Reading
At Greenacres, we continue to strengthen our shared commitment to nurturing a love of reading that sits at the heart of every child’s journey. Reading opens doors to knowledge, imagination and language, helping children flourish as confident, curious and capable learners.
Our aim is for every child to become a fluent, enthusiastic reader who reads both for pleasure and for purpose.
Children in our Nurseries are immersed in stories throughout the day. The classrooms have a beautiful book corner, story chest and a class library where children choose a book to take home to share with parents/carers. Once a week parents are invited in for a Drop Everything and Read session where books are shared and class library books are changed.
Children in Reception and Year 1 have weekly group reading sessions with an adult in the school. They read the same book at least three times in a week enabling the children to focus on decoding, reading with prosody and comprehension skills.
Children in Year 2 and Year 3 have two group reading session with the class teacher every week. They read the same chapter book for 3 weeks enabling the children to focus on repeated reading, prosody, and comprehension through dialogic talk, ensuring children understand what they read.
Children in Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 have daily whole-class reading lessons through
Steps to Read. This programme explicitly teaches reading comprehension skills and
strategies using high-quality, age-appropriate texts. The children also have three half-hour sessions using Reading Plus, which tailors texts to the child’s individual reading age and develops fluency through the use of a guided window. Teachers use Reading Plus analytics to identify gaps, monitor progress over time, and target additional support where needed.
Reading Progression
Reading for Pleasure
Across Nursery, Reception and Key Stage 1, we draw from our 100 Story Chest — a carefully curated collection of core texts that are read and re-read to children. These repeated reads expose children to a rich diet of vocabulary, rhythm, rhyme, linguistic structures, and story characters beyond their independent reading level. They build familiarity, anticipation, and a deep love of story.
100 story chest books overview for baskets 2 .pdf
In Key Stage 2 through our Book Spine, 100 books to read before you leave Year 6, ensuring exposure to a diverse and ambitious range of texts.
Every class takes part in a daily collective cuddle, where an adult reads aloud to the whole class. This time is protected and valued, strengthening children’s listening skills, enjoyment, and engagement with books.
Working in Partnership
We really value the vital role that parents and carers play in supporting children’s reading development. Listening to children read, reading aloud to them, and encouraging conversations about books all help to build confidence, understanding, and a love of reading.
Regular daily reading is key to making progress, and even just 10 minutes each day can have a significant impact.
In Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 children are expected to read for 10 minutes daily, with parents and carers recording this in their child’s Reading Record.
In Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 children are expected to read at home independently using our Accelerated Reader scheme.
All children will bring home:
- A reading book, at the correct level for their reading, which they can read to a parent/Carer
- A self chosen book, may be above their level of reading, that has a 'Read this book to me' bookmark chosen from our class library or the school library
