Our Reading Statement

At Walverden Primary and Nursery School, we know that reading opens doors. It helps children to understand themselves and the world around them, to develop their imagination and curiosity, and to discover ideas, people and places beyond their own experiences. 

Our ambition is for every child to become a confident, capable and enthusiastic reader who develops a genuine love of books and reading. We want children to read not simply because they can, but because they want to. 

Reading is at the heart of our curriculum. It enables children to access learning across every subject and gives them the knowledge, vocabulary and confidence to make sense of the world.

Learning to read 

Our youngest children begin their reading journey in Nursery through rich experiences of language, stories, rhymes, songs and high-quality books. We build strong foundations in communication and language, phonological awareness and vocabulary so that children are ready to become successful readers. 

In Reception and Key Stage 1, children follow a systematic approach to phonics through Read Write Inc phonics and guided reading. Children are taught to recognise and blend sounds, developing increasing accuracy and fluency as they progress. 

Phonics teaching is supported with fidelity to carefully matched reading books, allowing children to practise the sounds they have been taught and experience the success of reading independently. Regular reading, rereading and discussion help children develop confidence, fluency and expression. 

Alongside learning to decode, children hear and share a wide range of stories, poems and non-fiction. We want children to experience the joy of books from the very beginning, including books that they cannot yet read independently. 

Year 2 to 6

As children become more fluent, our teaching moves beyond learning how to read towards developing how to think as a reader. Children are taught to read in whole class sessions following a structured approach to the teaching of reading skills.

Children learn to: 

• read accurately, fluently and with increasing expression; 

• develop a rich and varied vocabulary; 

• draw on their background knowledge to understand new ideas; 

• ask and answer questions about what they read; 

• make connections and predictions; 

• explain their thinking and justify their ideas; 

• read between the lines and make inferences; 

• summarise and retrieve important information; 

• discuss authors, characters, ideas and themes; 

• develop increasingly critical and independent responses to texts. 

Reading for pleasure 

We want our children to develop a lifelong relationship with reading. 

Our classrooms and library provide opportunities for children to explore books, make choices and discover authors and genres that interest them. Teachers read aloud regularly, sharing stories, poems and non-fiction that children may not yet be able to access independently. 

We believe that reading for pleasure is about more than the number of books a child reads. It is about developing curiosity, enjoyment, confidence and a sense of belonging within a community of readers. 

We celebrate children as readers, recommend books to one another and make time to talk about what we are reading. 

We use accelerated reader throughout KS2 to further develop our reading.

Reading together 

Families are an important part of our reading community. We encourage children to read regularly at home and value the time families spend sharing stories, talking about books and enjoying reading together.