Winshill Village
Reading
Subject Leader: Miss C. Hughes
“The whole world opened up to me when I learned to read”
Mary McCleod Bethune
Vision
At Winshill Village our vision is to enable all children to be able to read and understand texts as we know that being able to read opens up the world. We aim to ensure that all children leave us as determined, confident and motivated readers. We want our children to develop a love of language and literature, as well as becoming empathetic readers, when accessing enjoyable and challenging texts from around the world.
Using the Little Wandle phonics programme, we ensure all children in EYFS and KS1 are given the best possible start to their reading journey. Our whole class reading approach in KS2, supports children with developing their fluency in reading as well as deepening their comprehension skills.
Reading at Winshill plays a key role in allowing all pupils to access the wider curriculum, promoting inclusivity for all. Our vision is for all of our pupils to develop the necessary skills to be able to access reading in the wider world, helping to open up a multitude of opportunities for them all.
Aims and Goals
At Winshill Village Primary and Nursery School, our Reading Curriculum is designed to ensure that every child becomes a determined, confident and empathetic reader. We aim to:
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Secure strong phonic knowledge as the foundation for confident, independent reading.
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Develop pupils’ fluency, accuracy, stamina and comprehension across a wide range of texts and subjects.
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Foster a rich and ambitious vocabulary to support both spoken and written expression.
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Build cultural capital by exposing pupils to a diverse range of high-quality texts from different times, places, and cultures.
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Inspire all pupils to develop a lifelong love of reading, for both enjoyment and learning.
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Equip children with the skills and confidence to become motivated, independent readers, fully prepared for the demands of Key Stage 3 and beyond.
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Encourage pupils to think critically, participate in discussion, and express reasoned opinions about what they have read.
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Ensure that all children, regardless of starting point or background, make expected or better progress in their reading journey.
Curriculum
Early Years Foundation Stage (Nursery)
In our Nursery, we lay the essential foundations for reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds – Foundations for Phonics. Each week, children are introduced to a new sound (phoneme) and explore it through play-based activities, helping them develop oral blending and recognise initial sounds in words.
Children enjoy both indoor and outdoor reading areas where they can share books, listen to stories, and practise holding and turning the pages correctly. Daily story times, using dialogic reading strategies, along with action rhymes and songs, enrich children’s vocabulary and spark a love of language. Our Nursery is a text-rich environment, where books and stories are woven into all areas of learning, helping children build early comprehension skills and a passion for reading.
Reception and Year 1
In Reception and Year 1, children take part in daily Little Wandle Letters and Sounds phonics sessions to build strong early reading skills. Alongside this, they enjoy small-group guided reading three times a week, where they practise decoding, prosody, and comprehension. Every day, pupils also share a whole-class text, and writing lessons are closely linked to high-quality literature.
Children who need extra support are quickly identified and receive daily Little Wandle Keep Up sessions to ensure no child is left behind. Reading is also woven across the wider curriculum, with high-quality texts chosen to enhance learning in other subjects.
Classrooms provide inviting reading areas where children can choose and enjoy books independently or with friends. Through skilled teaching, rich vocabulary, and meaningful conversations about texts, children develop fluency, comprehension, and—most importantly—a lifelong love of reading.
Year 2 to 6
From Year 2 onwards, children continue to develop as confident, fluent readers through regular whole-class reading sessions. Twice a week, pupils are explicitly taught fluency and comprehension skills, using the VIPERS approach (Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explanation, Retrieval and Summarising) to explore a wide range of high-quality texts and genres.
Each class enjoys a shared story, often linked to their writing, helping children to see strong connections between reading and composition. For those who need extra support, interventions such as EPATT provide additional practice in word reading and fluency.
Reading extends beyond English lessons, with cross-curricular opportunities carefully planned to give pupils access to rich and ambitious texts in a variety of subjects. Every classroom has a dedicated reading area where children can choose books, share stories and read for pleasure.
Through skilled teaching, purposeful discussion, and exposure to a wide range of literature, pupils develop their comprehension, vocabulary and fluency—building a life-long love of reading that prepares them for success at Key Stage 3 and beyond.
Cross Curriculuar
At Winshill Village, reading is at the heart of everything we do. The majority of high-quality texts used in reading lessons are carefully chosen to link with learning in other subjects, helping to deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Children are encouraged to practise and apply their reading skills across the whole curriculum, ensuring that every lesson provides an opportunity to read, explore language, and connect with new ideas.
Documents and Useful Links
 Little Wandle |
 Phonics Play |
 Oxford Owl |
 Free Kids Books |
 BookTrust |
 National Literacy Trust |
