high quality answers are modelled. Comprehension is explicitly taught and not assumed. This leads to rich discussions in lessons, development of vocabulary and give them background knowledge and understanding of the text. There are also designated times when pupils will read on a 1-1 basis to their class teacher or Learning Support Assistant. These times develop competence in skilled word reading, fluency and a clear understanding of the text.

Opportunities for whole class reading lessons, develop pupils’ comprehension skills such as inference, prediction, summarising, vocabulary and understanding. We endeavor to embed reading across the curriculum, with opportunities to apply skills in all subjects. 

Story Time and Reading for Pleasure

Story times are regularly timetabled in each of our classes. They are highly immersive sessions in which the children study high quality texts from a range of authors, genres, traditions and cultures. Teachers read aloud daily, modelling pace, expression and phrasing. We model fluent reading so pupils can hear how punctuation, expression and phrasing support meaning. This helps them to develop their own fluency.

A collection of high quality texts are available for the children to independently read, if they choose to do so in their classrooms and area libraries. Reading for pleasure develops enjoyment, engagement and positive attitudes towards reading. It does not replace the teaching of reading.

We foster a reading culture through: 

• Daily protected story time in every class. 
• Well resourced, inviting book corners and a vibrant school library. 
• Children have regular opportunities to choose books.
• Author visits, reading events, and themed weeks. 
• Opportunities for children to choose books freely and talk about what they read. 
• Staff model positive reading behaviours.

Inclusion and Support 

• All pupils, including those with SEND, EAL, or disadvantaged backgrounds, access high quality reading texts. 
• Targeted interventions swiftly support pupils who are not meeting age related expectations. Interventions are time limited and monitored for impact.
• Books are carefully selected to reflect a range of diverse backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and needs. 

Assessment 

• Ongoing formative assessment informs planning and teaching. 
• Termly summative assessments track progress and identify gaps. 
• Phonics screening checks and internal benchmarks monitor early reading development. 
• Data is used to ensure all children make strong progress. 

Home Reading

At Our Lady Immaculate, Home Reading is strongly encouraged. Children have access to high quality texts which meets the needs of all; from those securing their phonological knowledge to highly competent readers who seek  rich and diverse choice of books. It is important to foster an interest and a love of books; to engage children in reading, we need to make it something for them to cherish. Families are encouraged to read regularly with their child. 

The shared attention on a book, the exploration together of different worlds and words, the snuggling up – all of this has long-term benefits for your child. If they’re struggling to read themselves, let them relax and enjoy you reading to them. Enjoy this special time together.

Reading Records are used to support communication between home and school.

Celebrations such as World Book Day are used to invite authors into school and promote the pleasure and knowledge that can be gained from books. We also take advantage of our local authority’s events that have included workshops and visits from authors.

Impact 

We measure the impact of our reading provision through: 

• Ongoing formative assessment to identify gaps and inform teaching.
• Summative assessments that track progress in phonics, fluency, and comprehension.
• Outcomes from the Phonics Screening Check and internal benchmarks.
• Monitoring of reading behaviours, engagement, and attitudes.
• Pupil voice, book looks, and lesson visits to evaluate consistency and quality of provision.

Success is evident when:

• Pupils read with accuracy, fluency, and understanding appropriate to age.
• Pupils develop a love of reading and choose to read independently.
• The vast majority of pupils meet or exceed age related expectations, with those who fall behind catching up quickly. 

Monitoring and Evaluation 

The reading lead conducts regular monitoring, including hearing children read, lesson visits, book scrutinies, data analysis, and pupil discussions. 

Findings are shared with staff and as a result inform staff training, curriculum refinement, and resource allocation. 

Ready Steady Read Together Overview for Years 2 to 6

In Year 2 pupils will transition from the decodable Little Wandle Books to Book Banded books. This will depend upon their phonemic knowledge based upon on-going assessments, their fluency and accuracy.

Please click on the link below to discover the range of books your child will be accessing this year to develop their love of reading from Year 2 – Year 6.

Overview of Reading KS1 and KS2

Ready Steady Read Together Implementation Overviews

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Reading and Writing Vehicle Texts

These selected texts cover fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts from Nursery to Year 6. The Early Years Overview is currently under construction.

Some of the texts chosen are suggested by Literacy Counts through Ready Steady Write and Ready Steady Read Together schemes.

Focus books are texts chosen by the teacher as a quality text to widen and enrich pupil’s reading experiences.

OLI Books for 2s

OLI Nursery Literacy Overview website

OVERVIEW OF-Ready Steady Write, Ready Steady Read Together and Focus Books

Reading Policy 2026

Useful Websites for Parents