‘Teaching children to become confident and competent readers is surely the most
important thing that primary school teachers do; it quite literally changes lives.’-
Aidan Chambers
We know that books and stories provide our children with the background knowledge and
vocabulary they need in order to access the curriculum. Cognitive Science tells us that the
more we know about something the more we are able to understand new information related
to that topic. Without foundational knowledge, we cannot reason or problem-solve. These
are skills which are extremely important to our children, to ensure they are able to compete
nationally with their peers.
Our reading offer at Springfield is delivered through three key areas;
• Teaching reading; This is delivered through high-quality phonic lessons and the use
of engaging and stimulating reading books which are closely matched to the
children’s phonic knowledge. This builds to the development of reading fluency and
comprehension. This is explicitly taught through daily whole-class reading lessons,
VIPERS is used as a strategy to enable children to deepen their understanding and
interrogate texts. There are also opportunities for regular one-to-one reading
sessions.
• Cross-curricular reading within the wider curriculum
• Reading for pleasure
Our school library is well stocked with high-quality texts. Leaders spend time ensuring that
the library provides access to a wide and varied range of literature. We know this is crucial to
informing and shaping our children’s knowledge and understanding of language.
All children are provided with a levelled reading book. We ensure that texts are phonetically
decodable for pupils and matched to their reading age. Children also take a library book
home at least once a week, to read alone, or with a parent/ guardian. We see this as a very
important part of our reading offer as it encourages both parental engagement and reading
for pleasure.
Another important aspect of our reading for pleasure offer is the daily class novel and
timetabled reading time every afternoon. We believe that sharing books and reading aloud is
vital. It enables all learners to become part of our community of readers whilst being
exposed to language and stories they may not be able to access independently.
We know that most of our children see us as their prime role models when it comes to
reading. This is not something the majority see readily in the home. It is therefore up to staff
to make recommendations, introduce new authors, genres and broaden the range of what
the children would normally read. Children are actively encouraged to talk to staff, and each
other, about what they are currently reading. Recommendations are key to developing
literary tastes and preferences; the foundations of reading for pleasure.
At Springfield, we have reading ambassadors and librarians. These are enthusiastic readers
themselves who lead by example and promote a reading culture within school; listening to
children read, recommending books and taking responsibility for the running of the school
library.
