Reading at St Peter’s

At St Peter’s, we believe reading is the key to unlocking the curriculum and developing a lifelong love of learning. Guided by our vision of “Living life in all its fullness” (John 10:10), we aim to ensure that every child becomes a confident, fluent and enthusiastic reader who reads widely for both pleasure and learning.

Intent

At St Peter’s, we recognise that reading is fundamental to pupils’ academic success and future life chances. Our curriculum is designed to develop confident readers who can access the full curriculum and develop a lifelong love of books.

Our reading curriculum aims to ensure that:

• All pupils develop secure early reading skills through systematic phonics teaching

• Pupils develop reading fluency through regular practice, recognising that fluency supports strong comprehension

• Pupils are exposed to a rich and diverse range of high-quality texts that broaden their knowledge and develop cultural capital

• Vocabulary development is prioritised, enabling pupils to access increasingly complex texts

• Pupils who need additional support are identified quickly and supported effectively

• Pupils develop a lifelong love of reading, recognising reading as both a valuable skill and a source of enjoyment

Through this ambitious approach, we aim for all pupils to leave St Peter’s as fluent, confident readers who are well prepared for the next stage of their education and the wider world.

Implementation

Reception and Key Stage 1

Early reading is a priority at St Peter’s. In Reception and Key Stage 1, pupils are taught to read through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised systematic synthetic phonics programme.

Phonics is taught daily through clearly structured lessons which follow a carefully sequenced progression. Pupils learn grapheme–phoneme correspondences and apply this knowledge to decode words with increasing accuracy and automaticity. Regular review and assessment ensure pupils keep up with the pace of the programme.

Alongside daily phonics lessons, pupils participate in three weekly shared reading sessions using fully decodable books that match the sounds they have been taught. These sessions focus on three key elements of early reading:

• Decoding – applying phonics knowledge to read words accurately

• Prosody – developing fluency through pace, phrasing and expression

• Comprehension – discussing and demonstrating understanding of the text

Children take home phonically decodable reading books that closely match the phonics they are learning so they can practise reading successfully and build confidence and fluency.

Transition into Whole-Class Reading

In Year 2, pupils transition to the Pathways to Read programme once they have secured fluency in Phase 5 Set 5 phonics. At this stage, pupils begin to access whole-class reading lessons, while continuing guided reading and individual reading opportunities to further develop fluency and comprehension.

Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 2, reading is taught through a mastery approach using the Pathways to Read programme. This provides a carefully sequenced curriculum built around high-quality texts that develop comprehension, vocabulary and a love of reading.

Reading lessons take place through whole-class shared reading, where teachers explicitly model reading strategies and guide pupils through rich discussion of texts. Each lesson has a clear teaching focus and provides opportunities for pupils to practise and apply key comprehension skills independently.

A key focus of our curriculum is reading fluency. Pupils have daily opportunities to practise reading aloud, developing accuracy, automaticity and prosody. This approach reflects research from the Education Endowment Foundation which highlights the importance of fluent reading in supporting comprehension.

Supporting Pupils Who Need Additional Help

For pupils in Years 2-6 who require additional phonics support, we provide rapid catch-up phonics sessions alongside guided reading. These targeted sessions use phonically decodable texts to help pupils secure decoding skills, improve fluency and quickly close gaps so they can successfully access the wider reading curriculum.

Reading for Pleasure

At St Peter’s, we actively promote a love of reading alongside the teaching of reading skills. We support this through:

• Daily story time and class reading, where teachers share high-quality texts and model enthusiasm for reading

• Half-termly library visits to encourage pupils to explore a wide range of books

• Our Reading Shed and special bookcases, allowing pupils to choose books that interest them

• Chatter Bags in Key Stage 1, which provide books and activities to share with parents and carers

• Reading events and celebrations throughout the year

• Author visits and workshops which inspire pupils and provide insight into the creative process behind books

Impact

The impact of our reading curriculum is that pupils develop into confident, fluent and enthusiastic readers who are able to access learning across the curriculum.

• Pupils develop secure phonics knowledge in Reception and Key Stage 1, enabling them to decode unfamiliar words accurately

• Children read books closely matched to their phonics knowledge, allowing them to practise decoding successfully

• Pupils build reading fluency through regular practice, developing accuracy, pace and expression

• Pupils demonstrate increasing ability to discuss, analyse and interpret a range of high-quality texts

• Pupils develop a rich and varied vocabulary which supports reading comprehension and wider learning

• Targeted support ensures pupils who need additional help quickly close gaps and keep up with their peers

• Pupils show positive attitudes towards reading and engage enthusiastically with books

Through this approach, pupils leave St Peter’s as skilled readers who are well prepared for the demands of the Key Stage 3 curriculum and who recognise reading as an important and enjoyable part of their lives.

Story Time

Story time takes place every day in every class. This is in addition to the books that they bring home. This helps to extend children’s vocabulary and comprehension, as well as supporting their writing. At St Peter's, vocabulary and language development is at the heart of all we do. 

A set of books and authors across a wide range of genres has been carefully chosen for teachers to read to their class. 

Phonics

We use the government validated systematic synthetic phonics programme (SSP) called ‘Little Wandle: Letters & Sounds Revised’. The programme is designed to teach children to read from Reception to Year 2, using the skill of decoding and blending sounds together to form words. “The Little Wandle programme provides a full progression through all commonly occurring GPCs* (sounds), working from simple to more complex, and taking into account the frequency of their occurrence in the most commonly encountered words.” 

Please access the Little Wandle website (link below) to find more information. The 'For parents' section provides videos of how to pronounce the Phase 2 and Phase 3 sounds and how we teach the reading of words.

Useful documents to support Parents at home