At Horton Grange we believe that Reading is one of the most important skills a child can learn during their time at school. Reading, listening to and talking about stories and non-fiction texts develops pupil’s vocabulary. Understanding vocabulary is vital for comprehension and for wider learning and progress across the entire curriculum. Reading at Horton Grange Primary School supports and contributes to our rich and engaging curriculum. The pupil’s develop problem solving skills and build resilience through a progressive reading structure which results in fluent, confident readers, who can access a range of texts throughout the breadth of the curriculum. Each week, pupils are provided with a reading fluency book that matches their reading level, a library book and a reading for pleasure book. If pupils read four times a week at home, they will receive a raffle ticket from their class teacher and be entered into a prize draw to win a book from the vending machine.

Early Years

In Early Years, we develop early reading through stories, songs, rhymes and playful sound-based activities that build children’s listening, language and enjoyment of books. We combine high-quality phonics teaching, following the Little Wandle scheme, with opportunities that nurture pupils’ enjoyment of reading from the outset. This is achieved by exposing our pupils to a range of different books related to their interests and imagination. Through carefully planned indoor and outdoor continuous provision, pupils explore a range of sounds and enjoy regular opportunities to apply their early reading skills. When pupils start Reception, they receive daily phonics lessons, in which they will learn phonemes (sounds) to develop their reading skills which are then further developed within reading sessions, aligned with Little Wandle, three times a week.

Key Stage 1

Throughout Key Stage 1, pupils continue to follow the Little Wandle phonics programme, building on the knowledge and skills developed in Reception. Daily phonics teaching and three reading sessions per week are carefully tailored to meet every pupil’s needs. Children requiring further support may receive targeted reading tuition through Chapter One, our online tutoring platform. By exploring a rich range of texts—including poems, rhymes and non-fiction—pupils strengthen their vocabulary, fluency and comprehension, preparing them for Key Stage 2.

Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 2, pupils are exposed to class novels and non-fiction texts that are carefully chosen to encourage a love of reading, whilst ensuring that a wide range of genres and authors are covered within each year group. During weekly Guided Reading lessons, there is an emphasis on vocabulary, retrieval of facts, sequencing, prediction and inference skills, all carefully interwoven within each session. Pupils also have ERIC (Enjoying Reading, Improving Comprehension) lessons per week that allow them to further develop their love of reading.