Reading is an essential discipline; it is an integral part of everyday life and is a prerequisite for all areas of our challenging curriculum, further education and the workplace. Therefore, our reading curriculum places significant emphasis on ensuring all pupils are competent and confident readers that read with automaticity, which is deliberate and effortless.
Reading at Blackley starts in the early years where pupils follow Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised; a DFE validated phonics programme. The programme is a systematic, synthetic approach to teaching phonics, with clear expectations that are laid out term by term from Reception to Year 2. From Reception, pupils are exposed to 5 phonics lessons each week, alongside 3 Little Wandle reading sessions. During the reading sessions, pupils read books matched to their current learning, they take the same books home to read with their parents and carers. Pupils also loan a book of choice from the library- this is a book to share with those at home.
Once the phonetic code has been mastered, pupils move on to our reading curriculum. The reading curriculum has been designed to empower our pupils by exposing them to a plethora of genres, which will broaden and deepen their knowledge of cultural transmission. The curriculum is broad, yet necessarily selective, and encompasses modern 21st century novels, picture books, non-fiction texts, poetry, well-known tales and abridged versions of classic literature. Pupils read high quality texts that are matched to their reading age and like in early years, also loan a book of choice from the library- this is a book to share with those at home.
Click here to find out what our children read each term.
click here to find out what our pupils learn in phonics each term
