Reading at Watchfield

Reading is fundamental at Watchfield Primary School. It is the foundation for all subjects and to ensure children make progress across the whole curriculum. 

EYFS/ Key Stage 1

Reading in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Key Stage 1 is a carefully planned and supportive experience that helps children begin their journey as confident readers.

In the autumn term, we gradually build up small reading groups (as per the RWI scheme) as children settle into school and develop early phonics and listening skills. This gentle start allows us to tailor sessions to each child’s needs and readiness.

Reading sessions in EYFS include:

• Small group work with an adult, focusing on early decoding and comprehension
• Use of decodable books matched to children’s phonics knowledge
• Discussion of stories and pictures to build vocabulary and understanding
• Opportunities to talk about books and share ideas with peers

As the year progresses, children become more confident in applying their phonics skills and begin to read with increasing fluency and independence. Our aim is to nurture a love of reading from the very beginning.

We send RWI storybooks and bookbag books home weekly and ask that children read these daily for 5 - 10 minutes. 

Please see our Early Reading/Phonics page for more details.

Key Stage 2

In KS2, we ensure that children’s love of reading continues to flourish by providing a multitude of reading opportunities across the week.

Children take part in daily whole class reading lessons, focusing on either an extract of a text (coming from a range of genres), or spending some time reading and talking about their class book. Within these lessons, children will spend time predicting, summarising passages, focusing on vocabulary and grammatical choices, along with using inference and deduction skills.

Time is also spent each day on enabling children to enjoy reading for pleasure, either independently, with a partner or listening to an adult read to them.