Intent: 

At Old Fletton, we are committed to developing confident, fluent, and enthusiastic readers. We understand that strong reading skills are essential for accessing the full curriculum and for fostering a lifelong love of reading.

Early reading is supported through the well-established Read Write Inc. phonics programme, ensuring secure decoding skills from the start. This is enriched through regular Book Talk sessions, where children explore texts in small groups or one-to-one, building comprehension and vocabulary.

As children progress, they take part in whole-class reading, combining enjoyment of shared texts with explicit teaching of reading strategies. Guided reading activities within these sessions support fluency and deeper understanding. Through this structured approach, we aim to equip every child with the skills and passion to become an independent, thoughtful reader.

“Reading feeds the imagination, it expands horizons and offers new and exciting ways of seeing and making sense of our lives and of the world around us.” Michael Morpurgo. 

Teaching of Reading:

Teaching reading is a complex skill with many facets, including phonics, fluency (accuracy, pace and expression), comprehension (inference, vocabulary, punctuation, prediction, and summarising), among others.

To ensure our children not only develop strong reading skills but also maintain a lifelong love of reading, we implement the following:

• A robust phonics programme through Read Write Inc. Phonics
• Book Talk sessions in Nursery, Reception, and Year 1
• Access to quality authors and texts from Reception through to Year 6
• Purposeful whole-class reading sessions focusing on reading techniques and varied questioning
• Poetry reading and performance opportunities
• A reading buddy system within school
• Online reading quizzes to develop comprehension skills and aid language acquisition
• Celebration of World Book Day
• Author visits
• Use of the Guardian’s 100 Books to Read Before You Leave Primary School list
• Create an environment that fosters and promotes a love of reading