Early Reading

In Nursery and Reception, high-quality texts are carefully selected and made readily accessible across all areas of the classroom to foster a genuine love of reading. Within literacy sessions, a focus text is explored over a two- to three-week cycle, supported by Talk for Writing strategies to deepen children’s comprehension and familiarity with the narrative.

Children are supported to retell stories independently and engage in purposeful activities within the continuous provision that are thoughtfully linked to the focus text. These core texts form a central part of the curriculum and provide meaningful connections across all areas of learning.

Children are actively encouraged to use the inviting reading areas to explore a wide range of engaging and stimulating books. Adults model fluent reading, read alongside children, and promote discussion through carefully considered questioning. A variety of props and resources are used to enrich storytelling, ensuring that texts are brought to life in an engaging and memorable way.

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Phonics 

Intent

At Gainsborough Primary School, we are committed to ensuring that all pupils develop into confident, fluent readers and capable, independent writers. To support this aim, we deliver phonics through Read Write Inc. (RWI), a structured systematic programme.

The Read Write Inc. programme is carefully designed to build secure foundations in early reading, writing and spelling. Through clear and progressive phonics teaching, children learn to recognise sounds, blend them to read words accurately, and segment them to spell with increasing precision. This structured approach enables pupils to decode unfamiliar words confidently and apply their phonics knowledge effectively in their writing.

Implementation

Early phonological awareness begins in Nursery where children develop listening and communication skills. We begin by introducing a familiar nursery rhyme each week. The children are taught new words and they begin to recognise the sounds in the words. As we start our phonic sessions, the children tune into a sound a week following the Read Write Inc order.  The children begin to name pictures with the sound of the week and begin to develop their oral blending skills. 

Children progress systematically through the set sounds as outlined within the programme across Reception and KS1. In the lessons, children are taught one sound a day. Through daily, structured lessons, children are taught to recognise, blend, and segment sounds, supporting accurate decoding and early spelling. Letter sounds are taught and revisited throughout the week using carefully designed mnemonic picture cards, structured rhymes, purposeful chants, and practical resources to ensure learning is engaging and meaningful for children. 

Within Read Write Inc., there are three structured Speed Sounds sets: Set 1, Set 2 and Set 3. Once children can confidently recognise and blend Set 1 sounds to read simple words (for example, cat, hot, big), they progress to reading Ditties, followed by the Storybooks matched to their phonics knowledge.

Sequence of phonics teaching:

• Set 1 Sounds – Red Ditty Books
• Set 2 Sounds – Green Books to Pink Books
• Set 3 Sounds – Orange Books to Grey Books

Upon successful completion of the programme, pupils transition to the school’s wider reading programme to further develop fluency, comprehension and a sustained enjoyment of reading.

Impact

Through a structured and systematic approach to phonics, children secure strong foundations in decoding, enabling them to read unfamiliar words with increasing automaticity and confidence.

Pupils demonstrate a clear understanding of letter–sound correspondence and apply their knowledge effectively to blend and segment words for both reading and spelling. As a result, writing outcomes improve, with children showing greater accuracy in spelling and increased independence in applying phonics skills across the curriculum.

Regular assessment ensures that teaching is closely matched to pupils’ needs, enabling timely intervention and support where required. Progress is carefully monitored to ensure that gaps are quickly identified and addressed.

By the end of the programme, children are well prepared to transition to the school’s wider reading curriculum, with secure phonics knowledge, improved fluency and a positive attitude towards reading.

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Reading 

Intent 

At Gainsborough, we aim to develop all pupils into confident, fluent and motivated readers who read widely and for pleasure. We believe that reading is fundamental to pupils’ academic success, personal development and understanding of the world.

Our reading curriculum is designed to ensure pupils develop secure fluency, enabling them to read accurately, with appropriate pace and expression. Alongside this, we place a strong emphasis on the development of vocabulary, helping children to understand and use new words effectively, and to deepen their comprehension of increasingly complex texts.

Through high-quality teaching, pupils are supported to develop a strong understanding of texts, including the ability to retrieve information, infer meaning, explain authors’ choices and respond thoughtfully to what they read. Reading lessons provide opportunities for discussion, enabling children to articulate ideas, justify opinions and engage critically with a range of texts.

We are committed to fostering a lifelong love of reading. Pupils are regularly exposed to a wide range of high-quality texts, authors and genres, including fiction, non-fiction and poetry, that reflect diverse cultures, experiences and perspectives. This broad exposure helps to broaden pupils’ experiences, develop empathy and build cultural capital.

Reading for pleasure is actively promoted across the school through carefully chosen texts, engaging reading environments and regular opportunities for reading. By developing confident, curious and enthusiastic readers, we aim to equip all pupils with the skills, knowledge and enjoyment of reading that will support them throughout their education and beyond.

Implementation 

Reading post-phonics is taught explicitly and consistently across the school through a carefully structured and progressive approach. The reading curriculum is designed as a spiral, ensuring that key reading skills and reading fluency are revisited regularly and developed in increasing depth and complexity as pupils move through the school. The domains covered in our reading lessons are:

• 2a Give/explain the meaning of words in context
• 2b Retrieve and record information/identify key details from fiction and non-fiction 
• 2c Summarise main ideas from more than one paragraph
• 2d Make inferences from the text/explain and justify inferences with evidence 
• 2e Predict what might happen from details stated and implied 
• 2f Identify/explain how information/narrative content is related and contributes to meaning as a whole
• 2g Identify/explain how meaning is enhanced through choice of words and phrases
• 2h Make comparisons within the text 

These skills, as well as fluency are continually returned to, allowing pupils to strengthen understanding and apply learning confidently across a wide range of texts.

Each reading unit follows a four-lesson reading cycle that gradually builds pupils’ independence. Lessons are sequenced as follows:

1. Day 1- Teacher model day
2. Day 2- Group day
3. Day 3- Partner day
4. Day 4- Independent day 

 High-quality modelling is central to this approach, with teachers explicitly demonstrating the reading skill being taught. Scaffolds are carefully reduced over time, enabling pupils to apply skills independently and develop confidence as readers.

Opportunities for discussion are planned into every lesson. Pupils are encouraged to articulate their thinking, justify responses and engage meaningfully with texts. This talk-rich approach supports deeper comprehension and the effective development of reading vocabulary.

Reading Hour 

In addition to discrete reading lessons, a weekly Reading Hour further strengthens fluency and reading for pleasure. In the first half, teachers model reading aloud a class text using appropriate intonation, tone and expression, and explicitly demonstrate how to summarise a text. Teachers model enthusiasm, predicting and summarising and actively engage the pupils in discussion about the book being read. Pupils record summaries and reflections in their reading logs before engaging in independent reading. This reinforces the summary skill and ensures clear models are sent home in the pupils’ reading logs. The second half of the Reading Hour focuses on listening to children read, assessing and supporting the home reader system and running interventions. The teacher allows the children to manage their learning and complete one of the activities below based on their need:

1. Read a book independently or with an adult (change book as required)
2. Learning log completion if not completed at home (praise given for those who have completed this) 
3. FFT reading assessment with an adult to assess reading fluency and speed
4. Reading plus completion if not completed at home (praise given for those who have completed this) 

Class teachers regularly hear pupils read during both reading lessons and Reading Hour, enabling ongoing assessment and targeted support.

Reading Plus

Pupils have access to the Reading Plus programme to develop fluency, comprehension, and stamina in reading. The personalised, adaptive platform ensures that pupils read texts matched to their current ability, enabling them to make rapid progress in decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension skills. Regular use supports pupils to develop independent reading habits, confidence, and motivation, while providing teachers with detailed insights to target support and challenge effectively and enabling additional structured practice for those who need it. 

Through Reading Plus, pupils strengthen their ability to read with understanding and expression, engage critically with a wide range of texts and demonstrate improved performance across the whole reading curriculum. The programme also contributes to developing lifelong reading habits and a love of reading, complementing class-based reading lessons and broader literacy development.

Underachievement 

The fundamentals tracker highlights underachievement. Children working well below and with SEND are taught to read through level appropriate phonic groups or lower ability reading groups. They are also read with more frequently, assessed more frequently and reading books sent home are levelled appropriately.

Interventions may include:

• Phonics practice 
• Reading Plus 
• Reading level appropriate books with an adult

Impact 

Through a carefully sequenced spiral curriculum, pupils develop reading skills progressively, revisiting and building on prior learning to secure long-term understanding. Clear modelling, structured discussion, and regular opportunities for independent practice support pupils to develop fluency, comprehension, and accuracy across a range of texts.

Pupils demonstrate a growing confidence and enjoyment in reading, able to select and engage with texts independently, and discuss ideas thoughtfully. They are able to infer meaning, evaluate language and structure, and make connections across texts, showing developing critical thinking and analytical skills. Regular exposure to a wide range of genres, authors, and culturally diverse texts enriches vocabulary, broadens understanding of the world, and fosters a lifelong love of reading.

Our School Fundamentals Tracker and FFT reading assessment programme ensure that teachers and leaders have a precise understanding of pupils’ reading speed, fluency and comprehension skills. This enables staff to provide timely and focused intervention, ensuring all pupils are supported and challenged continually to improve as a reader.

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