Reading statement of intent
At St Peter’s, reading is at the heart of our curriculum. We aim for every child to leave primary school as a fluent, confident reader who can access all subjects and is well-prepared for secondary education.
Throughout their primary years, pupils experience a carefully chosen selection of quality texts linked to wider curriculum topics. Through reading, enjoyment, and discussion, they make meaningful connections in learning and commit knowledge to long-term memory.
Each year group is exposed to a wide variety of authors and poets, both classic and contemporary, to inspire children and help them make independent reading choices. Our texts span fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and playscripts, all rich in vocabulary. Shared reading is central to our approach, with frequent opportunities for children to read and be read to throughout the school day.
Our aims are to:
- Develop children’s knowledge of the world.
- Establish a culture of reading for pleasure that motivates children to make positive choices and build lasting reading habits.
- Support knowledge acquisition across the curriculum and embed it into long-term memory.
- Improve reading outcomes for all learners, including those with SEND and from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Implementation
Early Reading
In nursery, children begin with Phase 1 phonics, exploring environmental sounds. They meet phonics characters in preparation for Reception and enjoy ‘cosy club’, a dedicated reading space. Each week, they study a ‘Book of the Week’, exploring characters, settings, and vocabulary, alongside a traditional tale each half-term to encourage retelling. New vocabulary is introduced weekly, displayed in the environment, and reinforced through questioning (Who? Where? What? When?).
Phonics
In Early Years and Key Stage 1, phonics underpins early reading. Using the accredited programme Supersonic Phonic Friends, teachers deliver daily lessons supported by rhymes that connect sounds, letters, and graphemes. Where children need additional support, tailored interventions take place in class or in small groups. Phonics teaching continues into Key Stage 2 for those requiring it.
Guided Reading and Class Readers
Alongside phonics, comprehension is taught through whole-class guided reading sessions using high-quality texts linked to writing and wider topics. Children read aloud daily, using strategies such as echo-reading and paired reading to build fluency. Sessions develop skills including retrieval, inference, prediction, summarising, and vocabulary.
Vocabulary instruction is a priority: new words are introduced at the start of each session and reinforced across reading and writing activities.
Every half-term, each class reads a novel selected to excite and challenge pupils, broadening their vocabulary. Reading at home is strongly encouraged, with recognition for commitment and parent workshops to support families. Children also take STAR reader assessments each term, which guide book choices. Completed texts are followed by Accelerated Reader quizzes to assess comprehension.
Impact
By the end of Year 6, we expect every child to be an independent, enthusiastic reader who can access a broad range of texts. We see reading as the foundation for all learning and aim to instil a lifelong love of books. Beyond statutory assessments, our reading curriculum develops cultural capital and equips children for success both in school and beyond.
The writing curriculum
At St Peter’s Primary School, we recognise that many children enter our Early Years with significantly underdeveloped speech and language skills. We address this immediately through targeted interventions such as the Welcomm programme and the use of Blank Level questioning, which help close the language gap and lay essential foundations for future success in writing. Children in the early years are given many opportunities within provision for fine and gross motor development. Staff in the early years also provide guided writing opportunities where they can target children and provide provision teaching to develop early writing skills.
We are passionate about ensuring all children, including those with SEN or who are disadvantaged, become confident and enthusiastic readers and writers. Our high-quality English curriculum underpins learning across all other subject areas and is the foundation for a life-long love of learning. We believe the English curriculum drives forward a strong motivation and desire for our pupils to have their voices heard and make a difference; our aim is to equip them with the necessary skills to do so effectively.
Our writing curriculum is designed using a text-based approach. Pupils are immersed in high-quality texts which help them to acquire the necessary knowledge of grammatical structures and text types in an engaging and accessible way. This also helps to provide pupils with the desire to write and apply their knowledge and skills. The texts are carefully selected on the basis of their literary merit and to ensure an appropriate level of challenge in terms of reading stamina and comprehension. They also relate to our school values and some are linked to themes from the wider curriculum.
We have a strong focus on language development for all our pupils because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects. Pupils are exposed to language rich environments and emphasis is places on oral rehearsal and developing spoken skills prior to writing their ideas down. We have begun to develop our oracy curriculum however this is still in the early stages.
We aim to develop pupils into confident, positive and enthusiastic writers, with the intention that they will be able to write independently and with resilience. It is our ambition that pupils will be able to edit and evaluate their own writing to make it the best it can be. We equip them with the skills to apply a wide range of sophisticated vocabulary into writing. We aim to ensure all pupils secure foundational spelling and grammar before moving on to make more ambitious grammar choices for effect. It is important that our pupils develop an awareness of the audience, purpose and context, which will prepare them for their future and enables them to understand the intention and impact of their writing.
All children from Y1-Y6 follow the Pathways to Write scheme of work and the Pathways to Spell programme. Pathways intends to secure foundational skills and learning that has come before (gateway keys) prior to introducing new skills to ensure that children aren’t moved on too quickly. Based on initial observations, children will begin their bespoke pathway, which varies dependant on starting points. Throughout the units, the children practise and apply new skills into short pieces of writing and they revisit these throughout their unit. Therefore, by the final extended piece the children have built up a portfolio of skills which they can confidently apply into a variety of genres.
By the time children leave us in Year 6, we hope that the high-quality writing teaching they have received equips them with the foundations needed for writing at secondary school. We hope that children feel inspired and motivated to continue their writing journey having found their authorial voice during their time here.
Phonics
The Supersonic Phonic Friends programme is a systematic, synthetic phonics scheme designed to support early reading and spelling development in young children. It is structured around fun, memorable characters called the Phonic Friends, who guide pupils through the different stages of learning sounds and applying them to words. The scheme is fully aligned with the expectations of the English National Curriculum and the Department for Education’s guidance on early reading. Lessons follow a consistent and engaging structure, with activities that focus on hearing, recognising, saying, and writing sounds, before moving on to blending and segmenting words. A key feature of Supersonic Phonic Friends is its use of visual prompts, interactive stories, and playful activities, which help children to secure their knowledge of grapheme-phoneme correspondences in a way that feels enjoyable and accessible. The programme is carefully sequenced, ensuring that children revisit and consolidate prior learning as they progress, while also being challenged with new sounds and word structures. Teachers are provided with clear resources, lesson plans, and assessment tools to track progress and identify any gaps in understanding. Ultimately, Supersonic Phonic Friends aims to build children’s confidence, fluency, and love of reading by combining rigorous teaching with a highly engaging, child-friendly approach.
Year 1 Phonics Screening Check
The Year 1 Phonics Screening Check is a short assessment carried out in primary schools across England to assess how well children can use their phonics knowledge to read words. It usually takes place in June when pupils are near the end of Year 1. The check is designed to confirm whether children have learned phonic decoding skills to the expected standard for their age. It is carried out one-to-one with a teacher the child knows, in a quiet and supportive setting, to help pupils feel comfortable and confident. The assessment consists of 40 words, split into real words and “pseudo-words” (also called nonsense or alien words). These pseudo-words are included to test whether children can apply their phonics knowledge to unfamiliar words, rather than relying on memory. Each child is asked to sound out and blend the letters to read the word aloud. Teachers use the results to identify children who may need extra phonics support as they move into Year 2. It is not a pass-or-fail test but rather a way to highlight strengths and next steps in reading development. Parents are informed of their child’s results and any follow-up support that might be put in place.
https://www.supersonicphonicfriends.co.uk/