Reading and Phonics at St. Peter's
At St. Peter’s, we believe that reading is at the heart of learning and helps form the foundation of every child’s success, both in school and beyond.
Intent
Our intent is to develop confident, fluent readers who not only have the skills to read accurately and with understanding, but also the curiosity and enjoyment to become lifelong readers.
We aim for all children to:
- Develop a love of reading through access to a wide range of engaging, high-quality texts that capture their imagination.
- Become fluent and accurate readers so they can access all areas of the curriculum and communicate effectively.
- Understand and interpret what they read developing comprehension skills that allow them to think critically, question and make connections.
- Experience a wide variety of voices and perspectives through diverse texts that broaden their horizons and build empathy.
- Read for pleasure and purpose recognising reading as both a source of enjoyment and a vital life skill.
Implementation
Phonics Journey
- All children on their phonics journey access daily, highly structured phonics lessons using ‘Supersonic Phonic Friends’.
- The programme is taught with fidelity to its sequence, ensuring that sounds and tricky words are introduced in a cumulative, structured way.
- Lessons are engaging, multisensory and make use of the programme’s characters, rhymes and actions to support memory and retrieval.
- Daily review and recap flashbacks secure children’s knowledge before moving on.
- Children are regularly assessed and targeted interventions are provided for those who need extra support.
Reading Books during a Phonics Journey
- When a child is on their Phonics journey, the reading books that are sent home are fully decodable and matched precisely to the child’s phonic knowledge.
- A Phonics Wallet is also provided, containing flashcards for the sounds taught that week as well as tricky words.
Reading Beyond Phonics
- In KS2, phonics interventions continue for children who require them.
- Whole-class and guided reading sessions are taught to develop children’s vocabulary, comprehension and inference skills using a wide range of texts.
- Teachers use high-quality core texts linked to curriculum topics to immerse children in language-rich learning.
- Once children have completed their phonics journey, they move onto our ‘Accelerated Reader’ programme to further develop their reading skills.
Accelerated Reader
Accelerated Reader is a comprehensive, structured reading programme used at St. Peter’s to support and enhance pupils’ reading development.
- Star Reader Test: The children complete a Star Reader Test. This is a computer-based reading assessment tool used to determine a child’s English reading level.
- Personalised book choices: From this test, Accelerated Reader helps children choose books at a level that matches their reading ability.
- Regular comprehension checks: After reading a book, children take a short online quiz to check understanding and recall.
- Skill Development: By reading widely and at the right level, children build fluency, expand their vocabulary and strengthen their comprehension skills.
- Motivation and engagement: Progress tracking, certificates and goals encourage pupils to read regularly and develop a love of reading.
- Teacher insight: Detailed reports allow teachers to monitor reading habits and ensure each child is appropriately supported and consistently challenged.
Impact
By the end of their time with us:
- Children will have established secure decoding, fluency and comprehension skills. This provides them with a robust foundation for ongoing academic success.
- Children will build confidence and motivation in their reading, engaging with a broad range of texts appropriate to their individual abilities.
- The progression from ‘Supersonic Phonic Friends’ to ‘Accelerated Reader’ will support consistency and measure progress for all children.
- Children will develop a lifelong love of reading.
Through our consistent use of ‘Supersonic Phonic Friends’, ‘Accelerated Reader’ and high-quality texts to support whole-class and guided reading sessions, alongside a culture of reading for pleasure, we aspire to equip every child with the skills, confidence, and passion to read widely, think deeply, and live fully.
WEBSITES
BBC Bitesize
KS1 Literacy
KS2 Creative Writing