Our school British Values Statement can be found in our Key Policies section of the website.

Through the study of reading at Bridgewater, pupils become enthusiastic and critical readers of stories, poetry and drama, as well as non-fiction and media texts. Our reading curriculum ensures that pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. It is also adaptable, flexible and meets the needs of all our learners. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. 

Our vision is that the children of Bridgewater Primary School leave us as well-rounded, competent readers where they are able to effectively use the English language to facilitate their future learning and communication. 

Through our reading curriculum we aim for our learners to:

• read easily, fluently and with good understanding;
• develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information;
• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language;
• appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage.

Phonics, Word Recognition and Early Reading

In the Early Years phonics is introduced to the children from the outset of their time in Reception. Phonics is delivered through whole class sessions, enabling all children to have exposure to the sounds. Any children who need additional phonics have this through additional intervention.

The ‘Sounds-Write’ programme of study is used to teach daily phonics in both Reception and KS1. Sounds-Write is validated by the Department for Education (DfE) in England as an effective systematic synthetic phonics programme (SSP). The Sounds-Write approach is based on the sounds in speech and moves to the written word. It focusses on what the learner needs to understand about the English alphabet code in order to become a fluent reader and speller of English:

• conceptual knowledge
• alphabet code knowledge
• skills they need to employ the conceptual and alphabet code

Sessions are interactive and use a multisensory, code-oriented, comprehensive approach to reading and writing. This approach also marries with our writing strategy by promoting encoding at the same time as decoding.

Children in EYFS and KS1 receive a daily phonics session. The lowest 20% are monitored and carefully assessed with timely and appropriate interventions being put in place such as pre-teaching. They are also heard read more frequently. The programme is continued as an intervention within KS2 for pupils who need to secure their phonetical knowledge and understanding.

Independent reading stage books are from the Sounds-Write scheme and are carefully chosen by teachers to aid and challenge our pupils.  Every child has access to a phonetically decodable book which is suitable for their reading attainment as well as a library book to develop reading for pleasure.

Language Comprehension & Fluency

At Bridgewater Primary School, we place reading at the heart of our curriculum. All teaching staff are highly trained in the approaches and practices of Bridgewater Primary School and their teaching enables all learners to make good or better progress. We provide a rich and varied curriculum that will stimulate and interest all pupils and enable them to apply their reading skills in a wide variety of contexts.

The Reciprocal Reading approach is applied within our whole-class reading lessons which are taught from Year 2 to Year 6.  The main focus for reading in Reception and Year 1 is decoding but weekly reading lessons introduce comprehension skills using the strategies of Reciprocal Reading. 

Reciprocal Reading is a structured, discussion-based approach to the teaching of reading comprehension.  It focuses on improving children’s comprehension of text and on teaching them how to understand.  Four main strategies are promoted: predicting, clarifying, questioning and summarising.  Children use these strategies to make sense of what they read and become more confident, independent readers.  This approach focuses on skills drawn from the National Curriculum and are developed and supported through the Bridgewater Reading Strategies:

           Introduced in Key Stage 1:

           Built Upon in Key Stage 2:

Fluency is the bridge between decoding and comprehension and fluency techniques are taught within our reading lessons.  Fluency is the ability to read with: expression, automatic word recognition, rhythm & phrasing and smoothness.  A range of fluency strategies are used within our teaching including opportunities for teachers to read aloud so pupils can hear fluent reading, repeated reading, echo reading and choral reading.  Fluency is also a focus in small group and individual reading.

Pupils develop their reading skills through whole class reading lessons, small group sessions, 1:1 reading opportunities, library sessions, independent reading and daily sharing of a class story. This provides pupils with further opportunities to explore challenging texts, discussing their themes to deepen their understanding. Children also encounter reading opportunities across the wider curriculum. During shared and independent reading, children are gradually empowered to take responsibility to self-assess, monitor their own reading and extend independent comprehension skills.

Parental Involvement

Parents are key to supporting children’s reading development, especially reading for pleasure. Parents are asked to record any reading at home using the Boom Reader online reading record which is monitored by teachers. They are provided with question prompts and examples of praise to use when reading with their children. As children progress through school, we acknowledge that many children will be reading with greater independence and taking more responsibility for their learning. There are regular opportunities throughout the year for parents to purchase books including book fairs and book sales.  There is also a book swap trolley for parents and pupils to exchange books to start to build a lifelong love of reading and to discover new and exciting texts.

Reading Overviews

Our reading overviews ensure that all pupils read widely and deeply across a range of genres and have suitable age-related texts to develop their vocabulary and understanding.  The overviews offer a wide range of high-quality core texts and significant children's literature chosen to engage, challenge and support children to be critical readers.

As a school, we recognise that reading is fundamental to the writing process, as children can only write successfully if they have a full understanding of the features of specific genres.  Therefore, reading and exploring texts from a variety of genres is closely linked to our writing curriculum. 

Threshold Concepts:

Word Reading – To Read Words Accurately

This concept involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Underpinning both is the understanding that the letters on the page represent the sounds in spoken words.

Comprehension – To Understand Texts

This concept involves drawing linguistic knowledge (in particular of vocabulary and grammar) and knowledge of the world. Comprehension skills develop 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. Reading widely often increases pupils’ vocabulary as they encounter words they would rarely hear or use in everyday speech.

Establishing a Good Reading Habit

This concept involves pupils to be encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction 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.

If successful, the impact for the learners in reading will be to read age-related texts with ease and fluency demonstrating a good understanding and comprehension. They will develop a good reading habit and have an interest in words and their meanings building upon an extensive personal vocabulary. Pupil voice will show evidence of confident readers who are able to talk about what they have read using subject specific vocabulary. They will be able to comment on their own preferences for authors and/ or genres giving reasons why. Bridgewater pupils are enthusiastic about reading and understand how it helps them to develop their own powers of imagination, critical awareness and personal responses to a range of high-quality texts.