At Garden City Academy, we are committed to developing a love of reading and ensuring that all pupils become confident, competent and enthusiastic readers. We recognise that reading is a fundamental life skill and the gateway to learning across the curriculum. We believe that reading is the single most important transferable skill we can give our pupils. As a result, reading has both a high priority and a high profile throughout the school day. Reading opportunities are woven across the curriculum, enabling children to apply and develop their skills in a variety of meaningful contexts. Through the development of a rich and engaging reading curriculum and reading culture, we aim to foster a lifelong passion for books while equipping children with the skills to comprehend, analyse and interpret a wide range of texts.
At Garden City Academy, children begin their reading journey through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised systematic synthetic phonics programme. This daily, consistent approach begins in Reception and provides a strong foundation for reading success. From Reception through to Year 6, reading remains a high priority, with pupils taking part in daily reading sessions designed to develop fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
Reading for pleasure is equally important to us. Every child is read to by an adult each week, helping to nurture a love of stories and high-quality literature. Pupils visit our school library weekly and can enjoy reading during playtimes and lunchtimes in our popular Book Nook. Older pupils can take on leadership roles such as Library Leaders, and the whole school celebrates reading through national events such as World Book Day and Pyjamarama.
Through our ambitious reading curriculum and commitment to reading for pleasure, we strive to ensure that every child leaves Garden City Academy as a fluent, confident reader with a lifelong love of books.
Early Reading and Phonics
In Early Years and Key Stage 1, we use the Little Wandle Phonics Programme to teach children phonics at GCA. Phonics starts in Nursery using Little Wandle Foundations and becomes more formalised when children move into Reception. Phonics sessions are split into two parts:
1) Phonics for reading
2) Phonics for writing and spelling.
All teachers follow a set teaching structure for both of these sessions which is structured into three areas: revisit, teach and apply. Fluency is built into the Little Wandle Programme and children read every day through paired reading. Where children require further intervention, we provide ‘Keep up’ and ‘Catch up’ programmes; this varies depending on the needs of the child.
Progression of phonics by age and stage
Nursery – Little Wandle Foundations – Phase 1
Reception – Little Wandle Programme – Phase 2, 3, 4
Year 1 – Little Wandle Programme – Phase 5
Year 2 – Little Wandle Programme - Phase 5 Review and Little Wandle Fluency Programme
If you require further information on Little Wandle and how to support your child from home then please follow the link below:
https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
Guided Reading
At Garden City Academy, every class takes part in a daily whole-class Guided Reading session built around a carefully selected high-quality text. These engaging lessons expose pupils to a rich range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, enabling them to experience ambitious vocabulary, diverse authors and challenging texts that broaden their knowledge of the world.
Our Guided Reading approach is designed to develop the key reading skills of vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. Through explicit modelling, teaching and discussion, children learn how to read accurately, confidently and with expression, while deepening their understanding of language and meaning.
Comprehension is taught through the use of VIPERS skills:
- Vocabulary
- Inference
- Prediction
- Explanation
- Retrieval
- Summarising/Sequencing
Through thoughtful questioning, partner discussion and teacher modelling, pupils are taught to think critically about what they read, justify their ideas using evidence from the text and develop a deeper understanding of authors' choices. Our daily Guided Reading sessions ensure that every child is supported and challenged to become a fluent, confident and independent reader.
