At Clifton Primary School, we believe that reading is the key to unlocking learning and developing a lifelong love of literature. Our carefully planned Reading Curriculum introduces children to a rich and diverse range of high-quality texts, including classic and contemporary fiction, poetry, traditional tales and non-fiction. Through these carefully selected books, children develop not only fluent reading skills, but also curiosity, empathy, resilience and a deeper understanding of the world around them.

Our curriculum has been thoughtfully sequenced to ensure that knowledge, vocabulary and comprehension develop progressively from Nursery through to Year 6. Each year group studies a carefully curated collection of texts that expose children to a wide range of authors, themes, cultures and experiences, enabling them to make connections across their learning and become confident, thoughtful readers.

Reading lessons focus on developing fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and critical thinking. Children are encouraged to discuss, question and justify their ideas, helping them to become reflective readers who can interpret, analyse and enjoy a wide variety of texts. Alongside this, we foster a love of reading through regular story time, independent reading and engaging reading environments across the school.

By the time our pupils leave Clifton Primary School, we aspire for every child to be a fluent, enthusiastic reader with the confidence and desire to continue exploring books throughout their lives.

The Clifton Reading Journey:

Every child at Clifton Primary School follows a carefully planned 'Reading Journey' from Nursery to Year 6. Each year group has its own 'Reading Bookshelf' containing the high-quality texts that children will study throughout the year. These carefully chosen books form the heart of our Reading Curriculum, inspiring imagination, enriching vocabulary and providing meaningful opportunities for discussion, writing and wider learning. Our Reading Bookshelves reflect our commitment to ensuring every child experiences a diverse and ambitious range of literature during their time at Clifton Primary School.

Take a look at our 'Reading Bookshelf' for each year group in the uploads section below.

Phonics:

At Clifton Primary School, we have chosen to use Bug Club Phonics, a comprehensive teaching programme and DFE approved systematic synthetic phonics scheme.

The scheme follows a proven progression and research has found that children have made significantly more progress in reading than those not following the scheme. Not only has Bug Club been found to be successful academically for children, but it has also been shown to increase positive attitudes to reading and a great motivator for reluctant readers, boosting children’s confidence and enjoyment of reading right at the beginning of their reading journey.

The Bug Club Phonics programme follows the teaching sequence of letters and sounds and lessons are structured in the same way each day with an introduction, revisit, teach, practise and apply element to every session, providing the children with consistent routines that they can become familiar with.
Our teachers at Clifton implement a multi-sensory approach in the teaching and learning of phonics which enables the children to learn from visual, audio and kinesthetic activities. Throughout the programme, teachers supplement the provided materials and embed the taught skills through a range of activities that they have identified to be successful. This helps to secure essential phonic knowledge and skills as well as ensuring the lessons are fun, interactive and engaging.

Reading at home:

Children will experience the most success in reading when school and home work together. Children learn about the importance of reading as they watch family members use reading and writing for everyday purposes. Reading for pleasure, sharing stories at home or using a recipe shows them that reading is a useful skill. Research shows the importance of reading on a daily basis in developing children’s use and understanding of vocabulary and reading at home will enable them to practise and solidify their skills learnt at school.

At Clifton Primary, we therefore aim to create a strong link with parents in order to facilitate and support their reading journey at home. As children begin the structured phonics programme in Foundation Stage, parents are invited to a phonics workshop and Stay and Play to explain how their children will be taught to read and how to support them at home. In year 1, we invite parents into school to outline the next progression steps in their child’s phonics journey and also explain the year 1 phonics screening check.