At Wellesbourne, we believe reading is the key to unlocking every child’s potential. Our vision is to inspire a lifelong love of literature in all children, staff, and families. Through carefully chosen, high-quality texts, we nurture fluent, confident readers who enjoy reading for practice, purpose, and pleasure.
Our Approach
Reading is taught every day across the school through a consistent, structured approach that promotes fluency, comprehension, and a deep understanding of language.
- Phonics: In Early Years and Key Stage 1, we use the Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) phonics programme. This ensures a strong start in reading through daily, systematic phonics lessons.
- Whole-Class Reading (Years 2–6): We use Ready Steady Read Together, a consistent and inclusive scheme based on high-quality, diverse texts. Lessons follow the sequence Explore – Teach – Practise & Apply and include vocabulary teaching, shared reading, discussion, and comprehension practice. See below for the Yearly Overviews.
- Pedagogical Approach: All reading lessons follow our school’s “I do, We do, You do” model — where teachers model, guide, and then support pupils to apply skills independently. Time to talk, live feedback, and assessment for learning are built into every session.
- Fluency & Comprehension Support: Targeted interventions, including Fluency Factory and Lexia Core5, ensure every child keeps up, not catches up.
- Reading for Pleasure: Every class enjoys 15 minutes of daily reading for pleasure using the Liverpool Reading Spine and class book corners that are refreshed regularly. Children help choose the books they read and share recommendations with their peers.
Developing a Love of Reading
We foster a strong reading culture that goes beyond the classroom.
- Author visits, poetry performances, and drama productions bring books to life.
- Our school library and class lending collections give children access to a wide variety of books to enjoy at home and at school.
- We host events such as Stay and Learn sessions, World Book Day, and Bookshop visits to involve families in our reading community.
Monitoring and Staff Development
Reading is at the heart of our curriculum and leadership priorities. The Reading Lead and Senior Leadership Team monitor teaching and learning through lesson visits, pupil voice, and data analysis.
Staff receive regular training in phonics, comprehension, and vocabulary instruction to ensure consistency and excellence across all classes.
Staff receive regular training in phonics, comprehension, and vocabulary instruction to ensure consistency and excellence across all classes.
Impact
Through our carefully sequenced reading curriculum, pupils develop the skills and passion needed to become confident, fluent readers. Our goal is for every child to leave Wellesbourne with the ability to read widely and deeply — and with a lifelong love of books.
Ready, Steady, Read Together Yearly Overviews