Reading Curriculum

To support the National Curriculum for English, we follow a Mastery approach to reading through the programme Pathways to Read, which teaches children comprehension skills and develops reading fluency. Units of work are delivered using high quality texts and children in all year groups are given varied opportunities for reading. Skills are built up through repetition within the units, and children apply these skills in the reading activities provided. 

·       Ongoing skills - linked to text choices and achieved through selection of teaching activities

·       Core skills - prediction, vocabulary development and retrieval

·       Mastery skills - 2-3 objectives are focused on for pupils to master over the course of the half-term

In KS2, the programme is delivered through whole class shared reading lessons. In Y2, children participate in one whole class lesson followed by bespoke grouped reading at least once a week as well as individual reading. For pupils still needing support with phonics from years 2-6, we provide an individual reading programme that has phonically decodable texts at the heart of it. In our whole class reading, there is a clear teaching focus with the opportunity to master key reading skills in each session. There are follow on reading tasks to enable pupils to evidence the skills they have mastered independently.

In Y1, The purpose of the whole class reading sessions is to share an engaging text to develop pupils’ love of reading alongside key comprehension skills. The whole class reading sessions are taught alongside the Red Rose Letters and Sounds phonics programme; the units are introduced in spring term 1 to ensure word reading remains the total focus of the autumn term.

Each Pathways to Read unit consists of whole class reading sessions following the four-part structure:

• Predict;

• Clarify vocabulary;

• Read and retrieve;

• Read and explain.

The core elements of each session are prediction, developing pupils' vocabulary and retrieval. The 'Read and explain' part of the lesson is the mastery focus for the majority of sessions.

Many opportunities for widening children’s vocabulary are given through the Pathways to Read approach and this builds on the extensive work we do in school to provide our children with a rich and varied vocabulary.  

You will find the end of year expectations for reading for each of our year groups in the attached documents. For further detail on the skills that your children are learning on a termly basis, please contact your child’s class teacher, or see the Curriculum Newsletter for your child’s class.

Click below to ‘Pathways to Read’ Text and Objectives Overview.

Reading for pleasure opens up new worlds for children. It gives them the opportunity to use their imagination to explore new ideas, visit new places and meet new characters. Interestingly, reading for pleasure also improves children’s well-being and empathy. It helps them to understand their own identity, and gives them an insight into the world and the views of others.

We are very lucky to have two well stocked libraries at St. Andrew’s, one in each Key Stage. Every week, children can choose independent reading books from the School Library and class book corners. Teachers guide pupils to choose appropriate texts, and the KS2 school library has been recently re-organised in a way that supports children in easily finding books that interest them.

New texts are purchased regularly, in consultation with the children. We take children into the library regularly, to model how to use and look after our books. Library monitors help take responsibility for keeping the library neat and tidy as well as providing recommendations and helping organise book displays. 

We also hold many book themed activities during the year, including the Scholastic Book Fair, author visits, poetry days, parent reading workshops, Book at Bedtime, World Book Day… keep your eye on the most recent newsletter for our latest reading events. 

Please click the link above to find 50 of the best recommended reads for each year group from the wonderful Books for Topics.

Each of the Year Group Recommended Reads lists contains 50 books specially picked out for reading for pleasure in each school year group. The lists are designed to provide recommendations of age-appropriate and accessible books across a range of genres and styles.

On each list, there is a balance across different genres and styles. Some children naturally navigate towards non-fiction, while others find graphic novels or poetry the most enjoyable forms to pick up and read.

Each list contains a balance of age-appropriate fiction, picture books, non-fiction, poetry and graphic novels, with a handful of novelty or tactile books added in too. The lists also cater for different reading styles, interest levels, publication dates (you’ll find some true golden oldies as well as brand new titles on each list) and also books that contain a diversity of characters and settings.

This way, the lists can offer children access to a wealth of quality reading choices to enjoy.

https://www.booksfortopics.com/wp-content/uploads/50-Best-Books-2025-Poster-Reception.pdf

https://www.booksfortopics.com/wp-content/uploads/50-Best-Books-2025-Poster-Y1.pdf

https://www.booksfortopics.com/wp-content/uploads/50-Best-Books-2025-Poster-Y2.pdf

https://www.booksfortopics.com/wp-content/uploads/50-Best-Books-2025-Poster-Y3.pdf

https://www.booksfortopics.com/wp-content/uploads/50-Best-Books-2025-Poster-Y4.pdf

https://www.booksfortopics.com/wp-content/uploads/50-Best-Books-2025-Poster-Y5.pdf

https://www.booksfortopics.com/wp-content/uploads/50-Best-Books-2025-Poster-Y6.pdf