The Importance of Reading at St. Michael’s

At St Michael’s, we strive to inspire children not only to learn to read but also to develop a lifelong love of reading. We believe that reading is one of the most important life skills, opening the door to knowledge, imagination and opportunity.

Reading sits at the heart of our curriculum and supports learning across all subjects. We take a structured and supportive approach to teaching reading so that every child develops the skills, confidence and understanding they need to become fluent readers. Alongside this, we celebrate the joy of books by exposing children to a wide range of stories, authors, genres and texts.

Our classrooms and wider school environment are rich in books and reading opportunities. From shared story time to independent reading, we aim to create a positive reading culture where stories, knowledge and imagination are valued every day.

At St Michael’s, we teach early reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, a validated systematic synthetic phonics programme.

Phonics teaches children the sounds that letters make and how these sounds can be blended together to read words. For example:

m – o – p → mop

This approach helps children to develop the skills they need to decode unfamiliar words and become confident, fluent readers.

Phonics is taught daily through clearly structured lessons which include:

• Revisit and Review – practising previously learned sounds

• Teach and Practise – learning new sounds and words

• Practise and Apply – reading and spelling words and sentences
  
  

Alongside phonics lessons, children take part in reading practice sessions three times a week in small groups using books carefully matched to their phonics knowledge. These sessions focus on:

• Decoding – applying knowledge of letter sounds to read words

• Prosody – developing fluent and expressive reading

• Comprehension – understanding and discussing the text
  
  

Books are carefully chosen and informed by regular assessments so that children experience success in reading, helping to build confidence and motivation.

Children in Years 2 to 6 have explicit whole class reading lessons guided by Literacy Tree, a comprehensive and thematic approach to primary English that places children's literature at its heart. We focus on pupils developing their understanding of vocabulary, inference, retrieval, prediction and structure.  We also actively teach fluency to enable pupils to become independent and proficient readers.  

How Parents Can Support Reading at Home? 

Children make the greatest progress in reading when school and home work together. Parents and carers play a vital role in helping children develop confidence and enjoyment in reading.

You can support your child by:

• Reading together every day, even for a few minutes

• Talking about books and asking questions about the story

• Encouraging your child to read their school reading book regularly

• Visiting the library and allowing your child to choose books they enjoy

• Being a reading role model and sharing your own enjoyment of books

Most importantly, keep reading fun and positive. Regular shared reading makes a lasting difference to children’s confidence and love of learning.

We provide workshops and resources for parents to help support reading at home, including information about the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised phonics programme.

You can also explore recommended book lists and reading resources using the links below.

Top ten book tips

To assist parents/carers with the selection of books to read together we have compiled a list of recommended books (both fiction and non-fiction). The lists are not set in stone, rather they can be a guide for the year groups. These books are just a suggestion and further information can be found at your local Libraries/book shops……….Happy Reading for Pleasure!

• Book List from Book Trust

• The Telegraph 100 Best Books List

• Everyone Read - Little Wandle

We hope that these links help parents and carers to support their child with reading. It is important to share books with your child regularly and talk about different types of text. Children who have secure phonic knowledge need to read to an adult and have opportunities to discuss literature:

• https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/5-top-tips-to-keep-reading-at-home/

• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-top-tips-to-encourage-children-to-read/10-top-tips-to-encourage-children-to-read