Curriculum
Reading
Curriculum intent, implementation, and impact
Intent
‘The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go’. Dr. Seuss
At Hadley Learning Community, we are committed to nurturing passionate, confident, and independent readers who find joy, empowerment, and emotional connection through books. We place reading at the heart of our curriculum, believing that it is essential for success across not only our curriculum, but to support our children in becoming global citizens of the future.
From the earliest stages of education, we prioritise the development of essential reading skills. Through a bespoke synthetic, systematic Phonics scheme, carefully banded texts, and daily guided reading sessions, we ensure every child has the tools to decode, comprehend, and flourish as fluent readers.
In EYFS and Key Stage 1, reading is prioritised from the start. Phonics is delivered daily, systematically teaching all children with the knowledge and skills to blend confidently and apply their learning with autonomy.
As pupils progress into Key Stage 1 and beyond, we use high-quality texts in whole-class reading sessions to develop vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension while immersing children in a wide range of genres and topics across a bespoke broad and balanced curriculum.
Our commitment extends beyond the classroom, fostering a school-wide culture of positivity and enthusiasm for reading. Initiatives such as The Reading Vending Machine, parent ‘Starbooks’ sessions, and Share a Story in the library inspire our school community and engage parents as partners in their child’s reading journey. Weekly celebrations like Reader of the Week and rewards such as visits to The Readers Restaurant and Reading Vending Machine highlight progress and motivate all learners to succeed as readers.
To enrich our pupils’ experiences and develop a sense of belonging across school, we provide access to diverse, high-quality texts, including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, available through our class libraries, ERIC time (Everyone Reading in Class), and our local authority library on site.
We believe reading is a powerful tool for emotional development, allowing children to express ideas, explore feelings, and develop empathy. Through storytelling, reciting poems, and sustained dedicated reading time, we nurture a love of books that endures throughout their lives. Teachers read to their classes daily, modelling the joy and importance of reading while creating a vocabulary-rich environment that supports every child’s growth.
At HLC our aims for reading are to:
- Instil children with a love of reading that lasts for their lifetime, share with them an enthusiasm for children’s literature and help children to recognise the value of reading as a life skill.
- Encourage children to become enthusiastic and reflective readers by introducing them to high quality texts, promoting diversity and a range of genres.
- Develop our children’s understanding of a variety of text types including non-fiction, fiction and poetry.
- Develop children’s confidence, fluency, and independence when reading for different purposes to support them to become global citizens of the future.
- Develop children’s abilities to reflect on and have an interest in what they have read, and the language and punctuation choices made by the author.
- Use drama and role-play, where appropriate, to immerse children in the text.
- Ensure our children have sound phonemic awareness and use a phonics first approach to reading.
- To read widely across the curriculum and beyond
Implementation
At HLC Primary, we provide all children with purposeful learning opportunities to support their reading development across the curriculum. Through a range of Key Stage and Whole School approaches, a love of reading is fostered
The national curriculum for reading aims to ensure that all pupils:
- Read easily, fluently and with good understanding
- Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
- Appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
- Acquire a wide vocabulary, and an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading
Phonics – Early Years and Key Stage 1
At HLC we have created our own bespoke synthetic systematic Phonics programme through which, we strive to create fluent, confident readers and writers. We systematically teach the children to hear sounds in words (phonemes) and then represent them using letters (graphemes). Within our own scheme, we have created a range high-quality, engaging resources to ensure that children develop and retain a deep understanding of grapheme, phoneme correspondence equipping them with the skills they need to apply this in a range of contexts across the curriculum. We ensure, through high quality CPD, our teachers are equipped with relevant knowledge and skills to provide consistent, high-quality Phonics teaching that ensures all children have a strong foundation upon which to tackle the complex processes of reading and writing.
Discrete phonic lessons take place daily for a minimum of 25 minutes across EYFS and Key Stage 1, with sessions taking place in Key Stage 2 where necessary. They follow the structure of ‘Review, Teach, Practise and Apply’ to ensure that children are consolidating Phonic knowledge and skills over time and that they can apply them in a range of contexts. We recognise the importance of strong accurate decoding skills being one of the biggest single indicators of a skilled fluent reader, and therefore the basic skills used to teach phonics, such as the ability to encode and decode, are reinforced across the whole school curriculum in all modelled reading and writing; it is our aim for children to know more and remember more.
We adopt a whole class teaching in the Reception and Year 1. In both year groups, there is a small breakaway group of children who are carefully selected by class teachers to receive targeted support to ensure they have the necessary skills to encode and decode words. This runs in line with our Phonics policy for all children to ‘keep up’ and not have to ‘catch up’. As the children move into Year 2, they then are grouped based on their ability and to address the needs of each learner and close any potential gaps in learning.
We have a robust and well-structured system in place to ensure all children have access to books that are matched to their Phonic knowledge meaning all words can be fully decoded enhancing a sense of success amongst our children. We recognise the importance of reading and re-reading as an imperative factor to achieving fluency and automaticity in our children.
Guided Reading
Throughout Key Stage 1 and 2, all children follow the HLC Reading Cycle alongside using reading VIPERS to develop fluency, comprehension skills and strong understanding of vocabulary. The children will be introduced to a range of learning tasks based on developing the skills of fluency, word recognition, retrieval and inference. In Key Stage 1 these will not always be presented formally but instead there will be a balance over the course of the week when these are explored using a range of practical activities and approaches. There will be a great deal of talk around reading and as a result, learners may be required to record less formally than in the later years.
Where appropriate, the learners remain within a guided reading group to ensure that they can use and apply their reading skills with the support of an adult in a small group situation. This is to aid confidence, discussion around a text and comprehension skills. Phonetically decodable reading books will be utilised as and when appropriate and the learners will be facilitated in developing their skills for reading.
The use of Reading diaries continues into Y2, by which stage children are asked to comment on their reading experiences throughout the week. Whilst parent/ carer comments are still encouraged and valued, it is our wish that learners begin to feel greater ownership of their reading responses.
Across years 3, 4 and 5 the learners further develop the skills outlined above. They continue to progress through the banded books and write comments in their diary multiple times a week, with the minimum expectation being they read 4 times per week. It our intention that learners continue to develop a love for and confidence in their own reading ability. A stock of non-fiction, fiction and poetry related thematic books are available to access in the environment and learners continue to access planned opportunities that encourage reading for purpose. Learners listen to a class book each day to promote their enjoyment of reading. By this point a clear daily sequence for the teaching of skills is accessed and a structured routine is established for teaching the skills of reading during the first session of each day. Reading journal sessions broadly follow the structure outlined below:
Reading Routines
Session 1: Buddy Read: fluency and vocabulary discussion around the text.
Session 2: Read for Write: exposure to various text types to support writing later in the week.
Session 3: VIPERS rehearsal skill – modelled and guided.
Session 4: VIPERS rehearsal skill – revisited and encouraged to apply
Session 5: VIPERS rehearsal skill – application of skill independently/ Year 6 SATs practise.
Across Key Stage 1 and 2, children are read a whole class text. This will be a chapter book linked to the class theme with the specific purpose of engaging the learners in a story that is enjoyed over a more extended period.
Alongside this, all children across school have dedicated ERIC time throughout the school day with a focus purely on reading for pleasure.
All children across school select reading texts based on their reading ability. KS2 children do so based on their reading age and book band, KS1 children are allocated a text that is based on their Phonic level and ability.
KS1 children are listen to at least once a week, with the bottom 20% being read to daily.
SEND/ EAL
Learners have opportunities to access and discuss the whole class text as we believe it is of benefit that whilst additional interventions are required there should be as many opportunities as possible to talk about texts with an adult. For these learners their verbal response to questions is of paramount importance when developing vocabulary so that they have opportunities to explore this. This will usually include the lowest 20% of each class. We also ensure that interventions run for those who are not yet secure with phonics phase 5.
Class Libraries
Throughout school every classroom is equipped with a high-quality library area designed to encourage children to read for pleasure. These libraries feature a diverse range of carefully curated texts, including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, providing pupils with ample opportunities to explore different genres and develop a lifelong love of reading.
In addition to these, each class library includes a selection of books linked to the curriculum topics, allowing children to read not only for enjoyment but also with purpose, deepening their understanding of the subjects they are studying.
To ensure that the library areas remain engaging and relevant, all texts are reviewed regularly. This ongoing process guarantees that pupils have access to an exciting and inspiring collection of books that meet their interests and needs.
Reading at home
At HLC Primary, we place a strong emphasis on establishing a culture of reading at home to support and enhance children’s literacy development. Upon entering Reception, every child is provided with a reading diary to foster regular reading habits. Children are encouraged to engage in reading sessions with their parents at least four times a week, aligning with findings that frequent reading practice accelerates reading fluency and comprehension
In the Early Years and Key Stage 1, parents play a crucial role in recording these reading sessions in the diaries, facilitating meaningful home-school partnerships. To support parents in this process, we offer guidance and tips during our Early Reading workshop held in the Autumn term.
As children progress into Key Stage 2, they are encouraged to take greater ownership of their reading diaries, promoting a sense of autonomy and accountability in their reading habits. By responding to their reading with increasing independence, children develop critical thinking skills and deeper engagement with texts, fostering a lifelong love for reading and learning.
Story time
At HLC Primary, we are committed to fostering a love of reading throughout the school. To achieve this, we prioritise daily story time as an integral part of our approach. These sessions not only inspire a passion for reading but also serve to deepen pupils’ knowledge of the half-termly themes. To ensure high-quality delivery, we carefully select texts that align with our curriculum and review these choices annually to maintain their relevance and impact.
In Early Years and Year 1, story time is recognised as an essential aspect of our reading provision. We understand the significant benefits of reading aloud to young children, including the development of their vocabulary, comprehension skills, and exposure to fluent reading. These sessions provide invaluable opportunities to model expressive and engaging reading, laying the foundation for lifelong reading habits.
Library sessions
At HLC Primary, we are extremely fortunate that we have a large library space equipped with a huge range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry books for the children access. We actively encourage a culture of reading through a variety of engaging initiatives that involve both pupils and their families.
Each week, we host a “Share a Story” session in the school library, where teachers read stories to children after school. These sessions not only emphasise the importance of using the library but also provide an opportunity for parents to observe modelled reading techniques that they can replicate at home.
To further involve families, we run “Starbooks” – a weekly library session where parents are invited to join their children in sharing and enjoying books together. This initiative fosters a love of reading while strengthening the connection between home and school reading experiences.
In addition, every class participates in weekly library sessions. These dedicated times allow pupils to explore the library’s collection, select books to enjoy, and develop their independent reading habits.
Reading Events
At HLC Primary, we celebrate and promote reading through a variety of creative and inclusive initiatives that inspire children and engage families in the joy of reading.
The “Reader’s Restaurant,” hosted by the headteacher, is a special event held each half term to recognise children who have excelled in reading. Class teachers nominate pupils who have demonstrated significant progress or outstanding commitment to their reading. This celebration acknowledges their achievements and encourages continued effort.
Our reading vending machine is a whole-school reward system linked to our core values. Children who exemplify these values can choose a book from the vending machine to take home, fostering a love of reading and supporting reading for pleasure beyond the classroom.
We also mark key events such as World Book Day and hold annual Book Fairs. These occasions provide exciting opportunities for pupils to engage with reading in new ways, purchase books at a reduced cost, and bring more books into their homes. The book fair also offers rewards that directly benefit our school.
To further promote reading, our outdoor reading shed, equipped with beanbags, offers a cosy and inviting space for pupils to enjoy books during lunchtimes.
We actively involve parents through workshops designed to inform them about our approach to teaching reading and equip them with practical techniques to support their children at home. By working in partnership with families, we ensure that reading is a shared and valued experience both in school and at home.
Impact
At HLC Primary, reading is at the heart of our curriculum, championed from Nursery through to Year 6. Children are passionate about reading and eagerly explore books across a wide range of subjects. They thrive in engaging reading and story sessions, confidently sharing their thoughts and ideas with peers and adults. Our pupils take pride in their progress through the book bands, striving to become confident, fluent readers who inspire others as ‘book buddies.’ By embedding a love of reading, we empower every child to succeed and unlock their potential.
The success of reading at HLC Primary is measured through the following:
- Children will be able to decode words, including unfamiliar ones, accurately, successfully applying their Phonic knowledge by the end of Key Stage 1. The majority of children will pass their Phonic Screening Check.
- Children will be able to read and will show increasing confidence, resilience and independence in their reading skills which enable them to become lifelong readers.
- Pupils of all abilities will be provided with learning opportunities which enable them to succeed in reading lessons across school. The majority of pupils make sufficient progress towards meeting, or exceeding, age-related expectations when leaving HLC Primary.
- Children will be placed on the correct book band and continue to make progress through the book bands in relation to their phonic knowledge and age-related expectations. Every child will make progress from their starting point.
- Children will explore, learn and talk about a range of genres and authors throughout their learning journey.
