Reading Curriculum Design

Intent

Within our school, the fundamental core skills of communication, reading, writing & speaking are incorporated into everything that we do. At Hugo Meynell, our ambition in reading is for all of our children to be capable, confident readers who have a genuine love of books. We want reading skills to be transferable across all areas of the curriculum, and, by building on prior knowledge, we aim to prepare all children for the next steps in their learning. We intend to expose the pupils to a range of texts in order to broaden their knowledge and understanding. Within the classroom, we give children lots of opportunities to explore a wide range of texts and encourage them to develop a range of skills, so that they can be confidently applied when reading independently. We want children to be able to decide what they enjoy and feel confident to try different books, as well as being able to articulate what they have read. We intend for all children to leave Hugo Meynell being passionate about reading, as well as having the confidence and resiliene to explore further with the necessary skills to do so.

Implementation

The core of our reading curriculum is the Statutory National Curriculum which provides a clear sequence and progression of skills & knowledge throughout Key Stages 1 & 2. Within EYFS, the Development Matters document provides the core of our curriculum and is designed to meet children’s different needs at different ages. At Hugo Meynell, we always build upon children’s previous knowledge and skills. From the earliest introduction of phonics, which is taught through an adapted phonics scheme called The Teach Hub Letters and Sounds, through to complex texts across a wide genre of materials as children progress through KS2, we encourage our children as readers to select from a range of texts for purpose and pleasure. From the start of KS1, we continue to systematically build on phonics skills & knowledge to enable children to be skilled at decoding text. We provide daily guided comprehension sessions allowing children to access a range of texts as well as developing their skills and knowledge of Vocabulary, Inference, Predicting, Explaining, Retrieving and Summarizing/Sequencing (VIPERS). This improves understanding and navigation of a variety of genres and ensures that the interests of all our children are piqued.

We timetable 1:1 reading, independent 'free' reading, fluency reading and every class has a story or text read to them at the end of every day. This enables us to model good practice and to give all children the chance to access literature that might challenge them as readers. Class texts are used to enhance English lessons and to extend vocabulary. We know that a rich vocabulary is key to academic success. The skills of language acquisition are transferable across the whole school curriculum.

We have a reading scheme at Hugo in which the children are given a book from Reception, right through to Year 6. This is to ensure that all children are reading books that are not only accessible, but also age appropriate. Our reading scheme starts with phonetically decodable books in Reception, which includes a vast range of traditional tales, adventure books and informative texts. This continues until the children have completed the phonics scheme. The children then take books from the reading scheme that suit their reading ability, level of comprehension and age. Children are also encouraged to access books from our vast library alongside their scheme book.

We enhance and engage learning through focussed weeks, author visits, library trips and visiting book fairs.  World Book Day, Poetry Week and similar celebratory reading events are acknowledged in school by a range of activities including inviting parents in to share books with their children during our reading cafes, dressing up as their favourite book character, bringing in their favourite books and whole school assemblies.

Impact

Our children leave us at the end of KS2 as confident, capable readers who have sufficient technical skills and knowledge of reading to enable them to access literature for enjoyment. In an increasingly technological world, we want our children to appreciate and enjoy books and not rely entirely on technology for entertainment.