We are passionate at Ashford Hill to empower the reading of challenging, informative and enjoyable texts for all of our children. Being a fluent reader opens up the world to all children, and it is our aim for every child to leave our school as a fluent reader. 

Intent 

At Ashford Hill Primary, we believe that reading is an essential life skill and we are committed to enabling our children to become lifelong readers. Key to our approach is a determination to foster a love of reading, enriching children’s learning through a carefully designed curriculum and teaching the components of reading (phonics, fluency and comprehension) through thought-provoking texts chosen for their qualities. Reading is a skill that enables children to develop their learning across the wider curriculum and lays the foundations for success in future lines of study and employment. We recognise the importance of taking a whole-school approach to the teaching of reading in order to close any gaps and to ensure all children are able to attain the expected standard or higher. 

Implementation 

For phonics, please see 'Phonics and Early Reading' 

Children who have successfully completed the RWI phonics programme from Y2 upwards take part in daily reading lessons using the ‘Master Readers’ approach. Master Readers helps children successfully transition out of our phonics programme and supports teachers with planning a whole book approach so that children learn to enjoy reading a wide variety of genres written by a variety of authors. It ensures regular opportunities for children to be read to and with and provides children with opportunity to discuss and share ideas so that they speak themselves into understanding. It develops children's vocabulary so that they become masters at selecting words for impact and helps them acquire the skills needed to show their understanding when answering questions in discussion and when writing answers. 

It is recognised that children need teacher modelling of active reading and high-quality post-reading discussion for children to learn and make progress. By the time they leave Year 6, children at Ashford Hill will have been exposed to a range of texts that they can compare, analyse and talk about with confidence and enthusiasm. 

Reading is also taught across other subjects throughout the school.  All English learning journeys have rich texts as a stimulus. A range of texts are looked at throughout the year. Classes will regularly read and share texts in their English learning journeys or when a teacher shares a daily story with the class. This helps the children to experience a wide range of texts and different genres.  

The classroom reading environments have been designed to engage children in genre and theme in order to spark their curiosity about books and support their learning during a unit.  

At Ashford Hill we believe that regular reading at home and at school is an important tool in developing reading skills. Children in Years 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 use Accelerated Reader to assess their reading ability. They choose books according to their reading range and complete mini quizzes to assess their understanding. Children’s progress is continually reviewed through Accelerated Reader assessments and books are chosen accordingly. The school libraries and class book corners contain high-quality books suitable for a range of reading abilities which reflect the diversity of the modern world. Children are expected to read at home for at least 15 minutes a day. In acknowledgement of the fact that children who read and who are read to regularly do better both socially and academically, children working in the bottom 20% are heard to read by LSAs and class teachers once a day. All other children are heard to read by an adult at least once a week.  

Finally, we celebrate reading together throughout the year by taking part in reading initiatives including National Poetry Day, World Book Day, Book Trust events, author visits and holding book fairs.  

Impact 

By the end of KS1 we expect our children to have decoding skills that are secure and hence have a developing vocabulary. They are independent, fluent and enthusiastic readers who read widely and frequently. Children will have developed their understanding and enjoyment of stories, poetry and non-fiction texts about a range of subjects which they are able to read silently.  

By the end of Year 6 we expect our children to read sufficiently fluently and effortlessly with understanding at an age-appropriate interest level in readiness for secondary school. In addition, children will have a love of reading that feeds the imagination and a range of vocabulary that enriches their cultural capital and increases their opportunities in life. 

Please click on a year group book list to see the suggested reads for your child's year group.  Each book thumbnail is hyperlinked to where the book can be purchased if you would like to read some of these books at home with your children,