Reading is at the heart of our curriculum and underpins all learning. We are committed to ensuring that every child becomes a confident, fluent reader who develops a lifelong love of books. Our reading curriculum is carefully designed to meet the needs of our mixed-age classes, ensuring that all pupils, regardless of starting point, are supported and challenged appropriately as they progress.

Early reading is taught systematically and consistently using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised. Through daily, high-quality phonics lessons, pupils develop secure decoding skills, fluency and confidence in reading. Regular assessment ensures that learning is well matched to pupils’ needs, with timely intervention and additional practice provided where required. Phonics teaching is fully aligned with reading practice books so that pupils can apply their decoding skills successfully and experience early reading success.

As pupils progress, reading instruction moves beyond decoding to develop fluency, comprehension and enjoyment. Pupils are taught to read with increasing expression and understanding, and to engage thoughtfully with a wide range of high-quality texts. In our mixed-age classes, reading skills are carefully revisited and built upon, allowing pupils to deepen comprehension, broaden vocabulary and develop critical thinking over time.

Reading for pleasure is actively promoted throughout the school. Pupils are exposed to a rich and diverse range of texts, authors and genres through shared reading, class novels and daily story time. We encourage pupils to talk about books, make recommendations and explore their own reading preferences, fostering positive attitudes towards reading and literature.

Our reading curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils:

• develop secure decoding skills through systematic phonics teaching

• read fluently, accurately and with good understanding

• build a wide and ambitious vocabulary through rich reading experiences

• develop comprehension skills, including inference, prediction and explanation

• read widely and often, for both pleasure and information

• develop confidence and enjoyment as independent readers

Through high expectations, carefully structured teaching and a nurturing approach, we aim to ensure that every child leaves our school able to read confidently and with a genuine love of reading.