Subject Leader: Mel McKinnon

                                     
Intent:

At Corby Primary Academy, reading plays a fundamental role within our curriculum, which aims to allow children to read with fluency, ease and confidence by the end of their primary education. Beginning in the Early Years and continuing through to Year 6, children foster a love of literature through collaborative learning experiences and we strive to create a language-rich environment where children feel excited and confident to explore the world of books together. Our curriculum is inclusive and memorable, with each lesson carefully designed to spark curiosity and allow children to develop their pleasure for reading. We encourage all children to be bold when engaging with texts that inspire and challenge them, helping them become confident, independent readers.

Our curriculum for reading ensures that all pupils:

• read easily, fluently and with good understanding.
• develop a habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information.
• acquire a wide vocabulary and an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading.
• appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage.

Implementation:

We aim to develop competent readers through the key skills of:

• word reading
• comprehension

Word reading is the key skill that allows children to recognise and decode words accurately and fluently. It involves understanding the relationship between letters and sounds, which helps learners to pronounce and understand words they encounter in texts. Through regular practice, children develop automaticity, meaning they can quickly and effortlessly identify words without needing to sound them out. Strong word reading skills are essential for building reading comprehension, as they enable children to focus on understanding the meaning of sentences and passages rather than being slowed down by unfamiliar words. Ultimately, effective word reading fosters confidence and encourages a love of reading, as children can engage with texts more independently and enjoyably.

Reading comprehension is crucial because it goes beyond simply recognising words on a page; it enables children to fully understand, interpret, and engage with the text. When children grasp the meaning of what they are reading, they can analyse the ideas, make connections to their own experiences, and critically evaluate the content. Strong reading comprehension helps develop essential skills like problem-solving, inference, and critical thinking, all of which are transferable to other areas of learning and life. It also encourages deeper engagement with a wide range of materials, from stories and informational texts and is a key to lifelong learning.

At Corby Primary Academy, we recognise the importance of early reading and how this contributes to children becoming fluent readers. Phonics lessons are taught daily in Reception and Year 1 alongside the Little Wandle reading sessions. In Year 2, children begin to take part in whole class reading comprehension lessons. These focus on a different age-appropriate text each week and lessons explore questions related to the different reading domains.

In Key Stage 2, reading lessons are taught whole class four times a week, exposing children to a range of texts and authors, providing them with the skills they need to access more complex books. These lessons are structured to enhance comprehension and language skills. The first lesson gives the children the opportunity to focus on the reading of the text. Within this lesson, the children are modelled how to read the text by the adults and use other skills such as echo reading to ensure they are fluent and reading with accuracy and intonation. The next lesson follows on with a vocabulary focus. This helps children build their word knowledge by exploring unfamiliar terms, context clues, and word formations within the text. This step ensures better comprehension and enriches children’s language proficiency. The final lesson focus is to explore other reading domains and allow the children to gain the required skills to understand the text more widely. The children use all the taught techniques and skills and apply this to an independent comprehension task.

Reading is incorporated into all classrooms with children having access to books for pleasure and subject specific books to support vocabulary and knowledge within these areas. We promote the importance of reading for pleasure and encourage our children to choose books based on their interests. A strong partnership between school and home is encouraged, with home reading diaries for every child in the school.

Our academy librarians promote a positive reading culture throughout the school. They are responsible for helping in the library, sharing ideas and encouraging a choice of texts to read.

Impact:

Assessment for learning supports pupils to deepen their understanding of our reading domains, through discussion, regular marking and feedback. The impact of our reading curriculum is frequently monitored through both formative and summative assessments. We ensure our children are heard read regularly by adults in school and closely monitor our most vulnerable 20% of readers.

Regular monitoring by leaders, through lesson visits, book analysis, planning and pupil voice, ensures the impact of our reading curriculum is always being evaluated.

When our children leave Corby Primary Academy, they will be fluent readers who read with confidence and they will be curious learners with the skills required to begin their journey into Key Stage Three.