Reading Intent

At St John XXIII Catholic Primary School, reading is a top priority and is a key driver for our curriculum. 

Reading is a top priority and is a key driver for our curriculum Part of our intent is that all our pupils including those brought up in financial deprivation, should enjoy a wide range of experiences beyond those normally employed in teaching the National Curriculum. By doing this we also hope to develop children’s love for reading. For example, we have had the local author, Virginia Ironside, visit to encourage children to read. Reading and Phonics is a high priority to address gaps due to deprivation and cultural diversity, which will feed into all areas of the curriculum.

It is our intention to ensure that by the end of their primary education, all pupils are able to read fluently and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education.

We therefore intend to encourage all pupils to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop: knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live; to establish an appreciation and love of reading; to gain knowledge across the curriculum; and develop their comprehension skills. We are committed to providing vocabulary rich reading material and this is evident through all aspects of the curriculum.

At St John XXIII it is our intent to ensure children will:

• be good communicators we provide opportunities for children to share their love of reading by reading aloud in class and assemblies. Children also share their enjoyment of a text by discussing it with others. Guided Reading sessions
• be enthusiastic, lifelong learners we develop in pupils a love of books and high-quality literature that will not only support their learning across the curriculum, but also extend beyond the classroom environment and enrich their lives. We explicitly teach reading skills throughout the school to continually develop children’s understanding and enjoyment of texts.
• understand how to keep themselves safe and be respectful in their communities we expose the children to challenging concepts, different cultures and ways of life through the books they study: teaching them to value and celebrate diversity in culture and language.
• develop their God given talents to use what they have learnt as readers to influence their writers and orators we foster in pupils the confidence, desire and ability to express their views and opinions both orally and in writing.

be independent, resilient learners who enjoy challenges we expose children to a range of challenging texts (age appropriate) and develop their ability to increase their fluency and confidence in reading