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At Cherry Burton Primary School, we believe that reading is the key to unlocking learning and is the foundation for success across the curriculum and throughout life. Our intent is to develop fluent, confident and enthusiastic readers who not only have the skills to comprehend increasingly complex texts but who also develop a genuine love of reading that lasts a lifetime.
Our reading curriculum is underpinned by the Department for Education's Reading Framework and reflects the latest evidence on how children learn to read. We provide a carefully planned, progressive reading journey that develops both word reading and language comprehension, ensuring that every child has the opportunity to become a successful reader regardless of their starting point.
Learning to read begins in our Early Years through the systematic teaching of phonics using the Early Language Support (ELS) programme. Children are taught to decode words through daily, structured phonics lessons, building secure knowledge of phonemes and graphemes alongside developing fluency and confidence.
To support success, every child takes home fully decodable reading books that are carefully matched to the sounds they have been taught in school. This enables children to practise and apply their phonics knowledge successfully, building accuracy, confidence and automaticity before moving on to more challenging texts. Alongside these decodable books, children also share high-quality books with adults to develop vocabulary, language comprehension and a love of stories.
As children become increasingly confident readers, our teaching places a strong emphasis on developing fluency alongside comprehension. Throughout Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, pupils participate in structured whole-class reading lessons using a wide range of carefully selected, high-quality texts.
Children experience a rich reading sequence in which they first hear expert reading from the teacher, modelling expression, pace and intonation. They then participate in repeated reading through choral reading, echo reading and partner reading, enabling them to build confidence, accuracy and prosody. Once pupils have become familiar with the text, they explore it in greater depth by answering carefully sequenced questions that develop the full range of reading skills, including vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval and summarising.
Each week, pupils also take part in a dedicated Fluency Friday session. During these lessons, children read carefully selected extracts matched to their stage of reading development. They revisit and practise fluent reading before answering comprehension questions, enabling them to strengthen both reading accuracy and understanding through regular, purposeful practice.
We believe that every child deserves to experience the very best literature. Throughout their time at Cherry Burton Primary School, children are immersed in a diverse range of high-quality fiction, non-fiction, poetry, traditional tales, contemporary literature and classic texts. Carefully chosen books enrich every area of the curriculum, broaden children's vocabulary, develop cultural capital and introduce them to different authors, viewpoints and experiences.
Every classroom is rich in books, and teachers share carefully selected class novels and picture books every day. These shared reading experiences encourage discussion, spark curiosity and nurture a lifelong enjoyment of reading.
Creating lifelong readers is at the heart of everything we do. Reading for pleasure is actively promoted throughout the school through engaging book recommendations, author studies, reading celebrations and regular opportunities for children to share books with one another.
Our dedicated Library Squad plays an important role in promoting reading across the school. They help organise and care for our library, recommend books to their peers and lead initiatives that encourage children to discover new authors and develop a love of reading.
We believe that every child can become a successful reader. Reading teaching is carefully adapted to meet the needs of every learner, with timely intervention and additional support provided whenever needed.
Children who require extra practice receive targeted reading opportunities to help them develop confidence and fluency. Across every class, the lowest 20% of readers read daily with an adult, ensuring they receive regular practice, immediate feedback and carefully tailored support.
Our commitment to reading extends beyond the classroom. Every Wednesday afternoon, our much-loved therapy dogs, Barney and Bear, visit school to listen to children read. Reading to Barney and Bear provides a calm, supportive and enjoyable experience that helps build confidence, reduces anxiety and encourages reluctant readers to develop positive reading habits. Children celebrate their achievements through reading certificates, recognising both effort and progress.
By the time children leave Cherry Burton Primary School, we want every pupil to be a fluent, confident and thoughtful reader who can read with accuracy, expression and understanding. More importantly, we want our children to leave us with a lifelong love of books, equipped with the reading skills and curiosity that will enable them to flourish throughout their education and beyond.