Great Binfields Primary Reading Expectations:

Make sure you are reading at least five times per week. 

Record your reading in your home school diary and get this signed. 

Reading at Great Binfields

We believe that reading is a journey born out of curiosity for the world around us; leading to an understanding and enjoyment of texts, poetry and plays following a carefully structured path. In the National Curriculum, reading is split into the two dimensions of word reading and comprehension. 

At Great Binfields Primary School, we use a colour banding scheme which includes a range of fiction and non-fictions texts by a wide range of authors. The scheme is used to develop fluent, confident readers who comprehend the texts that they explore. This scheme allows for children to initially explore books by using pictures to talk about settings and characters. Progression from this stage allows the children the opportunities to apply their learning of phonics to books within the reading scheme. As the children work through the scheme, they will read a range of texts including poetry, play scripts, stories set in different cultures or times and non-fictional texts such as information books or newspapers.

Children will progress through the colour stages depending on their reading ages and abilities. We also have a wide range of books in our libraries for the children to enjoy reading including some of the English classics such as Oliver Twist, Black Beauty or some of the works of Shakespeare.

Throughout our curriculum we provide opportunities for shared reading, blended reading, guided reading, paired reading and independent reading. Our staff also love being great reading role models and regularly read to our children.  

Your child’s reading experience is much more than the reading book which comes home from school. Reading is happening all the time in a classroom and in school. It is taught in specific reading and English lessons, but children are practising and using their ‘reading’ constantly across all subjects too. A child’s ‘reading journey’ begins with ‘learning to read’ and moves on into ‘reading to learn’. This advice will help you to understand how reading is taught and developed.

Statutory requirements for teaching reading

All schools have to follow an agreed curriculum in the teaching of reading (and other subjects).
Follow these links to find out more:

• England: The National Curriculum 2014.

A Quote from Ofsted

“Pupils’ outcomes are exceptionally strong across the school, especially in reading. Leaders have built on the strong culture of reading established through the school, and have ensured that pupils think deeply about and can explain clearly how writing works. Pupils’ books show that this work has been very effective as they dig into texts carefully with insight.” Ofsted May 2019

“As parents, the most important thing we can do is to read to our children early and often. Reading is the path to success in school and life. When children learn to love books, they learn to love learning.”

Laura Bush

CBeebies Bedtime Stories

Enjoy watching well-known public figures read a variety of stories. You could watch a video at bedtime or during time together and discuss what you have listened to. Find them here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/bedtime-stories