“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” - Dr. Seuss

Reading at Widden Primary School

At Widden Primary School we are developing confident and critical readers. Our readers will develop both decoding and comprehension skills. We foster a love of reading whereby children see themselves in text, view texts through a ‘window’ and read texts that take them on a journey. We expose our children to a range of authors that will inspire them. Reading permeates our whole curriculum, allowing children to develop deeper understanding in other curriculum areas.  

Achieve

Children achieve their full potential. By fostering a culture of high expectations our children learn to read quickly and accurately.  Those who fall behind are promptly identified and supported. All learners will develop the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to succeed no matter what they choose to do in the future.  

Resilience 

We cultivate resilience in every child, equipping them with the ability to persevere. We provide them with challenging texts, which deepen their understanding of the meaning behind words.  

Progressive 

Phonics and early reading skills begin in reception and this is developed throughout each year group.  By year six all children will be able to competently read and enjoy texts, developing a taste for what they enjoy. We ensure this by each year group having clear and progressive objectives to achieve. 

Community 

We actively encourage children to engage with a variety of authors through organised events, such as world book day. We promote and encourage children to engage with parents and carers within the home and school, sharing their reading experiences.  We have strong links with a variety of organisations such as Gloucester library and Cheltenham literature festival.

Diversity 

Diversity in reading is key to broadening children’s perspectives and fostering empathy. By exposing children to books that reflect different cultures and experiences, we help them appreciate diversity, challenge stereotypes, and build connections. In a multicultural setting, diverse literature ensures all children feel represented, valued, and included.

Equity

Every child deserves access to a high quality Reading education, providing support and challenges tailored to their individual needs. Through scaffolding, we ensure all children can access texts and begin to delve into deeper meaning of text.

Reading Spine

Reading for pleasure is known to have a significant impact on children’s attainment and life chances. We strive for every child to have a love of reading in our school and reading is central to everything that we do. We have developed a ‘reading spine’ of key books that we believe will enrich the children’s experiences, bring enjoyment and nurture a love of reading. 

The reading spine was compiled using a wide range of themes using fiction and non-fiction texts and our drive to represent diversity in the books children read and the authors who have written them. Each year group has a set of core texts that ensures the children experience a range of high quality texts and authors during their time here. Our core texts and additional texts are shared in English lessons and during whole class reading. 

Story Time

At Widden Primary School, we recognise the impact of reading to children and ensure that this is part of our daily routine in all classes. Books are selected from our year group reading spines and are shared with the children daily. Additionally, children are read other stories and books in assemblies with other classes. This is an opportunity for children to be exposed to a wider range of books from authors the children may not have heard of and foster their love of reading.