Reading at Hollywell

"There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world.

Love of books is the best of all.”

At Hollywell Primary School, we believe that reading is an essential life skill and we are committed to inspiring our children to become lifelong readers. We understand that reading develops a deeper level of emotional intelligence and empathy. At the heart of our strategy is our drive to foster a love of reading. Carefully chosen quality texts are woven throughout the curriculum and serve to underpin the teaching of both reading and writing as a whole.

Early reading is vital to the future success of our children and that is why so much importance is placed on reading at our school. This starts with early reading and phonics. 

All children in EYFS, Y1 & Y2 will have at least a 20-minute phonic lesson daily. We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds phonics programme. This is a comprehensive reading programme that ensures all children are taught the phonemes of the English language and their alternatives in a well-planned structure. Alongside this there are robust systems of assessment and keep up sessions to ensure no child is left behind in their reading journey.

As a school our aim is that every child moves into KS2 as a confident reader. Reading in EYFS and KS1 is taught through small group guided reading sessions which explicitly teach; new vocabulary, decoding skills, prosody (the rhythm and flow of language) and comprehension skills. We expect all families to practice reading at home with their child. 

Comprehension skills are developed within Whole Class Reading and Group Guided Reading sessions through pupils’ experience of high-quality discussion with the teacher, as well as from reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non-fiction within English lessons.  Children read widely a range of fiction and non-fiction texts to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, and to gain knowledge across the curriculum.

World Book Day is celebrated in various entertaining and enjoyable ways from inviting an author or poet to the school to dressing up as a favourite book character. 

Reading at Hollywell embraces a wide range of genres, purposes and opportunities for speaking, listening and writing. We actively encourage our children to appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage, and ensure that children acquire a wide vocabulary. 

Reading for Pleasure

We promote reading for pleasure at our school by:

• Constantly updating and renewing the two libraries in school, as well as conducting regular pupil voice interviews to ensure that the children are invested in and excited by the books available to them in school.
• Enabling children to recommend books via ‘The Reading Tree’ which are then purchased for the library.
• Planning special events throughout the year to encourage reading for pleasure, including annual participation in World Book Day.
• Reading books from the Reading Spine during daily story time.
• Enabling children to spend time in the libraries.