At Wellstead, we believe that the teaching of reading is integral to a child’s understanding and appreciation of the world around them; a platform that allows our children to see beyond what they know, share in cultural experiences and develop the vocabulary they need to effectively express themselves. 

Our reading curriculum strives to foster a lifelong love of reading. We cultivate the behaviours that children will need to be discerning readers as they read ambitious and high quality texts from a variety of cultures and in a range of different styles and formats. From EYFS to Year 6, children read carefully sequenced and progressive fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama and multimedia texts. 

Our curriculum is first delivered through synthetic phonics, where sounds are taught discretely and consolidated through decodable reading books. Stories are shared widely in the Early Years, and there is a strong emphasis on re-reading and rhyming to increase children’s emotional engagement and familiarity with a range of stories. As children move through the school, we deliver a linked approach to shared and whole-class reading, reading across the curriculum, regular opportunities for independent reading and hearing quality texts read aloud every day. All of these are essential components as they offer a range of opportunities needed to develop fluent, enthusiastic and critical readers. 

In the teaching of reading at Wellstead, there is a strong emphasis on reading fluency. Good expression, clarity and fluency is modelled discretely by the teacher and orally reciprocated by the children so that they gain confidence in reading aloud and automaticity in their word reading. This allows other reading competencies, such as comprehension and close reading, to develop seamlessly. Reading lessons teach children to respond critically to what they have read, including analysing the author’s creative choices and lifting meaning from the page. In turn, this develops children’s linguistic knowledge of vocabulary and grammar.

Reading is an integral part of our school community and we know that reading for pleasure is crucial for wider learning enjoyment and mental wellbeing. Our library is the heart of our school and our children and families delight in time spent there. We immerse the children in national events, such as World Book Day, National Poetry Day and the Summer Reading Challenge, so that there is a wider rich dialogue surrounding reading for pleasure throughout the school year. At Wellstead, we understand the significance of parents and carers in supporting reading for pleasure. We endeavour to build a home-school partnership enabling parents and carers to have the confidence to support their children with reading at home.