At Heaton Avenue, we believe that reading is fundamental to pupils’ success, both within the curriculum and beyond. Our aim is to develop confident, fluent and enthusiastic readers who read with understanding and develop a genuine enjoyment of books.

We provide pupils with rich and meaningful reading experiences through a carefully selected range of high-quality, engaging and appropriately challenging texts. These texts support pupils to develop their fluency, comprehension and vocabulary, while also extending their knowledge and understanding of the wider curriculum and the world around them.

We work alongside Great Heights English Hub to strengthen our approach to the teaching of early reading and ensure that effective practice continues to develop across school.

We want every child to see themselves as a reader. Our classrooms are rich in books that reflect the diversity of our pupils and communities, allowing children to see themselves and their experiences represented. Alongside this, we deliberately introduce pupils to texts that broaden their horizons, offer different perspectives and provide a window into lives, cultures, places and experiences beyond their own.

Through our reading curriculum, we aim to ensure that pupils develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to read increasingly complex texts independently, preparing them for the next stage of their education and fostering a lifelong love of reading.

Reading skills:

We aim to develop confident, fluent and thoughtful readers by systematically building pupils’ knowledge and skills across the two key dimensions of reading: word reading and reading comprehension.

• Word reading – pupils develop secure phonic knowledge, accurate decoding and increasing fluency and automaticity, enabling them to read increasingly complex texts with confidence.

• Reading comprehension – pupils develop their vocabulary and understanding of texts through retrieval, inference, prediction, summarising, discussion and consideration of authors’ use of language.

Together, these skills enable pupils to read with accuracy, fluency and understanding, access learning across the wider curriculum and develop a lifelong enjoyment of reading.

Our Reading provision:

Our approach to reading provides pupils with regular and varied opportunities to develop word reading, fluency, comprehension and a love of reading.

• Phonics – Little Wandle sessions teach pupils to decode words accurately through systematic phonics, developing secure blending and word-reading skills.

• Whole-class English and reading – pupils explore high-quality texts to develop vocabulary, comprehension and understanding of a range of genres and authors. Pupils learn to retrieve, infer, predict, summarise and consider authors’ choices.

• Individual reading – regular opportunities to read with an adult enable pupils to practise decoding, develop comprehension and build fluency.

• Reading aloud – pupils regularly listen to high-quality texts read by adults, promoting enjoyment, discussion and a wider experience of books.

• Independent reading – pupils are encouraged to select and enjoy appropriate books independently, developing positive reading habits and a love of reading.

• Targeted support – where gaps in reading knowledge or skills are identified, pupils receive focused intervention to help them keep up and become confident, fluent readers.

High-quality texts:

Across each year group, pupils are exposed to a carefully selected range of high quality, ambitious and engaging texts, including whole books, extracts and non-fiction from our reading spine. Texts are chosen to broaden pupils’ vocabulary, deepen comprehension and build knowledge, while providing appropriate challenge as they progress through school.

Our reading spine ensures pupils encounter a rich and diverse range of authors, genres, themes and perspectives, enabling them to see themselves reflected in literature while also developing their understanding of the wider world.