Reading Curriculum

Intent

At Henry Bradley Nursery Infant School, reading and the teaching of reading is the foundation of our curriculum. Our aim is for all children to become confident, fluent, lifelong readers so that they can access the full curriculum offer. Teaching children to read confidently, for information and for pleasure is the most important thing that we do.

Implementation

The reading curriculum  is driven by high quality diverse texts and progressively builds knowledge, understanding and skills. Strong links are made across all curriculum areas to ensure knowledge does not sit in isolation. Meaningful links with other subjects are made to strengthen connections, enable a deeper understanding of vocabulary and allow opportunities for our pupils to transfer knowledge and language across curriculum areas, thus enhancing communication, language and literacy across the curriculum.

Our ambitious and bespoke Reading curriculum focuses on and consists of three dimensions:

• Word reading

Skilled word reading involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Underpinning both is the understanding that the letters on the page represent the sounds in spoken words.

• Comprehension (both listening and reading)

Good comprehension draws from linguistic knowledge (in particular of vocabulary and grammar) and on knowledge of the world. Comprehension skills develop through pupils’ experience of high-quality discussion with the teacher, as well as from reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non-fiction.

• Reading for Pleasure

Reading gives children access to knowledge and feeds pupils’ imagination, opening up a  joy for curious young minds.

A series of carefully chosen texts from Nursery to Y2 form the basis of our curriculum delivery and an exciting reading journey for children. These texts include a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry books. Trips, visitors and memorable experiences are carefully planned across all curriculum subjects to support the background knowledge and vocabulary our children need to support their reading comprehension and vocabulary. Vocabulary and knowledge are both taught explicitly within our reading lessons.

Early Reading

As soon as children enter nursery, they begin learn the pre-requisite skills to reading through phase 1 Letters and Sounds. Listening to, making and recognising sounds through fun activities and games. They continue to enjoy focus stories selected carefully by the Nursery staff  as well as providing many opportunities for children to enjoy and share books with their friends.