Reading

Intent

At our school, we aim to develop confident, fluent readers who can understand, interpret and critically engage with a wide range of texts. We prioritise the early acquisition of secure decoding skills, alongside fostering a love of reading. As pupils progress, we ensure they develop increasingly sophisticated comprehension skills, enabling them to think deeply about what they read and articulate their understanding clearly.

Implementation

Early reading is taught through a systematic, synthetic phonics approach using the Read Write Inc. programme. This ensures that children develop strong decoding skills and reading fluency from the outset.

Once pupils complete the phonics programme, their reading is further developed through the Ashley Booth reading curriculum, which provides structured opportunities to build fluency, comprehension and critical reading skills across a range of high-quality texts.

Across the school, reading comprehension is consistently supported through the use of ‘Reading Dogs’. These characters (such as Victor Vocabulary and Inference Iggy) represent key reading domains and are embedded in classroom displays, teaching materials and discussions. This approach ensures a shared language for reading, making abstract comprehension skills accessible, engaging and memorable for all pupils.

Impact

As a result, pupils become fluent, confident readers who can decode accurately and read with increasing automaticity. They develop a strong understanding of vocabulary, inference and other key comprehension skills, enabling them to engage thoughtfully with texts. Pupils are able to discuss their reading using a consistent language and demonstrate a growing enjoyment of reading, preparing them well for the next stage of their education.