English starts in the Early Years Foundation Stage, with a rich environment of print, books and our Phonics Bug programme.  This continues through Key Stage 1 until pupils have learned the sounds in all the phases and the “tricky words”.
Download what to expect from our Phonics Bug programme as your child progresses herePhonics Bug Progression
As pupils progress through the school we foster a love of reading with our shared stories, and individual readers. We cover these books in school, so that by the time your child has finished school they will have enjoyed these 82 “core” booksCore reading spine
We recognise that sadly, not every child will start out loving reading. Check these top ten tips for encouraging a love of reading at home.
Top 10 Tips
Download this lovely booklet full of advice for reading with your children at home.Reading advice for parents
As with musical instrument lessons, it is important that your child continues to practise what they have learned in school whilst at home. This download has a handy overview of phonics at school, and is full of suggestions for games and activities to help your child to practise at home.Download
As pupils develop reading skills, we begin to move on to using “reading vipers”. These provide a range of question stems that enable pupils to understand (and therefore enjoy) what they have read in a deeper way. This download contains a useful set of question stems for Key Stage 1 (years 1-2), VIPERS KS1
and this one is for Key Stage 2 (years 3-6)VIPERS KS2
Each pupil has a home-school reading diary. We will comment on pupils strengths and next steps when your child has read at school, so you know what to focus on when reading at home. We really appreciate knowing how your child has got on at home – the download below contains some suggested comments – these are some of the things we are looking for when hearing your child read.Suggested comments for reading diaries