Reading

1. Purpose and Vision
At Abbey Hill, we believe that the greatest gift you can give a child is the ability to read. Our Reading curriculum gives every child the tools to unlock learning, broaden their horizons and shape their futures with confidence. We want our Abbeyhillians to see themselves as ambitious readers who can read widely, fluently and with enjoyment, whatever their starting points. At Abbey Hill, we nurture a lifelong love of reading by providing inspiring spaces, diverse texts, and meaningful opportunities to explore books. Our aim is for every child to become a confident, curious reader who finds joy, empathy, and growth through reading for pleasure. Reading also enables our children to acquire knowledge, understand the world around them, and access the full breadth of our curriculum. This reflects our school value of Ambition—we believe that being able to read well is the key that opens the door to lifelong opportunities.

2. Structure and Design
Our Reading curriculum is organised into three interconnected strands: phonics and fluency, comprehension and language development, and reading for pleasure. These strands ensure complete coverage of the National Curriculum and provide a carefully sequenced progression from Nursery to Year 6. In Early Years and Key Stage 1, we prioritise the systematic teaching of phonics through Little Wandle, building secure foundations in word reading. From Year 2 upwards, children take part in whole-class reading lessons built around our core text spine, which has been deliberately designed to offer both challenge and breadth across genres, cultures and voices. The spine ensures pupils meet texts that not only inspire them but also build knowledge of history, geography, science, and the wider world, ensuring that reading underpins learning across the curriculum.

3. Resources and Approaches
We use Little Wandle to provide consistency and rigour in early reading and phonics, ensuring that no child is left behind. In Key Stage 2, comprehension is developed through whole-class reading of high-quality texts, supported by teacher-created materials that encourage deep discussion, inference and vocabulary growth. To nurture reading for pleasure, we embed regular opportunities such as weekly Reading Buddies, Stay and Read sessions, and the involvement of pupil librarians. Parent volunteers and secondary school reading mentors also play a key role in extending the support we offer. Our chosen texts—whether in English lessons or across the wider curriculum—were selected to expand children’s knowledge and provide them with the vocabulary needed to articulate and connect new ideas, while also giving them access to stories that build empathy and imagination.

4. Application and Progression
Skills and knowledge are built progressively over time, from the earliest stages of language development and story-sharing, through phonics and fluency, to the ability to think critically about texts in Upper Key Stage 2. Across the curriculum, pupils apply their reading skills in every subject, encountering a rich range of texts that deepen both knowledge and vocabulary. Reading equips our Abbeyhillians to learn: to research, to explore concepts, and to develop a wider understanding of their world. Pupils are encouraged to apply what they have learned by engaging in meaningful reading experiences: discussing and recommending books, leading as librarians, and sharing stories with peers and younger children. By the end of their journey at Abbey Hill, every child will leave us as a confident, ambitious and motivated reader—able not only to enjoy reading but also to use it as a lifelong tool for learning.