Welcome to Reading
Reading
Reading is at the heart of everything we do in school. It opens the door to new worlds, sparks children’s imaginations and helps them make sense of the world around them. Through reading, children develop their vocabulary, communication skills and confidence, giving them the tools they need to succeed across all areas of the curriculum. Regular reading also nurtures creativity, empathy and curiosity, allowing children to explore different experiences, cultures and perspectives. Most importantly, fostering a love of reading from an early age helps children become lifelong learners, equipping them with the knowledge, skills and enjoyment that will support them throughout their education and beyond.
Intent
At our school, we believe that reading is the key to learning and a lifelong skill. We aim to develop confident, fluent and enthusiastic readers who enjoy reading for both purpose and pleasure. Through high-quality teaching and exposure to a rich range of texts, children build their vocabulary, comprehension and understanding of the world around them. We strive to create a positive reading culture where every child is supported to achieve their potential and develop a lasting love of reading.
Implementation
Reading is taught daily through an embedded, structured and progressive approach that develops fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Children are exposed to a wide range of high-quality texts and are taught key reading skills through explicit modelling, discussion and questioning. Teachers support pupils to become fluent readers through regular opportunities for repeated reading, teacher modelling and independent practice, enabling them to read with increasing accuracy, automaticity and prosody. Vocabulary is carefully selected and taught to deepen understanding, while reading lessons encourage children to think critically about texts and justify their ideas using evidence.
Reading for pleasure is promoted through class novels, story time, book talk, a well-stocked school library bus and opportunities for independent reading. Home reading is an important part of our reading provision, and children are expected to read regularly at home with support from parents and carers. Reading records are used to strengthen communication between home and school and to celebrate children’s reading achievements.
Assessment is used to identify strengths and next steps, ensuring that all children receive the support and challenge needed to become confident, successful readers. Where appropriate, targeted reading interventions, including phonics, fluency and comprehension support, are implemented to address individual needs and help pupils make accelerated progress.
Impact
By the time children leave our school, they are confident, fluent and enthusiastic readers who can access and enjoy a wide range of texts. They use their reading skills effectively across the curriculum, drawing on a rich vocabulary and strong comprehension skills to support their learning. Children develop a love of reading and understand its value both in school and in everyday life. Through high-quality teaching, regular reading practice and targeted interventions where needed, all pupils make strong progress from their starting points and are well prepared for the next stage of their education.
How Reading is Taught
Whole Class Guided Reading
Following the completion of Read Write Inc, reading is taught through John Murray’s Reading Explorers whole-class approach, using one high-quality text each week. Carefully selected fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts expose children to a wide range of genres while providing increasing challenge as their reading skills develop. This approach enables pupils to develop a deep understanding of each text while building fluency through daily teacher-modelled reads, scaffolded shared reads and independent reading opportunities. Throughout the week, children are explicitly taught key reading skills, with a particular focus on retrieval, vocabulary and inference. High-quality questioning, rich discussion and teacher modelling deepen comprehension by demonstrating how skilled readers make inferences, draw on prior knowledge and make connections within and across texts. Learning is consolidated through guided practice in a warm application activity before children independently apply their skills in a cold application task at the end of the week. This structured approach develops fluent, confident readers who can think critically about what they read and successfully apply their understanding across a range of texts.
Shared Reading
Reading is delivered using John Murray’s Reading Rocketeers approach, which develops children’s comprehension, vocabulary and enjoyment of reading through high-quality shared texts. Children are introduced to the text and encouraged to make predictions, links to their own experiences and prior knowledge. Teachers model fluent reading, allowing children to focus on understanding and visualising the story rather than solely decoding the words. Through carefully structured questioning and discussion, children develop their understanding of the text’s meaning, key events, characters and themes. Explicit teaching focuses on retrieval, vocabulary and early inference skills, helping children to use evidence from the text to support their thinking. Opportunities to predict, summarise and discuss ideas deepen comprehension, while rich talk and teacher modelling help children become confident, engaged and thoughtful readers.
Reading for Pleasure
At SJV, we believe that developing a love of reading is just as important as teaching children how to read. Reading for pleasure broadens children’s horizons, develops their imagination, enriches vocabulary and fosters a lifelong love of learning. We strive to create a rich reading culture where books are celebrated and enjoyed by all. Children look forward to weekly visits to our unique double-decker library bus, where they can explore a wide range of high-quality texts and discover new authors. Throughout the year, pupils take part in exciting reading events, including author visits, World Book Day, the Scholastic Book Fair, and the Take 10 to Read Challenge as part of the Guinness World Record Reading Challenge. Children also benefit from our link with author Rashmi Sirdeshpande, providing opportunities to engage with an inspiring contemporary writer. We also do Free Book Giveaways! In addition, initiatives such as Buzzing About Books and the Extreme Reader Competition encourage children to share their love of books and celebrate reading in creative ways. Through these experiences, we aim to nurture enthusiastic, confident readers who choose to read for enjoyment both in and beyond school.
Reading Gallery
