At Summer Lane, we believe a high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them.

Carefully chosen literature, plays a key role in enabling pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society; pupils, therefore, who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are effectively disenfranchised.

In order to build on the strong foundation formed through our early reading approach where phonics is prioritised in the early teaching of reading to beginners when they start school. It is paramount that once these skills are embedded children are exposed to comprehension skills drawing on linguistic knowledge and on knowledge of the world. In order to address this, we have developed the LIRA approach.

Our Reading approach is is based on the National Curriculum. We endeavour to develop children who read with fluency, enjoyment, and discernment. They are exposed to a range of high-quality texts and are given opportunities to analyse, discuss and enjoy these texts fully. The LIRA approach supports teachers in planning and delivering lessons which support children in meeting literal, inferential, reader response and author intent objectives, and to ensure children are given opportunities to develop these varied skills thoroughly.

Our approached is underpinned by the accelerated learning approach to teaching and learning. Our curriculum is progressive, through varied objectives and texts that meet the needs of our learners. The curriculum is separated into different domains to ensure wide coverage of all reading skills. Our curriculum is designed to meet the needs of all pupils through adaptation, including those children who have additional needs.

Reading is taught daily, with lessons focussing on objectives taken from our curriculum. Lessons develop reading fluency and ensure comprehension skills through pupils’ experience of high-quality discussion with the teacher, as well as from reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non-fiction. We ensure children are exposed to a balanced diet of reading skills by covering each curriculum domain.

Questioning and activities are designed with LIRA in mind, ensuring that children are exposed to high quality questioning and develop their skills as a reader. The texts taught in school are indicated by our Reading Spines, which organise texts into various genres and year groups based on lexile scoring.

Sessions are dedicated to ‘love of reading’ and children are given opportunities to choose an age-appropriate reading book which they can read and enjoy both in class and at home.

Home reading is monitored through the use of reading records. The school sets the expectation that children read five times a week at home, either independently or supported by an adult.

At Summer Lane, our curriculum is ambitious for all pupils, including those children with SEND. Each lesson will involve a main activity in which children can practice and demonstrate their understanding, and we provide scaffolds and challenges that ensure all children can access the learning at their own level.

Curriculum designers and teachers have high expectations of what SEND pupils can achieve and the curriculum is not diluted or unnecessarily reduced for SEND pupils. Every pupil is different and so what works for each pupil varies. Pupil’s individual needs are carefully considered and adaptations are planned to ensure the success of pupils. The way that our curriculum is designed ensures that chunks of learning are sequenced in a coherent way to enable all pupils, including those with SEND, to build on prior knowledge.

Where pupils are identified with having complex needs it may be appropriate to provide a personalised curriculum which will be based on individual needs and will retain ambition for the pupil. Where working memory is an issue for pupils, including those with SEND, we look to reduce extraneous load as much as possible as well as identifying key information when teaching. Adaptations to support individual pupils will be recorded on personal school support plans.

We do not assume that pupils with SEND learn content better through practical work as this can cause distraction and cognitive overload rather than increase clarity or accessibility. Pupils’ specific needs determine the types of adaptations which are required. These adaptations are in how the subject is taught rather than the content pupils are expected to learn. Where appropriate, learning will be chunked into smaller steps and pre learning and consolidation time is planned in to support need. Time is also planned to ensure pupils with SEND are pre taught vocabulary to support their understanding. Adaptations may include supporting pupils to pay attention to key aspects as well as reducing excessive or unhelpful demands on working memory.

Effective formative assessment, daily marking and feedback and adult interaction within lessons is firmly embedded into our approach to teaching and learning. All pupils are supported to develop, progress and move their learning forward through support, questioning and feedback. Pupils demonstrate the impact this has on improving their learning through editing and response.

The use of clear learning objectives and success criteria ensures pupils understand their learning and become self-regulated learners who aspire to achieve to their full potential. The use of success criteria allows children to assess their learning independently. Pupils and teachers refer to this throughout the lesson when they are assessing the progress they have made.

Reading is assessed at two assessment points across the academic year by teachers, who use  trackers for their year group to allocate a level and identify next steps for the pupil. These assessments are moderated in school to ensure accuracy and consistency. The frequency, fluency and comprehension of reading is monitored, along with reading records being used to monitor home reading. This ensures that children are reading a book which is appropriate to their age and ability, and that they are on track with their fluency.

All pupils are encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, and to gain knowledge across the curriculum.

We firmly believe reading widely and often increases pupils’ vocabulary because they encounter words they would rarely hear or use in everyday speech. Reading also feeds pupils’ imagination and opens up a treasure-house of wonder and joy for curious young minds. We celebrate children's reading journeys through rewards such as book prizes and external visits. Therefore we believe it is essential that, by the end of their primary education at Summer Lane, all pupils are able to read fluently, and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education.

Our Reading Curriculum 

Reading Spines

This document shows the texts that we select from in Reading from Nursery to Year 6.