English Intent

To foster a love of reading and writing, helping students build strong language skills. We aim to create a foundation for lifelong learning and academic success, while ensuring the curriculum is inclusive and engaging for all.

Reading Intent

At Barlby Primary School, we believe that reading is the cornerstone of learning. We are committed to ensuring that all our pupils develop a lifelong love of reading, enabling them to become confident, fluent readers who can access, communicate about, and engage with a wide variety of texts.

Reading is at the heart of our curriculum, and we provide a rich, diverse selection of texts using the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education’s ‘The Power of Reading’ teaching sequences. These texts are carefully chosen to broaden vocabulary, deepen our understanding of grammar, and inspire a love of literature. We aim to ensure that every child reads widely and often, developing not only the skills necessary for comprehension but also the enjoyment of reading for pleasure.

We recognise the vital role reading plays in the curriculum, providing the foundation for learning in all subjects. Through a consistent, whole-school approach to the teaching of reading, we aim for all children to achieve, or exceed, the expected standards. By fostering a love of reading, we empower our pupils to become curious, informed, and lifelong learners.

Reading Implementation

For information on our Phonics teaching, please click here.

Guided Reading Sessions – In EYFS and KS1, we use the Little Wandle Phonics Scheme to deliver our Guided Reading sessions. We run a carousel system to give children opportunities to work with different adults and build on a range of skills including decoding, prosody and comprehension. If you would like more information on how we use the Little Wandle Phonics Scheme, please click here. In KS2, we cover a wide variety of both fiction and non-fiction texts to help advance the children’s comprehension skills. We timetable for four Guided Reading sessions per week, with at least one based on a non-fiction text. We also prioritise time in the day for children (and adults) to read for pleasure!

English Sessions - Pupils at Barlby Primary School continue to develop a range of reading skills, as well as a love of reading through the CLPE core texts and linked texts. We have access to both fiction and non-fiction texts in a range of different genres and text types. In class, the children study a text for a period of around 6 weeks to gain a deep understanding of the language, styles and themes used. This also provides time to create a range of high-quality outcomes, including group and independent work. To view our CLPE Core Text Curriculum Map, please click here.

Reading for Pleasure - Children are immersed in stories in assemblies often led by our headteacher, Mr Mannix. The children get involved with the storytelling by role-playing as different characters. The stories are chosen for a particular purpose as they link to our PSHE question of the week to further develop our understanding. At Barlby Primary School, our pupils are encouraged to read for pleasure and to read widely outside of lesson time both in school and at home. They have access to high quality book corners in each classroom as well as Little Libraries in Learning Zone 1 and Learning Zone 2. These are set up to be similar to public libraries where the books are ordered in alphabetical order by author’s surname. Barlby Primary School are so grateful to have the opportunity to work with a range of authors! We also love taking part in activities for World Book Day and National Storytelling Week. Some of the activities we have really loved include external writing projects, radio interviews and school reading buddies. We hope that the children feel inspired by the different initiatives that we offer.

Reading Impact

Effective strategies of teaching reading enable our pupils to confidently approach unfamiliar words as they encounter them. As their confidence grows throughout life at Barlby, pupils are increasingly able to discuss what they have read, share their preferences and opinions, and respond to comprehension questions of greater complexity. Ultimately, children are equipped with both the skills and the enthusiasm for reading, laying a solid foundation for lifelong learning and future success.