Reading at Chapel Hill
Our Whole School Reading Target
Every child leaves Chapel Hill as a confident reader.
Our Vision for Reading
At Chapel Hill, the teaching of reading and writing is at the heart of everything we do. We recognise that reading is the gateway to learning and a vital skill that underpins success across the curriculum and beyond.
Every child at Chapel Hill reads — and is read to — every day. We believe that developing confident, fluent readers with strong comprehension skills opens up a world of opportunities and enables children to thrive both academically and personally.
We are passionate about creating a culture where reading is valued, celebrated and enjoyed. By fostering positive reading habits and a love of books from the earliest years, we encourage children to read both for pleasure and for information.
We work closely with families to ensure reading continues beyond the classroom, recognising the important role that regular reading at home plays in developing fluency, confidence and enjoyment.
Our Approach
At Chapel Hill Primary School, we deliver a high-quality mastery curriculum where pupils progressively build on prior learning through clearly sequenced knowledge and skills.
Our curriculum is designed to ensure that children:
- Know more and remember more over time
- Develop automaticity through practise and rehearsal
- Build secure understanding through progressive learning
- Experience challenge and ambition at every stage
- Access learning that meets the needs of all learners, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND
Teachers have strong subject knowledge and use effective pedagogy to deliver engaging and purposeful learning experiences. Reading is embedded throughout the curriculum and enhanced through rich opportunities in music, the arts, sport, languages and wider cultural experiences.
Our teaching prioritises fluency, vocabulary development, comprehension and reading for pleasure, ensuring that children become thoughtful, reflective and enthusiastic readers.
Intent
At Chapel Hill, we believe that reading is fundamental to a child’s understanding of the world. It enables children to broaden their experiences, develop empathy, build cultural awareness and communicate effectively.
Our reading curriculum aims to:
- Foster a lifelong love of reading
- Develop fluent, confident and critical readers
- Build strong comprehension and vocabulary skills
- Encourage children to read widely and often
- Expose pupils to a rich variety of high-quality texts and authors
- Support children in discussing and analysing what they read using evidence-based strategies
Reading is taught through:
- Systematic synthetic phonics
- Shared and guided reading
- Reading comprehension lessons
- Independent reading opportunities
- Reading across the curriculum
- Daily story time and class reading texts
- Home reading
We understand that reading for pleasure positively impacts both academic outcomes and wellbeing. Therefore, we strive to create a community of engaged readers where books and reading are celebrated throughout the school.
We also recognise the importance of strong home-school partnerships and support families through workshops, reading events and guidance to help children develop confidence and enjoyment in reading at home.
Our libraries and book corners are carefully curated with a rich range of fiction and non-fiction texts, combining modern literature with classic stories that contribute to children’s cultural capital.
Reading Culture at Chapel Hill
Reading Ambassadors
Each term, Reading Ambassadors are selected to help promote reading across the school. These pupils demonstrate enthusiasm, passion and positive attitudes towards reading and act as role models for their peers.
Carefully Chosen Texts
Books are selected to both reflect pupils’ own experiences and introduce them to new ideas, cultures, themes and perspectives.
Book Corners
Every classroom features an engaging book corner linked to the year group’s topic or theme, helping to immerse children in the world of reading and encourage even reluctant readers to explore books independently.
Children are encouraged to recommend and review books to their peers, helping to build a strong reading community within classrooms.
Implementation
At Chapel Hill, reading is prioritised throughout the school day and across all areas of the curriculum.
Our reading provision includes:
- Systematic synthetic phonics teaching from Reception to Year 2
- Weekly “Big Read” guided comprehension lessons from Year 1 to Year 6
- Dedicated reading comprehension lessons within the English curriculum
- “Just Read” sessions for Years 3–6, three times per week, promoting fluency and reading enjoyment
- Daily opportunities for reading aloud and reading for fluency within English lessons
- Class reading books and regular story time
- A whole-school Reading Doorway Challenge encouraging children to experience six carefully selected books each year
- The Year 6 “100 Book Challenge”
- Teachers actively modelling positive reading habits and sharing their enjoyment of books
- Annual World Book Week celebrations, including visits from inspiring authors and reading activities
Big Read
Big Read sessions develop key comprehension skills including retrieval, inference, prediction and explanation.
In Years 1–5, children explore a variety of genres through carefully planned texts and questioning. In Year 6, pupils study classic texts each term, exposing all learners to rich vocabulary and high-quality literature.
Just Read
Just Read sessions take place three times a week in Years 3–6. These enjoyable sessions focus on fluency through echo reading, choral reading and discussion-based activities, helping to build confidence and promote reading for pleasure.
Reading Doorway Challenge
Children are challenged to read six carefully selected books each year from their class Reading Doorway collection. As children complete books, they receive recognition and record their progress in their Reading Doorway booklet.
The challenge encourages children to broaden their reading experiences, deepen their understanding of narrative structure and develop a lifelong love of reading.
Home Reading
Reading at home is an essential part of developing fluency and confidence.
Every child receives a Reading Diary at the beginning of the academic year. These diaries are used to:
- Record home reading
- Track reading frequency and progress
- Share communication between home and school
- Record spelling information and targets
Children are encouraged to read daily and discuss books with an adult. Staff ask skill-based questions during reading sessions to support comprehension and assess understanding.
Our structured reading band system supports progression and ensures children access a broad range of age-appropriate texts and genres.
Impact
At Chapel Hill, our goal is for every child to become a confident, fluent and enthusiastic reader.
By the time pupils leave our school, they:
- Read fluently with understanding
- Apply comprehension skills confidently across the curriculum
- Develop a genuine enjoyment of reading
- Access a broad range of texts, genres and authors
- Demonstrate resilience and independence as readers
Progress is monitored through:
- Termly formal reading assessments
- Ongoing teacher assessment and questioning
- Reading assessment grids used from Year 1 to Year 6
- Regular moderation and professional discussions between staff
- Monitoring by English leaders and senior leaders
Assessment information is used to identify strengths, support next steps and provide targeted interventions where needed.
At Chapel Hill, we believe that fluent reading opens the door to lifelong learning, imagination and opportunity — and we are committed to ensuring every child develops the skills and confidence to succeed.