Reading at Edith Moorhouse Primary School

At Edith Moorhouse, reading is a central focus of our curriculum, and we are committed to ensuring that all pupils, including those with SEND and Pupil Premium, develop the knowledge and skills needed to become confident, accomplished readers. Our ambitious reading curriculum is designed to give every child the tools to thrive academically and to foster a love of reading. Reading is prioritised across all subjects to allow pupils to fully engage with our diverse curriculum.

We have designed our Reading Strategy based on research-informed teaching practices developed by Christopher Such, ensuring that classroom instruction is grounded in a solid foundation of knowledge. By the time our children leave Edith Moorhouse, most are not only proficient readers for learning but also enthusiastic readers for pleasure.

As part of our strong commitment to phonics, we adopted the Rocket Phonics Systematic Synthetic Phonics scheme in 2021. Since implementing this programme, we have seen significant improvements in reading, writing, and phonics screening results across Reception and Key Stage 1. Teachers, Teaching Assistants, and pupils are fully engaged, creating an exciting and dynamic learning environment where children are eager to read and write. Rocket Phonics is designed for whole-class teaching, with a focus on helping children keep up with the pace of learning. Phonics is embedded throughout the school environment, with teachers taking every opportunity to revisit sounds, practice segmenting and blending, and reinforce learning with flashcards.

We assess children's phonics progress each term and provide individualised phonic plans for those who are not meeting expectations. For children who need further support, we extend this phonics programme into Key Stage 2. Our teachers and teaching assistants receive bespoke, ongoing training to ensure a consistent approach to the delivery of the programme across the school.

Reading is a daily activity for our children, and takes a variety of forms, including whole class, small group, and individual reading. Rocket Phonics Target Reader books are used for group reading in Reception and Year 1, ensuring that books are aligned with each child’s phonic knowledge. For whole class reading, we select texts that are progressively more complex and provide increasing reading challenges. Teachers model reading daily and regularly read aloud to the class, exposing children to rich vocabulary through age appropriate stories, nursery rhymes, poems, and texts. 

To ensure all children, including those with SEND and Pupil Premium, have the opportunity to develop a love of reading, we promote regular discussions about books in the classroom and at home. We provide families with age-appropriate book recommendations and offer events like Book at Bedtime, World Book Day, Snatchabook, Readathon and the Book Fair to celebrate reading. We also encourage 'reading together' at home and provide a Reading Shed in the playground where children can borrow books. We are currently fundraising for a school library to further support our reading initiative.

Reading at home is strongly encouraged across the school. Parents and carers are invited to an introductory meeting at the start of the Reception year where they are taught how we approach phonics, reading, and writing, and how they can best support their child’s reading journey at home. Children who need additional support with their reading are given opportunities to read more frequently in school.

Throughout the school, we also place a strong emphasis on vocabulary and oracy. Discussions and vocabulary work are integrated into all lessons, with class texts carefully selected to offer rich language that is appropriate for the children's age and developmental stage.

At Edith Moorhouse, our children develop a deep and powerful understanding of phonics, which fuels their love for reading and enables them to connect seamlessly with books, whether traditional or modern, while confidently predicting outcomes and retrieving key information. Our children thrive in a rich vocabulary landscape, using language fluently in daily conversations, eagerly discussing the books they have read. They excitedly embrace new reading materials to further expand their literacy journey to provide them with the tools to embark on a lifelong literacy journey with confidence and excitement.

Reading Shed

We are absolutely delighted with our new outdoor library - The Reading Shed. We had a grand opening with the help of our Year 6 Reading Shed Volunteers. Within minutes of its opening, the children were choosing books to read and making good use of it - spending even more time reading for pleasure. At Edith Moorhouse, we want all our children to have a love of books and this is just one of the many ways that we aim to foster a passion for reading. 

Whilst an outdoor library is fantastic, we are currently in the process of planning and fundraising for a new whole school library to support our drive to get every child reading and loving books.

The Children's Book Project

Edith Moorhouse are active members of The Children's Book Project. This is a national charity that believes every child should have access to quality books, as do we. To learn more about this charity, visit https://childrensbookproject.co.uk/receive-books/

This scheme runs entirely on kindness of local families and businesses donating pre-loved books.  

World Book Day

World Book Day is a charity event held every year on the first Thursday in March. At Edith Moorhouse we celebrate World Book Day in a variety of ways. We encourage reading for pleasure and support this cause to provide every child with a book of their own. 

World Book Day Website  

At Edith Moorhouse Primary School, our dream is to build a new school library that will provide access space and expertise to support children in their reading journey. An effective school library has been proven to have a positive, long-term impact for children. Libraries also provide safe spaces and contribute to positive wellbeing for all. Visit the Library Project page to follow our journey. 

Read For Good

During March 2024, the whole school were invited to take part in a charity 'Readathon' to support Read for Good. We are pleased to say a total of £901.51 was raised.