Curriculum Statement: Reading

Intent

At Gisburn Primary School, our intent is to instil a lifelong love of reading and a passion for books from the very beginning of each child’s journey with us. We aim for every pupil to become a confident decoder by the end of Key Stage 1, with a growing understanding, fluency, and appreciation of literature as they move through Key Stage 2.

Our goal is for all children to leave Gisburn as confident, fluent readers who are able to read texts that educate, challenge and enthral them — now and in the future. We place high-quality texts at the heart of our curriculum and encourage children to develop their love of reading through our Reading for Pleasure initiatives.

To achieve this, we have designed a consistent, progressive, and inclusive reading curriculum, informed by the Reading Framework, Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) guidance documents ‘Improving Literacy in Key Stage 1’ and ‘Improving Literacy in Key Stage 2’, alongside early years research and best practice principles.

We recognise the importance of adapting our approach at each stage of learning, and where underachievement occurs, we implement rapid, targeted intervention programmes to close gaps swiftly and effectively.

Implementation 

Phonics and Early Reading

In EYFS and Year 1, we follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised phonics programme. Please see our ‘Phonics and Early Reading Statement’ which explains how phonics and early reading is prioritised and delivered.

Children who do not meet the standard in the Phonics Screening Check continue to receive phonics teaching aligned with Little Wandle until they can decode fluently.

Children progress to the Little Wandle Fluency Programme in Years 2 and 3 once they can fluently read at 60–70 words per minute with at least 90% accuracy after Phase 5 Set 5.

Little Wandle Fluency Programme.

Little Wandle Fluency teaches all aspects of reading using vibrant, diverse and engaging chapter books created by contemporary authors and illustrators. Each book has been carefully devised to support children as they progress in reading fluency through Years 2, 3 and beyond; making sure every child can become a confident, fluent and motivated reader.

This programme builds fluency through:

• Echo reading

• Rehearsed reading

• Emotion reading

• Prosody to enhance meaning

• Dialogic discussions and misconception clarification

Whole Class Reading (WCR)

From Year 2 to Year 6 (Owls, Eagles and Doves classes), children take part in Whole Class Reading sessions at least three times a week (25–30 minutes). Classes will read one high quality text over a half term/term. This allows for a deep understanding / analysis of a text, characters, settings and themes.

These sessions are structured and systematic, with a focus on developing fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and reading for pleasure.

We use the Lancashire Reading Content Domains and VIPERS to explicitly teach comprehension strategies across a variety of texts that develop in complexity and promote a love of reading.

Structure of a WCR Session

Pre-Reading:

Activate prior knowledge

Set a purpose for reading

Teach key vocabulary

Examples of learning activities experienced in a vocabulary session are:

• Find the meaning of unfamiliar words from the text using a dictionary.

• Find and copy / underline or highlight a word that means …

• Match the definition to the word

• Cloze Procedure

• Circle the word closest in meaning to …

• Match the word on the right to its synonym on the left

Reading the Text:

The teacher Children will take part in reading and understanding the chapter/chapters of the week from their high-quality class text. This may take place in the form of teacher reading - modelling fluent reading aloud demonstrating punctuation, intonation and expression, partner reading (pass the punctuation), or choral reading. During this session, there will also be a prediction / summarising or sequencing focus in order to further understand the key events of the chapter.

Post-Reading:

Retrieval

Teachers will model how to retrieve answers from a text

Examples of learning activities experienced in a ‘Retrieval’ session are:

• Answering retrieval questions in full sentences based on the text

• Writing own retrieval questions

• True or False statements (explain why statements are false if appropriate)

• Fill the gap / find the missing word

• Multiple Choice Questions Vocabulary reinforcement

Inference

Teachers will model how to search for clues / evidence in the text in order to answer inference questions. Modelling of how to structure answers to retrieval questions is also integral to this session.

Examples of learning activities experienced in an ‘Inference’ session are:

 Answering inference questions in full sentences based on the text (PEE if appropriate)

 Match the P E E statements to make a coherent answer

 Hot Seating

 Roll on the Wall (Finding evidence from the text to back up information about a character)

 Say / think / feel

 ‘Freeze Frames’ and ‘Thought Tapping’

Unseen Comprehension

During this session, children will read an ‘unseen text based on the wider curriculum which they are studying or read the next chapter from the book that they are reading.  Children will answer questions using a range of comprehension skills (e.g. summarising, predicting, true or false, sequencing etc.) to revisit previously taught skills.

Home Reading

All pupils are expected and encouraged to read their home reading books a minimum of 3 times per week at home.

Reception / Year 1:

The decodable reading practice book is taken home to ensure success is shared with the family.

An additional unseen decodable reading practice book matched to the child’s phonic knowledge is also taken home each week to share with parents and carers.

Reading for Pleasure (RfP) books also go home for parents to share and read to children. We share the research behind the importance and impact of sharing quality children’s books with parents through workshops, leaflets and the Everybody Read resources.

We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised parents’ resources to engage our families and share information about phonics, the benefits of sharing books, how children learn to blend and other aspects of our provision, both online and through workshops.

In addition, weekly phonics sheets are sent home for children to  reinforce learning that has taken place in class that week to allow the children the opportunity to extend and embed their learning.

Class Reading Areas

The school boasts a host of rich reading environments throughout our corridors and in every classroom with different themes - a Starbooks Café, a magical Harry Potter themed book corner and a jungle inspired book nook!  Books are displayed in interesting and exciting ways with a variety of texts including fiction, non-fiction and poetry, that reflect the different interests and abilities within the class and current topics.

Children have free choice of these books to take home as a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ book. Each class also has ‘Library Time’ each week, where books can be reviewed / swapped in our school library.. Books across the school are regularly audited in terms of appropriateness and assessed as to their popularity and, whenever possible through fund raising and book fairs, new books are added to the school library and classrooms.  All texts are chosen to enthuse our children and build confidence with their reading of different text types and intend to ensure children enjoy reading.

Our Reading Spine

Our Reading Spine ensures a rich, diverse, and progressive selection of high-quality literature including: Classic and contemporary fiction, Poetry, Non-fiction and cross-curricular texts that promote diversity and deepen knowledge

Reading Environment and Enrichment

We aim to create a reading-rich culture throughout the school. Our libraries and classrooms are equipped with a wide range of reading materials, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and digital texts, which are accessible and appealing to all pupils. The reading area encourages a comfortable and inviting atmosphere that promotes independent reading..

Daily Reading Sessions:

Every classroom engages in daily reading from daily class story time in Robins and Kingishers Class to class novels in Owls, Doves and Eagles.

Daily Independent Reading Time

Each day, pupils at Gisburn Primary School enjoy a dedicated session of independent reading. During this time, children choose books that interest them, helping to build reading stamina, fluency, and a love of reading. Children regularly take part in book talk and peer recommendations, helping to foster a supportive reading community Teachers model positive reading habits and use the opportunity to check in with individual readers, promoting both enjoyment and progress.

Parent Involvement

Recommended Reads for each year group are displayed on our school website through the Everbody Read resources to encourage children and parents to read a range of quality texts.

• We regularly educate parents to help support reading at home with their child for both reading development and pleasure through our phonics and early reading parent workshops, themed stay and reads that are timetabled throughout the year such as our cosy Christmas event, World Book Day and booknic.

Parental Engagement in Reading

At our school, we believe that strong home-school partnerships are key to nurturing confident, enthusiastic readers. We actively involve parents and carers in their child’s reading journey through a variety of engaging opportunities and practical support.

To foster a shared love of reading, we offer:

• Recommended Reading Lists by year group, available on our school website, to guide and inspire book choices at home.
• Workshops and Information Sessions focused on phonics and early reading strategies, helping parents support their child’s learning effectively.
• Themed 'Stay and Read' Sessions, where families are invited into school to enjoy reading together in a relaxed and supportive setting.
• Celebratory Events such as World Book Day, Cosy Christmas Reading, and Booknic, which promote reading for pleasure and strengthen our reading culture.
• We also encourage regular reading at home and celebrate pupils' achievements through home reading challenges, book fairs, and enrichment days. Together, we build a vibrant community of readers—both in and out of the classroom.

Professional Development

Continuous professional development opportunities are provided for teaching staff to enhance their pedagogical approaches to reading instruction. This includes training on the latest academic reading research to inform best practices for teaching and learning strategies, effective questioning techniques, and the use of assessment data to inform teaching.

Assessment and Feedback

Regular formative and summative assessments are conducted to monitor pupil progress in reading. These assessments inform future planning and allow for personalised interventions when necessary, ensuring that each child receives support tailored to their needs.

Phonics is assessed every six weeks using the Little Wandle assessment grids and results are input into the Little Wandle Assessment Tracker for analysis. This informs reading practice groups and interventions.

• Reading fluency, speed, and accuracy are monitored using Collins Assess Fluency every term.
• Little Wandle Fluency is assessed using the initial and ongoing fluency assessment sheets every 12 weeks.
• Comprehension is formally assessed termly using NTS Reading Assessments.
• SATs in Years 2 and 6 provide national benchmarking.
• Reading progress is recorded on the school’s tracking system and analysed by the English Lead and Headteacher.
• Regular Pupil Progress Meetings identify pupils requiring additional support.

Interventions include:

• Additional blending practice
• Keep-up and Rapid catch-up phonics
• Fluency For our lowest 20% in Years 4, 5 and 6
• Daily 1-1 Reading

Only pupils consistently underachieving receive targeted interventions, with the belief that quality first teaching is the most effective tool for improvement.

Monitoring

Monitoring is conducted by the Headteacher, English Subject Leader, and English Governor through:

• Lesson observations

• Book scrutiny

• Fluency assessments

• Pupil voice

• Data analysis

Findings inform the English Action Plan and future CPD

Impact 

The impact of our reading curriculum is evidenced through a variety of assessment strategies:

• Pupils’ Reading ability will be assessed in line with the school’s Primary Assessment Policy.

Phonics Assessment

• Assessment for learning is used:
• Daily within class to identify children needing Keep-up support
• Weekly in the Review lesson to assess gaps, address these immediately and secure fluency of GPCs, words and spellings.

Summative assessment is used:

• Every six weeks to assess progress, to identify gaps in learning that need to be addressed, to identify any children needing additional support and to plan the Keep-up support that they need.
• By SLT and scrutinised through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessment tracker, to narrow attainment gaps between different groups of children and so that any additional support for teachers can be put into place.
• Children in Year 1 sit the Phonics Screening Check. Any child not passing the check re-sits it in Year 2.

Reading Assessment

• Children are assessed using a variety of summative methods including End of Terms NTS Reading Assessments and SATS papers.
• In addition, evidence from Whole Class Reading sessions is used to formatively assess children using the formative assessment sheets in order to identify gaps and plan subsequent lessons.
• Parents will be provided with a written report about their child’s progress during the Summer term every year. These will include information on pupils’ attitudes towards writing and understanding of the key concepts.
• Verbal reports will be provided at parent-teacher interviews during the Autumn and Spring terms.
• The progress of pupils with SEND will be monitored by the SENCO On our PIVATS Tracker.
• Pupil Progress: Proficiency in reading is demonstrably high, with the majority of pupils meeting or exceeding national expectations in reading assessments by the end of Key Stage 2.
• Engagement and Enthusiasm: Pupil feedback indicates a strong enthusiasm for reading, with increased participation in reading activities and a greater willingness to explore diverse types of literature both in school and at home.
• Critical Thinking Skills: Observations and assessments show that pupils exhibit deep thinking skills when engaging with texts, evidenced by their ability to discuss, analyse and reflect on their reading with confidence.
• Parental Involvement: Parent surveys reveal increased parent engagement in reading activities and support at home, contributing positively to pupils' reading development.
• Inclusive Practices: The implementation of targeted support has led to significant improvements for our lowest 20% of readers, ensuring equity and access to the curriculum for all pupils, demonstrating our commitment to inclusivity.

At Gisburn, we are committed to ensuring every child becomes a fluent, confident, and enthusiastic reader. Our reading curriculum is inclusive, engaging and evidence-informed, with fluency and comprehension at its heart. Through consistent high-quality teaching, targeted intervention, rich literature, and a school-wide celebration of books, we aim to ensure all children leave Gisburn Primary School as readers for life