Reading is at the heart of all we do – a key curriculum driver within our school vision is ‘We Are Lifelong Readers’. In addition to this, our ‘36 before Year 6’ enrichment opportunities ensure children will visit a library, meet an author and perform poetry off-by-heart before leaving us in Year 6. The importance of reading is recognised and celebrated and, as the key to unlocking the rest of the academic curriculum, underpins much of what we do in school. Developing a culture where reading is at the forefront of our day-to-day teaching is established from day one in Reception and consistently developed through to the end of Key Stage 2 with opportunities for children to enjoy listening to story time daily and regularly ‘read for pleasure’ (both individually and with others). As reading engagement is strongly correlated with reading performance in an academic sense, we strive to make reading as enjoyable and purposeful as possible to ensure no child is left ‘disengaged’ with reading; our children’s passion for reading is evident in school and is something we intend to build upon.
Verbal discussions based around a text are recognised as key to unlocking understanding and engagement and this is a key factor in our approach to teaching comprehension skills. Once a text has been digested and understood, with the children provided with the opportunity to question and share their thoughts, then written comprehension skills can be developed. By the end of Key Stage Two, we intend for our children to be fluent and passionate readers, whilst also being equipped with the skills to apply this passion to enhance their understanding across the curriculum. This is also supplemented through the ‘CROWD’ approach which is a strategy intended to inspire and promote dialogic talk.
