English

“Reading is a high priority at the school. Children in the early years develop their use of language and phonics. They are well prepared to learn how to read. Staff systematically follow the school’s approach to early reading. They provide effective support for pupils that find reading difficult, so that they do not fall behind. Most pupils read fluently by the end of key stage 1. Pupils enjoy reading and listening to staff read the high-quality texts from the school’s book collection.” Inspection of Renhold VC Primary School, February 2025

Introduction

Reading for Pleasure is fundamental to Renhold’s culture and curriculum in ‘creating readers not just pupils who read.’ We place quality children’s literature at the heart of our reading curriculum. Books are chosen with strong human themes that enable children to inhabit the world of a story and characters with whom they are invested. Children experience quality books across a wide range of literary forms which both reflect and broaden their lived experience. Learning to read is a skill prioritised at Renhold as we know it is the gateway to the wider curriculum which proves vital not just for secondary education but beyond in later life. Children progress from learning to read, to reading to learn, enabling them to access a curriculum rich in literary works that expands their knowledge of the world. The importance of talk and stories, and the critical links between these, especially the role stories play in developing young children’s vocabulary and language begins in the Early Years. As children progress through the school, they are taught not only the strategies to decode texts successfully with fluency, but also to become metacognitive readers. The act of reading expands understanding of language, vocabulary and knowledge of the world. If children are taught to read for themselves, they gain the skills to tackle challenging texts themselves

Our approach to Early Reading

At Renhold, we recognise that Early Reading encompasses more than just phonics. Phonological awareness is introduced from Pre-School and taught throughout Reception and Key Stage 1, enabling children to recognise and manipulate sounds in spoken language. Additionally, vocabulary development is fostered through our timetables story times, even before children can read independently. By nurturing both phonological awareness and vocabulary, we lay a strong foundation for children's reading and language skills.

Our approach to Phonics

Renhold V.C. Primary uses Ruth Miskin's Read Write Inc. Phonics programme to teach Pre-school, Reception and KS1 children to read and write, as well as KS2 students who need to catch up. It is a complete literacy programme taught for 45 minutes a day in Reception, KS1 and to KS2 pupils who are still on the programme. Children are assessed every half term to group children to be taught at their reading level. It has produced excellent results for our end of year Y1 phonics tests, with a proven record developing:

fluent, enthusiastic readers
a deeper comprehension of texts
confident speakers
keen writers

Throughout the programme, children are taught to:

learn to read and write letter-sound correspondences quickly
decode effortlessly, spell and handwrite easily
comprehend what they read
read with fluency and expression
write confidently using oral rehearsal
work effectively with a partner to articulate their learning at every step

There are some pupils who need more support than most. Those identified as needing more support receive an extra ten minutes' One to One Tutoring every day from highly trained teaching staff.

Following on from the robust phonics program, children’s reading skills mean they can access an increasing range of texts as they move up the school. Immediately after phonics the Year 2 Comprehension Group acts as a gateway between KS1 and KS2 where the children practise fluency and comprehension using the strategies learnt on the Read, Write Inc. Phonic Programme.

Our approach to teaching Reading beyond Phonics

Comprehension – Whole Class Reading Sessions (Fred’s Teaching)

At Renhold V.C. Primary School, we view reading comprehension as a vital life skill that underpins success across the curriculum and beyond.

To support this, we have adopted ‘Fred’s Teaching Scheme’ for children who have completed the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme, as well as for those in Key Stage 2.

This engaging and inspiring approach to reading is delivered daily and centres around linked fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts, enhanced by the use of inspirational video clips, movie trailers, and even major news events. The aim is to foster a love of reading while developing the essential skills needed to understand, interpret, and respond to a wide range of texts.

Implementation

‘Fred’s Teaching Scheme’ is taught daily for 30 minutes. The pupils will regularly experience:

Finding the meanings of unfamiliar vocabulary within the text;
Rapid retrieval;
Deeper questions through paired and independent work;
Explanation of authorial intent (using evidence);
Prediction and
Summary.

Fluency Fridays

Each Friday, children take part in an evidence-based initiative called ‘Fluency Fridays’. This program is designed to help pupils develop a comprehensive Reading Toolkit, focusing on key skills such as:

Prosody and phrasing
Accuracy and automaticity
Comprehension
Expression

D.E.A.R – Drop Everything and Read- Pre-School to Year 6

At Renhold V.C. Primary School, we dedicate 15 minutes every day to DEAR Time (Drop Everything and Read).

This daily reading session encourages all children to pick up a book, and enjoy uninterrupted, quiet reading. It’s a simple but powerful way to build reading stamina, develop positive reading habits, and promote a culture where reading is valued and loved.

Our younger children in Pre-School and Key Stage 1 are read to by an adult during D.E.A.R Time, helping them develop listening skills, comprehension, and a love for stories even before they can read independently.

Reading Assessment and ‘Keep up’ rather than ‘Catch Up’

Our programme of ongoing formative and summative assessment enables us to effectively track pupil progress across the school.

In Reception, Year 1, Year 2, and for pupils following the Read Write Inc. programme, half-termly assessments are carried out to monitor phonics and early reading development.

Children in Years 1 to 6 complete half-termly NFER reading assessments, which provide reliable, standardised, and age-standardised scores. These assessments enable staff to confidently monitor both attainment and progress over time, and to identify the lowest 20% of readers within each year group.

This robust approach to assessment allows us to quickly identify pupils who are not making expected progress and to design and deliver targeted interventions that support each child’s individual needs.

Early identification of any pupil falling behind enables us to implement

targeted interventions to support their progress and to consider whether there may be an underlying Special Educational Need (SEN).

In addition to more regular individual reading, these interventions include:

One to One Tutoring- Read, Write Inc. Phonics

Who is it for?

Children who are falling behind: The tutoring aims to catch up children who are at risk of falling behind their peers.
Children new to a school: It helps new students who need to catch up quickly.
Children with SEND: The structured approach can also provide support for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Research based ‘The Fluency Project’

Our reading Fluency Project works to significantly improve outcomes for pupils and is designed to help equip teachers to improve fluency and comprehension in a short space of time, across Key Stage 2. The suite of key stage specific projects is based on a combination of well-evidenced research based strategies including:

modelled expert prosody
repeated reading
echo reading
text marking
performance reading
modelled comprehension

Reading books to take home

The Read Write Inc. (RWI) book bands are colour-coded levels that support children’s progression in reading, ranging from Red (Level 1) to Grey (Level 8). The sequence is as follows: Red, Green, Purple, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Blue, and Grey. Each colour band corresponds to a specific level of reading difficulty, with Red representing the earliest stage and Grey reflecting more advanced reading skills.

Following half-termly assessments, children are placed in the book band that provides the appropriate level of challenge, carefully matched to their current phonics knowledge and reading ability.

Additional Book Band Books

After completing the Read Write Inc. programme, children move on to the next stage of book bands, as shown in the chart below.

Our books are carefully organised by level of difficulty, allowing teachers to match each child with appropriate reading materials and to track progress in a clear, structured way. This approach ensures that children are reading books suited to their current reading level, progressing gradually through the colour bands. The system also allows our staff to include a balanced mix of reading scheme books and "real" books, supporting the development of reading independence and a genuine love of reading.

Beyond Book Bands

What being a free reader involves

Freedom of choice: Free readers are given the independence to choose books that interest them, which helps foster a love of reading. However, the specific selection process can vary by school. Some may let children choose from any book in the school library, while others may require them to pick from a curated collection.
Continued monitoring: Becoming a free reader does not mean the end of reading instruction. Teachers still monitor a student's progress through activities like guided reading, reading comprehension exercises, and regular check-ins. It is also still recommended for parents to continue hearing their child read at home to ensure comprehension.
Responsibility and guidance: The shift to free reading places more responsibility on the child to choose books appropriately. They are taught skills to help them, such as reading the back cover blurb or judging a book by its opening pages. Parents and teachers are encouraged to help ensure the child maintains a varied and suitably challenging reading diet.

High Frequency and Common Exception Word Checklists

High Frequency Words (HFWs) are, as the name would suggest, words which appear very frequently in the English language and in written texts such as and, the, as, it, dog, man, good, gone, which, think, began and so on. As these words are used and appear so regularly, it is very important for children to be able to read and spell them from an early age in Reception.

High frequency and Common Exception Words

In Reception children are introduced to high frequency word and red words (tricky words) through the Read, Write Inc. Phonics programme.

From Year 1, Common Exception Words are introduced. These are words which also appear quite regularly in spoken and written English but, unfortunately for young readers and writers, do not always follow the fundamental single phonic sounds and digraphs (sounds which are composed of two letters such as th, sh and ch) which children become familiar with in Reception and indeed in a nursery setting.

Common exception words are best split into year groups with an expectation that children should be able to read and spell the relevant words by the time they reach the end of each academic year. As you would expect, Year 1 and 2 children start to learn simpler words which may still contain the odd irregular phonic sound or pattern such as once, friend, people and water, before progressing to trickier words in Key Stage 2 such as answer, breathe, certain, interest and peculiar.

By the time a child reaches Year 5 and 6, they should be adept at reading and spelling even more complex words such as accommodate, conscience, environment, guarantee, mischievous and prejudice. Tricky stuff! Pupils in Year 5 and 6 however are given ample opportunity to learn these words in school through having them as weekly spellings and also being encouraged to use them in their writing as 'wow words'!

Reading for Pleasure: Class Novels and Story Times

At Renhold V.C. Primary School, we value the importance of sharing high-quality books and novels as a vital part of every child’s reading journey. Every day, in every class, there is dedicated, timetabled time for children to listen to and enjoy a carefully selected class novel or book. These texts are chosen not only to enhance reading enjoyment, but also to expose children to rich language, complex narratives, and texts that may be beyond their independent reading level.

The class novel is one of the most treasured parts of our school day—15 minutes where the whole class can pause, listen, and become immersed in a story. This shared reading time offers:

A moment of escapism, imagination, and shared joy
A model of fluent, expressive reading with correct pace, tone, and intonation
Exposure to vocabulary-rich texts and the subtle nuances of language and storytelling

The academic and emotional benefits are far-reaching—children develop a deeper love for reading, improve their listening and comprehension skills, and gain a broader vocabulary through meaningful exposure to high-quality literature.

Below is a list of the core class novels or books that every child at Renhold will experience and enjoy during their time with us. These are minimum guaranteed texts and are supplemented by a wide range of other books across each year group and integrated into daily reading lessons and activities.

Reading Spine

Building a Reading Culture Through Story

Great books build the imagination. The more we read aloud with expression, and the more children are given time to savour, discuss, and reinterpret literature through the arts, the more vivid and lasting the characters, places, and events become—forming part of each child’s inner world.

Reading develops the ability to think abstractly, to follow complex ideas, and to engage deeply with language and meaning. At Renhold V.C. Primary School, our carefully curated Reading Spine provides a shared bank of high-quality stories that bind our school community together.

These books are not just texts to be read—they are shared and deeply imagined experiences that connect children across classes and year groups, creating a rich and lasting foundation for both academic success and personal growth.

Windows, Mirrors, and Doors: See and Be Seen

Exploring Spirituality and Identity Through Reading - Windows and Mirrors Book Collection

In 1990, Professor Rudine Sims Bishop published the influential article “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors”, highlighting the importance of all children seeing themselves reflected in the stories they read.

At Renhold V.C. Primary School, we are proud to share our carefully curated list of Windows and Mirrors books. This collection offers:

Windows into the diverse lives, experiences, and cultures of others
Mirrors that reflect children’s own identities, families, communities, and journeys

We believe that all children should see themselves in stories and that all children should feel seen. Through reading, children develop empathy, reflect on their own experiences, and build meaningful connections with the wider world.

Our Windows and Mirrors Collection is regularly rotated around classrooms to ensure

that every child has the opportunity to engage with these powerful and diverse texts.

Our collection includes powerful themes such as: