Reading
Research has shown that children who enjoy reading, do better at school in all subjects so at Horsenden Primary, we ensure that our pupils learn to decode accurately and develop a love of reading!
Pupils learn to decode through the Read, Write, Inc. phonics programme which is detailed on the Phonics page. This allows pupils to learn the phonemes and graphemes that make up words. In Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 pupils also do the Read, Write, Inc. guided reading programme which develops fluency and accuracy in word and sentence reading.
When children have completed the phonics programme, they move on to Bridge to Destination Reader. Bridge to Destination Reader bridges the gap between their phonics learning and the reading skills they will be taught in Key Stage 2 as part of their Destination Reader lessons. These lessons are carefully designed to help children develop a love of reading, while also learning strategies to understand a text, improve their fluency and deepen their comprehension.
From KS2, the children are taught reading using Destination Reader: a pedagogical based approach to teaching reading through engaging daily, structured sessions that support children to read with greater understanding, enjoyment and purpose. Children are taught that a good reader uses a range of reading strategies as they read to deepen their understanding of a text.
Reading Strategies
Our teaching is focused on modelling and applying the above reading strategies to improve decoding and comprehension skills. We use sentence stems for each strategy to enhance the quality of the reading skills and the talk happening in the classroom.
Home Reading Books
Pupils at Horsenden bring home levelled books each week and the reading of these must be recorded daily in their Reading Record. In addition to this, children visit the school library weekly and can choose books of any level to borrow from here.
Reading With Your Child
Reading with your child at home is very important. It supports the development of literacy skills and helps to build a strong, loving bond between you and your child. It is never too early to start reading together and continuing to read with your child throughout their primary school years is equally important.
Reading for Pleasure
At Horsenden we have lots of exciting initiatives to ensure our pupils develop and maintain their love of reading. Some of these include:
- Every class has a class reader which are carefully chosen in order to expose children to a wide range of genres and authors. These are read to the children by their class teacher on a regular basis.
- Buddy reading sessions, where classes 'buddy up' with a class from another year group and pupils enjoy reading and discussing their books together.
- World Book Day celebrations – a new theme every year and school-wide activities and events.
- Author visits to share books and inspire the children.
- Reading Champions read to classes and recommend books to children.
- Weekly library sessions with the Class Teacher and Librarians.
World Book Day 2025 - Competitions
Recommended Reads
We have developed a recommended reading list for all year groups.
Please see the following link for some other great reading options for your child:
Books for Topics’ also recommends a variety of books for each year group
