Our aim is for all children to leave St Mary’s Priory with a lifelong love of reading. We ensure all children have developed their ‘reading mind’ through learning to read fluently, developing comprehension skills, reading for a range of purposes, enjoying stories and exploring diverse themes. We prioritise reading because we know it gives children access to a lifetime of learning.

Reading in Early Years and Key Stage 1

A rigorous start to reading begins with phonics, which we deliver through ‘Little Wandle Letters & Sounds’ programme, beginning children on phase one in Nursery and aiming for all children to reach phase five by the end of year one. Children are expected to apply their phonic knowledge throughout the curriculum and embed their reading skills through phonetically matched digital and real home reading books.

Class reading in Early Years focuses on one to one reading, allowing teachers to move children on quickly and ensure they are using their phonics knowledge effectively to decode and blend. Reading lessons in Key Stage One focus on embedding phonics through small group guided reading sessions, using banded books matched to their phonic level.

As children are ready in Year 2, we move them on to whole-class reading lessons, which are delivered through Destination Reader, a programme that involves a 'Mastery' approach to the teaching of reading, where lessons are carefully constructed by the teacher:

• In Focus - a session to introduce the skills being taught and a task for all children to work collaboratively with their teacher on
• Guided Practice - this part of the process allows for children to practice skills, with partners or groups, guided by the teacher
• Independent Work - once the children have been guided through the above, they are ready to tackle tasks and questions independently

Key Stage Two

In Year 3, our children continue on the Destination Reader programme, deepening their understanding of the texts they read through the systematic use of a series of strategies and language stems. 

The approach encompasses the key principles of effective reading provision and fully meets the requirements of the National Curriculum by creating deep understanding of texts, developing oracy around reading and increasing breadth of reading. Destination Reader also helps to build a culture of reading for pleasure and purpose.

Alongside these reading lessons, some children access the Key Stage 2 Little Wandle scheme, which matches text to reading age, and allow teachers to monitor reading progress and personalise instruction.

Promoting a love of reading

We encourage children to develop their love of reading with regular trips to our fantastic school library where they can select a free-choice reading book. Every class also has protected story time at the end of the school day when the teacher reads aloud. We celebrate World Book Day, invite book fairs into school and host a range of events in school where parents can come and enjoy reading with their child. St Mary’s Priory loves reading!