Promoting A Love Of Reading

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Brierley Hill Primary School: A Culture of Reading for Success

At Brierley Hill Primary School, we do much more than just teach children to read—we immerse them in a rich reading culture. Reading is at the heart of our curriculum, unlocking knowledge, fostering curiosity, and developing confident, articulate learners. Our approach ensures that every child develops fluency, comprehension, and a lifelong love of reading.

Our reading curriculum is structured around:
📖 A research-led, structured approach – Ensuring that reading is developed systematically and progressively.
📚 Core texts embedded across all subjects – Making reading central to every area of learning.
🗣 Oracy-driven instruction – Using structured talk, discussion, and performance to deepen comprehension.
🔄 Retrieval and fluency focus – Revisiting and consolidating key skills to ensure mastery.
🌍 A curriculum that reflects the CUSP Big Ideas – Exposing children to literature that explores themes such as migration, overcoming adversity, friendship, kindness, and British heritage.

Developing Confident and Fluent Readers

We follow a structured, evidence-based approach to developing reading, ensuring that every child can succeed.

🔤 Phonics Programme: In the early years, children follow a systematic phonics programme (Little Wandle), providing them with the foundation they need to decode and read fluently.

📖 Comprehension Skills: As pupils progress, we focus on deepening their understanding of texts, developing their ability to infer, predict, retrieve, explain, and evaluate.

🎤 Reading Aloud and Performance: Children have opportunities to read aloud, act out stories, and present book reviews, building their confidence, fluency, and articulation skills.

📌 Explicit Vocabulary Instruction: Every lesson strengthens language acquisition, enabling pupils to articulate their thinking with precision.

How We Promote a Love of Reading

We are committed to making reading an enjoyable, exciting, and integral part of school life.

📖 Daily Reading Opportunities

✅ Whole-Class Reading: Engaging lessons focused on high-quality texts to develop comprehension, vocabulary, and inference skills.
✅ Guided Reading Groups: Small-group sessions tailored to support pupils at different reading stages.
✅ Independent Reading Time: Encouraging pupils to read for pleasure in our vibrant classroom book areas and libraries.
✅ Reading Across the Curriculum: Ensuring that reading is embedded in all subjects, from history and geography to science and PSHE.

📢 Exciting Reading Initiatives

🎭 Author of the Month: Each month, we celebrate an inspiring author and explore their works.
📚 Reading Champions: Pupil leaders who champion reading across the school.
📖 Themed Reading Weeks: Special events, including World Book Day, storytelling assemblies, and author visits.
📖 Reading Challenges: Fun activities that encourage children to explore different genres and discover new favourites.
🤝 Parental Involvement: We provide reading workshops and resources to help families support reading at home.

📚 High-Quality Books for Every Child

We have carefully selected high-quality texts linked to our curriculum, ensuring that pupils experience a wide range of literature. Our Reading Spine provides children with a diverse selection of books that:

✅ Support vocabulary development and comprehension
✅ Introduce classic and contemporary fiction
✅ Expose pupils to poetry, performance texts, and nonfiction
✅ Reflect diverse cultures, perspectives, and experiences
✅ Promote values such as resilience, kindness, and global responsibility

Pupils read texts that align with CUSP Big Ideas, ensuring they engage with themes such as:
🌍 Migration – Stories that explore journeys, identity, and belonging.
💡 Overcoming Adversity – Inspiring books about perseverance, resilience, and courage.
🤝 Friendship and Kindness – Texts that promote empathy, relationships, and emotional well-being.
🏛 British Heritage – Classic and modern texts that reflect Britain’s literary and cultural history.
🌱 The Natural World – Books that develop curiosity about science, geography, and environmental responsibility.

📖 Celebrating Reading at Brierley Hill

We want all pupils to leave Brierley Hill Primary School with:

📖 A love of books and literature – Reading for enjoyment, knowledge, and discovery.
🔎 Strong comprehension and analytical skills – Able to think critically about what they read.
🗣 Confidence to articulate ideas – Expressing opinions and discussing texts fluently.

Our curriculum ensures that every child has access to high-quality literature, expert teaching, and meaningful reading experiences.

📢 Want to know more about our reading initiatives?

📩 Get in touch or visit our new libraries to see the magic of reading in action!