Reading

Intent: 

We have designed our English Reading Curriculum to make use of a wide variety of high- quality texts. Children are inspired to be independent readers, as well as foster a life-long love of reading. 

We aim to ensure all pupils: 

  • Learn to read fluently, as this is fundamental to our children’s education, in order to confidently access all areas of learning and prepare them for the next stage in their life. 
  • Know that reading is at the heart of our Curriculum, with children being exposed to a wealth of high-quality texts; instilling a love of reading.
  • Are exposed to a range of genres and authors, to encourage broad and rich reading experiences, and deepened understanding. 
  • Read high quality whole- class texts as part of our broad and balanced curriculum, as well as individual books matched to their reading ability.
  • Expand their vocabulary, which is central to reading practice sessions and learning across the curriculum.

Implementation: 

 Reading at Sessay is implemented through the use of: 

  • Reading Practice sessions, in EYFS and KS1, use Little Wandle SSP, Big Cat phonically decodable texts, to develop children’s decoding, prosody and comprehension. Once  children have completed the Little Wandle SSP, in year 2, children will move on to Real Readers, in preparation for KS2. 
  • Reading Practice Sessions, in KS2, using a whole class text to develop; vocabulary, retrieval, summarising, inference and deduction.
  • A whole class reading approach, that provides a clear structure and sequence, using a wide variety of reading genres, supported by the Hamilton Trust English Scheme of work, this allows our children to learn in a systematic and progressive manner. 
  • Home reading books. Whilst on the Little Wandle SSP, children take home the book they are currently reading in class alongside a ‘reading for pleasure’ book. When children move on from the scheme, children take home a book matched to their reading ability.

Impact: 

We know that children enjoy reading as they are able to talk about the books they have read, with enthusiasm and interest. They are able to discuss different authors and stories they have enjoyed reading and make comparisons.  

We know that children make progress in reading as both their fluency and decoding improves, as well as their comprehension skills, enabling them to discuss texts in detail and answer age-appropriate comprehension questions. 

We offer a broad and rich collection of texts to children, which will lead to children becoming confident and engaged readers for life.