Reading at Thursby School

At Thursby Primary School, we believe that learning to read is the most important thing your child will learn. Our approach ensures that every child becomes a confident, fluent reader who enjoys books and can use reading to support learning across the curriculum.

Phonics: Early Foundations

Reading begins with high-quality phonics teaching. We follow Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised to teach children how to recognise sounds, blend them to read words and develop early fluency. Phonics is taught daily in Reception and Key Stage 1, with regular assessment to ensure children make strong progress. Any child who needs extra help receives timely keep-up sessions, so no one is left behind.

Teaching Reading Skills

As children move through school, they are taught the full range of reading skills they need to understand and enjoy increasingly challenging texts. In daily whole-class reading lessons, children learn how to:

• build vocabulary
• retrieve information
• make inferences
• explore themes, structure and language
• discuss an author’s choices
• read with expression and fluency

Teachers model reading aloud and use rich, carefully chosen texts to develop comprehension, critical thinking and confidence.

Reading for Pleasure

We are committed to nurturing a lifelong love of reading. Children enjoy:

• daily story time
• a well-stocked school library
• inviting reading areas in every classroom
• book talk and recommendations
• access to a wide range of authors, genres and diverse texts

As a Reading for Pleasure school influenced by The Open University and Teresa Cremin’s research, we prioritise reading communities, reading aloud and giving children choice in what they read. We want every child to see themselves as a reader.

Our Goal

By the time they leave Thursby, children will be fluent, enthusiastic readers who can understand, enjoy and talk confidently about a wide range of books. Most importantly, they will carry a love of reading with them throughout their lives.