Reading
Early Reading
At Gladstone Park, we are highly ambitious for all pupils to become confident, fluent and enthusiastic readers. Our phonics curriculum is underpinned by Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which provides a systematic, rigorous and highly effective approach to teaching phonics. From the very start of their reading journey, children are taught the phonics knowledge and skills they need to decode accurately through daily, structured lessons that build progressively over time. Learning is carefully sequenced so that pupils can securely apply new sounds, practise blending and segmenting, and revisit prior learning, enabling them to make strong connections and develop fluency. Children regularly read fully decodable books that are closely matched to the phonics they have been taught, ensuring early success, growing confidence and a secure foundation for reading with understanding and enjoyment.
In EYFS, we love sharing stories and developing a lifelong love of reading. Children have daily opportunities to explore a wide range of books, listen to stories, talk about their favourite characters and retell familiar tales through play.
Our inviting reading areas encourage children to choose books independently and enjoy quiet moments with a story. We also have a dedicated EYFS library, where children can choose a book to take home and share with their families. This gives children the opportunity to select books that interest them and helps to build a positive connection between reading at school and reading at home.
Through reading for pleasure, children develop their imagination, vocabulary, communication skills and understanding of the world around them.
We encourage families to enjoy these books together by talking about the pictures, discussing the story and simply enjoying the special experience of sharing a book. Children often love hearing their favourite stories again and again!
Y2-6 Reading
Our reading curriculum is built on high ambition and the belief that every child can become a confident, lifelong reader. We follow the Literacy Tree curriculum, which is carefully structured to ensure that knowledge and skills are taught progressively over time, allowing pupils to make meaningful connections with what they have learned in previous years through rich and exciting texts. In Key Stage 1, we use Little Wandle as our phonics programme, giving our youngest readers a strong foundation in decoding and early reading skills. From Years 2 to 6, reading lessons follow a clear structure that explicitly teaches strategies to help pupils comprehend and engage deeply with a wide range of texts. Each term, pupils complete summative reading assessments that focus on phonics, fluency and comprehension, ensuring we can support every child to make strong progress as they grow into skilled and enthusiastic readers.
