Our Reading Approach at The Oaks Community Primary School
Learn to Read. Love to Read. Supported to Succeed.
At The Oaks Community Primary School, we believe that reading changes lives.
Reading is at the heart of our curriculum because we recognise that the ability to read fluently, confidently and with understanding opens doors to learning, opportunity and future success.
Our ambition is simple: every child should become a confident, capable and enthusiastic reader, regardless of their starting point.
We understand that becoming a successful reader involves more than recognising words on a page. Children need secure phonics knowledge, increasing fluency, a rich vocabulary, strong comprehension skills and, importantly, the motivation and enjoyment that comes from discovering the world through books.
Our approach brings together high-quality teaching, carefully chosen reading programmes, purposeful practice and targeted support. We are committed to ensuring that reading is prioritised, celebrated and embedded throughout school life.
1. Learn to Read: Building Strong Foundations
Read Write Inc. Phonics
We believe that strong foundations in early reading are essential for future success.
At The Oaks, we use Read Write Inc. Phonics, a systematic synthetic phonics programme that provides a structured and consistent approach to teaching children how to read.
Through carefully sequenced teaching, children learn to:
- Recognise the relationship between letters and sounds.
- Blend sounds together to read words accurately.
- Develop automatic word recognition and increasing fluency.
- Read books matched to their developing phonics knowledge.
- Build confidence, independence and enjoyment as readers.
Regular assessment enables staff to identify children’s next steps, adapt teaching and provide additional support where needed.
We recognise that securing early reading skills is particularly important for children who may have gaps in their knowledge. Our priority is to ensure that pupils receive the teaching and practice they need to become increasingly accurate, fluent and confident readers.
Our commitment: Every child deserves the strongest possible start to their reading journey.
2. Read to Understand: Developing Comprehension Through VIPERS
Becoming a fluent reader is only part of the journey. Children must also understand, interpret, question and think deeply about what they read.
At The Oaks, we use VIPERS as a consistent approach to developing and discussing reading comprehension.
VIPERS supports six important areas of reading:
- V – Vocabulary: Understanding the meaning of words and language in context.
- I – Inference: Using clues from the text and existing knowledge to understand what is implied.
- P – Prediction: Making thoughtful predictions based on evidence and understanding.
- E – Explanation: Explaining ideas, opinions and interpretations using evidence from the text.
- R – Retrieval: Locating, identifying and recalling important information.
- S – Sequencing and Summarising: Understanding the order of events and identifying the main ideas within a text.
Through carefully selected texts, explicit teaching, modelling and purposeful discussion, children develop the knowledge and strategies needed to understand increasingly complex reading material.
Our VIPERS approach also strengthens oracy, another of our core curriculum drivers. Children are encouraged to explain their thinking, justify responses, listen to different interpretations and use increasingly precise vocabulary.
We want children to move beyond simply answering questions to becoming thoughtful readers who can engage confidently with what they read.
Our commitment: Children will develop the comprehension skills, language and confidence to understand, question and discuss a wide range of texts.
3. Read Independently: Accelerated Reader
As children develop greater confidence and independence, we use Accelerated Reader to support reading practice, motivation and progress.
Accelerated Reader encourages children to take ownership of their reading journey by selecting books that are appropriately matched to their developing reading ability, while also allowing them to explore their interests and discover new authors and genres.
Following independent reading, children complete short quizzes that provide information about their understanding of the books they have read.
This approach helps us to:
- Encourage regular, purposeful independent reading.
- Support children in selecting appropriately challenging books.
- Monitor reading engagement and comprehension.
- Identify children who may require additional guidance or support.
- Recognise progress and celebrate reading achievements.
Importantly, we recognise that reading is about far more than scores, quizzes or reading levels.
Accelerated Reader is one part of our wider approach. We want children to develop the independence to make choices, the confidence to explore different texts and the enjoyment that comes from reading for themselves.
Our commitment: Every child should have the opportunity to develop independence, confidence and a personal identity as a reader.
4. Supported to Succeed: Our Reading Lab
We recognise that children develop reading skills at different rates and that some pupils benefit from additional time, explicit teaching and focused opportunities to practise.
Our Reading Lab provides targeted reading support for identified pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5, with a particular focus on reading fluency and VIPERS comprehension skills.
Reading Lab is designed to strengthen the essential skills that enable children to access increasingly demanding texts and participate confidently in learning across the curriculum.
Through focused teaching and guided practice, pupils have additional opportunities to develop:
- Reading fluency: Improving accuracy, pace, expression and confidence so that reading becomes increasingly automatic and meaningful.
- Reading comprehension: Strengthening understanding through explicit teaching and practice of VIPERS strategies.
- Vocabulary: Developing knowledge of words and language to support understanding across different texts.
- Oracy: Talking about reading, explaining ideas, answering questions and justifying responses.
- Reading confidence: Experiencing success, recognising progress and developing a more positive attitude towards reading.
Reading Lab complements classroom teaching and reflects our commitment to responding to children’s individual learning needs.
We recognise that reading difficulties can create barriers across the curriculum. By providing additional opportunities to practise fluency and comprehension, we aim to help pupils become more confident, independent and successful learners.
Our commitment: Where children need additional support, we will make time for the focused teaching and practice that can make the greatest difference.
5. Love to Read: Creating a Reading Culture
At The Oaks, we want children not only to learn how to read, but to discover why reading matters.
We believe that reading for pleasure can broaden horizons, develop imagination, build empathy and introduce children to people, places and experiences beyond their everyday lives.
Through our work alongside the National Literacy Trust, we seek to strengthen our whole-school reading culture and promote positive attitudes towards books, stories and reading.
Our approach places importance on:
- Providing access to engaging, diverse and high-quality literature.
- Introducing children to a wide range of authors, genres and experiences.
- Encouraging children to share recommendations, discuss books and celebrate their reading.
- Creating opportunities for adults to model enthusiasm for reading.
- Developing positive connections between reading at school and reading at home.
- Ensuring children experience reading as something enjoyable, meaningful and rewarding.
We want books and stories to be part of the everyday life of The Oaks, helping children see themselves as readers and understand that reading offers opportunities for discovery, enjoyment and lifelong learning.
Our commitment: We want every child to find books that inspire them and develop a lasting, positive relationship with reading.
6. Reading Across the Curriculum: Making Meaningful Connections
Reading is one of the four core drivers of our curriculum, alongside writing, mathematics and oracy.
We recognise that reading does not develop in isolation. Children’s understanding grows through the knowledge, vocabulary and experiences they encounter across the wider curriculum.
In history, children read to explore the past and interpret evidence. In geography, they develop understanding through texts about places, people and environments. In science, they encounter increasingly precise subject-specific vocabulary and use reading to deepen their knowledge of the world.
We deliberately create opportunities for children to read, discuss, explain and apply their understanding across subjects.
Our emphasis on oracy is particularly important. Purposeful discussion helps children clarify ideas, explore unfamiliar language, make connections and deepen comprehension.
Equally, the knowledge children gain through the wider curriculum supports their reading by giving them the background understanding needed to make sense of increasingly complex texts.
Our commitment: Reading will be strengthened through a knowledge-rich curriculum that gives children something meaningful to read, discuss, think and write about.
7. Knowing Our Readers: Assessment and Responsive Teaching
We believe that effective reading teaching begins with understanding what children know, what they can do and what they need to learn next.
Across our reading approaches, assessment helps us to identify strengths, recognise gaps and respond to children’s developing needs.
Through phonics assessment, classroom teaching, comprehension activities, reading fluency work and Accelerated Reader information, teachers build an informed picture of pupils’ reading development.
This helps us to make purposeful decisions about teaching, additional practice and targeted support.
We recognise that no single assessment provides a complete picture of a child as a reader. We therefore value professional judgement, ongoing observation, children’s engagement with texts and the progress they demonstrate over time.
Our focus remains on ensuring that assessment leads to meaningful action and improved outcomes.
Our Reading Promise
At The Oaks Community Primary School, we are determined that every child will have the opportunity to become a successful reader.
We will prioritise strong early foundations, develop fluency and comprehension, nurture a love of literature and provide additional support where it is needed.
Through our combined approaches of Read Write Inc. Phonics, VIPERS, Accelerated Reader, Reading Lab and our work with the National Literacy Trust, we aim to create a reading culture in which every child feels encouraged, supported and inspired.
We want our children to leave The Oaks not simply able to read, but ready to use reading to learn, explore, question, imagine and succeed.
Learn to Read. Love to Read. Supported to Succeed.
Reading opens doors. At The Oaks, we want every child to have the confidence to walk through them.