“Reading is a passport to countless adventures” Mary Pope Osbourne

At Matching Green CfE Primary School, we believe that the teaching of reading is integral to a child’s understanding and appreciation of the world around them; a platform that allows our children to see beyond what they know, share cultural experiences and develop the vocabulary they need to effectively express themselves. Our reading curriculum strives to foster a lifelong love of reading.  We cultivate the behaviours that they will need to be discerning readers as our children read frequently and widely using self-regulation strategies and discuss what they have read.

Reading is at the very heart of our curriculum. We are committed to promoting a love for reading and not only giving children opportunities to read in English lessons, but in the wider curriculum too.

Reading for Pleasure 

Children and staff in our school have the opportunity to read at least once a day for pleasure. We timetable this into the school day. . Teachers also prioritse reading aloud to their classes; in EYFS/KS1 this happens at least once a day and in KS2 a minimum of three times a week. 

At Matching Green Primary School, we do not follow one set reading scheme. We encourage the children to read from a variety of high-quality texts that can be chosen from our classroom book corners.  This provides them with the opportunity to read a broad range of texts and genres and fosters a pleasure for reading. At the beginning of each term, children complete a Star Reading Assessment on Accelerated Reader which provides them with a ZPD*. Using this, children are supported choosing a book, to ensure that they have chosen from the correct stage and have chosen something appropriate. We also ensure children are reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction books. 

*Further information surrounding Accelerated Reader and ZPD's can be found in the documents below. 

Early Reading 

At Matching Green CfE Primary School, we use the systematic, synthetic phonics programme. We teach our phonics, so that it is accessible to all, by ensuring children are learning with their 'head, heart and hands'. 

We place high quality phonics teaching in a language rich curriculum with exposure to a range of both physical and digital texts. Working alongside parents and carers, we want to provide our pupils with the skills they need to have a successful start to their lives as readers and to ensure that our children develop a love of reading by the end of KS1. 

How do we teach reading at Matching Green Primary School? 

Children across the school have, on average, three taught reading sessions a week. These are whole class reading sessions which are a balance between practising reading fluency, discussion based learning and writing comprehension. As well as this, children in EYFS are heard reading aloud by an adult twice a week, once a week in KS1 and as regularly as possible in KS2. 

Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) 

'Drop Everything and Read' (DEAR) is an established part of our curriculum at Matching Green Primary School. Parents and Carers are invited into school weekly to read aloud with their children. DEAR has proven to create fun and excitement around reading and continues to promote reading for pleasure. 

Reading Events at our School! 
Scholastic Book Fair - Running between 18th January - 24th January 2023 

National Storytelling Week - 30th January 2023 

World Book Day - 2nd March 2023

Playtimes

The children have the opportunity to choose from a broad range of books which they can take outside to read during playtime, it is a great opportunity to sit quietly and enjoy a book if you're not too keen on running around!  The children are also welcome to read books in The Den.