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Reading for Pleasure

It is our aspiration that all our pupils become inspired, confident readers, who read broadly with an interest in different genres, authors, and formats; whether picture books, graphic novels, chapter books, song lyrics, recipes, comics, newspapers and much more besides!

One of the key principles of reading for pleasure is to develop an intrinsic motivation to read, which comes from having both the skills to read fluently (decoding and comprehension) and the will to want to read.

Developing the skill of reading

We teach our pupils the decoding skills necessary to be able to read fluently through our SSP (Systematic Synthetic Phonics) programme, Little Wandle, taught (primarily) in Reception and Year 1.  In Years 2-6, through Whole Class Guided Reading lessons, we continue to strengthen the skills of: fluency (pace of reading), prosody (reading voice) and in depth comprehension and understanding. 

Developing the will of reading

It is well known that a child who has the intrinsic motivation to read for pleasure is more likely to succeed academically and in future life; in fact, reading for pleasure is the best evidenced indicator of future success.  Reading for pleasure affords so many benefits, such as: enhancing pupils’ vocabulary; developing young imaginations; allowing our readers to dive into stories and become characters of stories they devour; developing general knowledge and new skills; and expanding our understanding of different cultures and communities.

Reading Aloud

Every child hears a skilled teacher read aloud daily.

We begin to nurture a love of reading in Early Years and continue to surround all pupils in every year group with varied, daily opportunities to become successful readers.  

In Early Years and KS1 pupils listen to their teachers read several times throughout the school day with pupils actively encouraged to vote on which books they would like to hear during storytime.   

In KS2, as well as a class reading book, pupils will hear their teachers read aloud a variety of texts during Whole Class Guided reading and as part of our diverse and creative curriculum.

Access to reading for pleasure books

All pupils are encouraged to take home a school library book every week and in KS2 pupils may bring in a book from home if they’d like to continue to read it during the school day.  The loan of school library books is in addition to either the decodable Little Wandle reading books (in Reception and Year 1) or the free-reading books for Years 2-6 (colour-coded for age appropriate reading).

We run book sales (new and pre-loved) throughout the year, which always prove very popular.

Providing time to read for pleasure

Pupils are able to access classroom reading corners of their own volition.  The reading corners are an integral part of our continuous provision in Early Years and into Year 1 but every classroom from Nursery to Year 6 has its own reading corner and at the juniors, we have a school library.  Pupils in Years 1-6 can choose to spend time in the reading corners during free time.  In KS2, pupils keep their reading for pleasure book in their desk tray for ease of access for impromptu reading e.g., during registration.  In Years 2-6, one of our weekly whole class guided reading sessions is dedicated to reading for pleasure, providing pupils time for informal book talk.  This provides valuable time to discuss what they are reading with their peers and teacher.  We also teach our pupils that it's ok to stop reading a book, if it's not captivating!  Teachers support this important book gossip and make suggestions to broaden and enrich our pupils' reading journeys - e.g., if you enjoy reading this genre, then you might like to try…next time. 

We run annual whole school reading events, such as World Book Day and our summer Booknic, to celebrate reading for pleasure and our whole school focus is a fantastic opportunity for all pupils to share their favourite books.   


Book Recommendations

We include book recommendations to every class newsletter and our headteacher’s weekly parent newsletter.  This is a further opportunity for pupils, staff and parents to get involved and recommend good reads to our community.  Around our school you will find many book recommendation posters which we refresh throughout the year.

Children’s Literature and social reading environments

With the support of our wonderful PTA, we are able to buy new ‘reads’ to entice and to broaden interest in different genres.  We have involved pupils in this process and as teachers we have been enhancing our knowledge of pupils' reading habits, to ensure we offer books and reading materials that appeal to every child.  In addition to books, some classes have weekly or monthly subscriptions to comics, magazines and audio books.

To provide ongoing excitement around books, every month each class receives three new books from Parrot Street Book Club, a local business who focus on uncovering new, upcoming authors.

Author visits are scheduled termly throughout the academic year.

Reading Communities

We have a dedicated team of reading volunteers from our community who come into school weekly to hear our pupils read.  This is a great opportunity for pupils to develop their reading skills.  If you would like to get involved please do speak to your class teacher.

Throughout the year we run workshops to provide insights for families to support and encourage reading for pleasure at home - these events are advertised in both the class and headteacher weekly newsletters.

Reading at home

Everybody Read! Reading together really matters for your child. Please see this helpful guidance for parents by Little Wandle on reading for pleasure at home.