There is no better indicator of a child's future success than whether or not they love reading (OECD 2002). 

Children who love to read are much more likely to succeed across all curriculum areas and achieve academic success at secondary school and beyond.

At Greet we start phonics from day one in Reception and our children progress to understanding and enjoying a range of high quality texts which have been chosen based on the National Curriculum Programme of Study.

Our daily Beautiful Read provides opportunities for encouraging and embedding reading for pleasure. Similarly, whole class texts and reading books for each year group are ambitious.

Our approach

Phonics  

In line with research and government recommendations, we teach systematic, synthetic phonics (SSP) to support word recognition, but only as part of a rich early reading experience.   

At Greet, we use the Read Write Inc. (RWI) Phonics programme from the summer term in Nursery, day one in Reception right through to the end of the spring term in Year 2.

See the document below for an overview of expectations for the RWI Phonics programme.

Comprehension

Once pupil’s word recognition skills have been developed through the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme they move on to develop their comprehension skills through exploration of texts using VIPERS.

We teach comprehension skills in the following ways: 

• Daily Book Talk time in EYFS
• Structured Storytime in KS1
• Whole Class Reading in KS2

See below for our reading progression maps.

Reading for Pleasure & Creating a Culture of Reading

At Greet we are passionate about reading and aim to develop a genuine love of reading in all of our children.

Daily Beautiful Reads - Every pupil at Greet is read to for 15 minutes each day. The focus of this Beautiful Read time is for pupils to simply listen to, and enjoy, being read to by an adult.  

50 Book Reading Challenge - children in years 2 to 6 have been set a challenge...to read 50 books! You can find out more here.

Cosy story telling areas - we have recently developed a number of cosy story telling areas around school for our younger children to cuddle up with a soft toy and listen to a story.

Our beautiful atrium library - we made the decision to move our school library to the atrium space in the lower phase building. The space is flooded with light and very spacious. Every class has a dedicated slot on their timetable each week to visit the library: changing their book or enjoying lying on a beanbag to read.

Here are some of the other ways we are developing a culture of reading for pleasure across school: 

• Teachers model a love of reading and are excited about books! 

• We take part in national reading events such as World Book Day and Book Week. 

• Scholastic Book Fairs are invited into school each term. 

• We encourage children to read at every available opportunity throughout their day. Books are available on the playground; children keep their reading books on their desks.

• There are mini libraries in each classroom. 

• We have a parent lending libraries in our entrance hall and community room. 

• Books and poems are shared through assemblies.

If you would like to find out more detail about reading at Greet please take some time to read through some of our key documents below.