Reading at St Catherine’s Catholic Primary School

At St Catherine’s Catholic Primary School, we are passionate about developing confident, fluent, and enthusiastic readers who can engage with a wide range of texts. We follow the CUSP Reading Curriculum, which provides a carefully sequenced and knowledge-rich approach to teaching reading, ensuring progression and depth across all year groups.

Intent

Our reading curriculum aims to:

• Cultivate a love of reading, equipping children with the skills to enjoy and engage with a diverse range of texts.
• Build fluency, comprehension, and critical thinking skills through high-quality teaching and resources.
• Provide a consistent and systematic approach to teaching reading, ensuring progression in skills and knowledge.
• Ensure that every child, including those with SEND or EAL, achieves their full potential in reading.

Implementation

• High-Quality Texts: The CUSP Reading Curriculum is built around a carefully curated selection of high-quality texts, including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. These texts expose children to rich vocabulary, diverse themes, and complex ideas.
• Daily Reading Sessions: Reading is taught daily, focusing on developing fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Lessons are carefully planned to build on prior knowledge and skills.
• Knowledge-Rich Approach: The curriculum is designed to deepen children’s understanding by linking reading texts to wider curriculum topics, enriching their knowledge across subjects.
• Systematic Skill Development: Children develop decoding, inference, summarizing, and critical analysis skills systematically, with regular opportunities to apply these skills in a variety of contexts.
• Assessment and Intervention: Regular assessments track progress and inform teaching. Interventions are provided for children who need additional support to ensure no child is left behind.

Supporting SEND Learners in Reading

At St Catherine’s, we are dedicated to ensuring all children can succeed in reading, including those with SEND. To achieve this, we:

• Optimize Universal Provision: Lessons are structured and scaffolded to ensure accessibility for all learners, using visual supports, clear modeling, and differentiated activities.
• Use Decodable Texts: For children developing their phonics skills, we provide decodable books to ensure they can read texts matched to their ability, building confidence and fluency.
• Prioritize Vocabulary Development: Explicit teaching of key vocabulary helps children with language difficulties access and understand texts.
• Focus on Mastery: Children are given the time and practice needed to consolidate their understanding of key skills before moving on, reducing cognitive load and improving retention.
• Evidence-Based Practices: Our teaching aligns with research into effective strategies for supporting children with SEND, ensuring that all learners are provided with the tools they need to succeed.

Impact

• Confident and Engaged Readers: By the time they leave St Catherine’s, pupils are confident readers who can decode, comprehend, and analyze texts across a variety of genres.
• Strong Progress: Regular assessments show that children make excellent progress in reading, with many exceeding national expectations.
• Equity in Achievement: Our inclusive approach ensures that every child, regardless of their starting point, achieves their potential in reading.

EYFS

In Reception, children are introduced to the joy of books and stories through daily storytime and guided reading. Phonics and language-rich activities underpin their early reading development, laying strong foundations for future success.

Key Stage 1

In Years 1 and 2, children build on their phonics knowledge, developing fluency and comprehension. They explore a range of texts, including those aligned with CUSP’s knowledge-rich approach, to broaden their horizons and deepen their understanding.

Key Stage 2

From Years 3 to 6, pupils engage with increasingly complex texts that challenge their thinking and expand their knowledge. They develop higher-order reading skills, including inference, analysis, and critical evaluation, preparing them for secondary education and beyond.

Resources and Support

• CUSP Reading Spine: A structured progression of texts ensures that children are exposed to a broad and balanced range of literature.
• Parental Engagement: We provide workshops, resources, and guidance to help parents support their child’s reading journey at home.
• Staff Expertise: Regular training ensures our teachers are equipped with the knowledge and skills to deliver high-quality reading instruction.

At St Catherine’s, we are proud of the high standards our pupils achieve in reading and their enthusiasm for books and stories. For more information about our reading curriculum or to arrange a visit, please contact the school office.

Overview of the Reading Curriculum Document

This document provides a comprehensive overview of St Catherine's Catholic Primary School's reading curriculum, designed to meet the high standards set by the Department for Education (DfE) and align with Ofsted's expectations for a well-structured and ambitious curriculum.

Key Features:

• Progressive Curriculum Design: The document outlines a sequenced approach to reading, ensuring progression in knowledge, skills, and understanding across all year groups, from Reception to Year 6.

• Core Texts by Year Group: Carefully selected, high-quality core texts are mapped out for each term, fostering a love of reading and exposure to diverse genres, cultures, and themes.

• Skills Development Focus: The curriculum emphasizes key reading skills, including phonemic awareness, decoding strategies, comprehension, inference, and critical thinking, ensuring children develop fluency and confidence as readers.

• Diversity and Inclusion: The curriculum celebrates diversity by incorporating texts that reflect a wide range of experiences, cultures, and perspectives, promoting empathy and understanding.

• Cultural Capital: In alignment with DfE and Ofsted expectations, the document highlights texts that build children’s cultural knowledge, preparing them for life beyond school.

This curriculum overview demonstrates our commitment to providing an ambitious, inclusive, and engaging reading curriculum that equips all children with the skills and love for reading essential for their future success. For more details, download the full document.