Reading

At Eastern Green Junior School, we believe that reading is an essential life skill and we are committed to enabling all children to become lifelong readers. Reading sits at the heart of our curriculum because it is the key to unlocking learning across all subjects.

They have the chance to follow an enriching curriculum, exposing them to a range of texts. At the centre of our reading curriculum is the drive to foster a love of reading, enriching children's learning through carefully chosen texts and activities.

At Eastern Green Junior School we teach reading through a structured approach known as Focused Reading, alongside discrete reading sessions.

Focused Reading is a whole-class reading approach which allows teachers to model expert reading and ensure all pupils engage with high-quality texts together. During these lessons pupils practise:

reading fluently and with expression
developing stamina when reading longer texts
understanding unfamiliar vocabulary
retrieving information from a text
making inferences about characters and events
discussing and explaining their understanding

These lessons often use bespoke texts written specifically to support the curriculum. These carefully designed reading pieces allow pupils to practise key reading skills while simultaneously deepening their understanding of the subjects they are studying across the curriculum.

This approach ensures that reading lessons not only develop fluency and comprehension skills but also strengthen pupils’ knowledge and vocabulary across subjects such as history, geography and science.

By exposing pupils to challenging, age-appropriate texts, teachers are able to support all learners while helping children become fluent and confident readers.

Independent Reading

Alongside whole-class reading lessons, pupils are given books that are carefully matched to their reading ability so that they can practise reading independently with confidence.

Children are expected to read at home to an adult at least five times each week. Reading regularly helps pupils develop fluency, comprehension and confidence.

Each child has a reading record, which is used to track home reading. These are checked regularly by school staff to ensure that pupils are reading consistently and to provide encouragement and support where needed.

Promoting a Love of Reading

At Eastern Green Junior School we believe that reading should be both educational and enjoyable.

To promote a love of books and storytelling:

teachers read aloud to their classes daily, sharing high-quality texts and modelling expressive reading
pupils take part in a weekly whole-school reading assembly, where children come together to enjoy and discuss a shared book
classrooms celebrate books and authors, encouraging pupils to discover new stories and genres

These opportunities allow pupils to experience the joy of reading together and help develop lifelong positive reading habits.

Linking Books to the Curriculum

Wherever possible, we carefully link the books children read to the topics they are studying across the curriculum.

For example, pupils may read texts connected to topics such as:

Ancient Egypt
The Romans
Vikings
World War II
The Maya civilisation

Alongside whole texts, pupils also read shorter bespoke reading passages within Focused Reading lessons which are specifically designed to reinforce key curriculum knowledge.

This approach helps children to:

deepen their understanding of the historical or geographical topic
encounter rich subject-specific vocabulary
make meaningful connections across subjects
develop a stronger understanding of the world around them

Research and experience show that children learn more effectively when knowledge is connected. By linking high-quality books and bespoke reading texts to our curriculum topics, we strengthen pupils’ understanding while also nurturing a love of reading.

Supporting Developing Readers

At Eastern Green Junior School we recognise that some pupils arrive in Year 3 still developing confidence and fluency in reading. These pupils are carefully identified through transition information from the infant schools alongside our own baseline assessments when they join us.

Where pupils are not yet reading securely, they receive additional targeted support to help them quickly catch up and build confidence as readers.

This support may include:

daily phonics practice to strengthen decoding skills
small group reading interventions focused on fluency and comprehension
additional guided reading opportunities with an adult
extra opportunities to practise reading aloud to build confidence and accuracy
carefully matched reading books that support the development of phonics and fluency

These interventions are closely monitored to ensure pupils make strong progress and develop the skills needed to access the wider curriculum.

Through this support, pupils are able to develop greater confidence in reading and quickly begin to enjoy the benefits of reading independently and across the curriculum.