Here at St Patrick's Catholic Primary School we place reading at the centre of our teaching and learning. This involves developing in every child a love of reading, as well as the skills to be an effective reader, in terms of fluency and comprehension across a range of different texts. Research shows that children who enjoy reading achieve more highly right across the curriculum, but more importantly, it also sets children up as readers for life, with all the accompanying benefits.

Early Years and Key Stage 1

The reading journey in Reception and Key stage 1 is developed by daily Phonics teaching alongside English lessons, as well as numerous other reading opportunities. Phonics begins with the teaching of letters and the sounds that the letters make on their own and with other letter combinations. The children are then taught to blend the sounds together to make different words; read new words; and write these words too.  Our school uses the Floppy Phonics scheme published by Oxford University Press.

All the children are provided with Home Reading books from our Phonics Scheme which complement their Phonics stage and current learning.  An additional book for enjoyment and sharing is also sent home from our reading scheme books.  These books consist mainly of Oxford Reading Tree books, alongside other school publishers and fiction writers, as well as non-fiction texts.  These books are selected based on the children’s reading age and understanding of texts.

Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 2, the children have daily English lessons every week, where reading skills are developed through promoting the children's fluency and comprehension.  A variety of writers' books and texts are shared and links are often made to other areas of the curriculum and their topics.

All the children are provided with a Home Reading book from our Reading Scheme, which has a selection of Oxford Tree books and other well-known authors and non-fiction texts.

Use the questions below to check the understanding and comprehension of your child's reading while you are reading together at home.