Developing Reading Skills
At May Park, children develop their reading skills underpin all aspects of learning and open the door to many possibilities and opportunities. Our aim is to support all children to become confident readers who understand the value of reading for a purpose, for pleasure and the vital role it plays in their learning. Through access to quality texts and a range of reading opportunities, our children broaden their understanding of the world develop their thinking, opinions and future opportunities.
When teaching reading, we use a phonics-first approach, with texts to match each child’s individual reading stage. Books in Reception, Year 1 and 2 are banded by their phonics level and closely matched through regular individual assessment.
We use a range of teaching approaches through a progressive systematic approach from phonics, regular opportunities for modelling reading so children become independent learners and fluent readers. This includes extra phonics support, followed by additional fluency practice once phonics knowledge is secure. A range of diagnostic tools is used through regular assessments using Rapid Catch up assessments, the Multidimensional Fluency Rubric, termly reading assessments. Children who require additional reading provision are quickly identified and teaching is adapted.
Reading Reconsidered:
In Key Stage 2, reading is centred around a carefully selected core text. This whole-class model ensures every child can engage with high-quality literature and build skills in inference, deduction, and comprehension. Reading Reconsidered strategies are again used to enrich this process.
Throughout a child’s time at May Park, they will read a diverse range of texts, chosen with the ‘The Five Plagues of The Developing Reader’ in mind:
- Archaic language
- Non-linear time sequences
- Narratively complex texts
- Complexity of story texts
- Resistant texts
Fluency remains a key priority throughout our reading curriculum. We draw on strategies from Doug Lemov’s Reading Reconsidered to guide our teaching. Fluent reading, with appropriate prosody—an important predictor of comprehension—is fostered through guided oral reading sessions.
Pupils are supported in acquiring background knowledge to help them make sense of a text’s context. Vocabulary development is also emphasised, with new words introduced both directly and through context.
Comprehension strategies are taught through modelling and guided practice. Children learn to make predictions, ask and answer questions, summarise, and infer meaning, with a strong focus on collaborative discussion and reflective thinking. They are encouraged to review and refine their written responses to improve understanding.
During reading sessions, pupils enhance their fluency, expression, and comprehension by engaging with various texts. They analyse authors’ writing styles, vocabulary choices, punctuation, and compare different types of writing.
Home Reading: Every week every child is given a home reader. Their reading progress at home and school is tracked using Reading Records. Stories are regularly shared in class to promote a love of reading and to inspire imagination.
Reading for pleasure:
Beyond the English lesson staff enthusiasm for reading is shown by our whole class daily reading sessions. We have a Whole School progressive Reading Spine in every class from Nursery to Year 6, however this is not finite, staff and children are encouraged to suggest additional books.
Year Group Reading River – displays are in place for every year group showing books we have read starting in Reception to Year 6.
Library: The whole school community enjoys regular visits to the school library, with all children able to borrow books to take home and enjoy. We also benefit from regular visits from real authors- allowing the children to interact, ask questions and be inspired.
Student link for Star Reading