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In English we learn language, communication and vocabulary. 

At Oakhill, we believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers. This is why we teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme. This programme ensures that children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through the school.

We intend for our children to develop a life-long love and passion for reading. We aim for all of our children to be confident, fluent readers who read widely, read often, read for pleasure and read to learn. We enable our children to be able to choose from a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry books throughout their years at our school. Our pupils will not only be passionate about reading, they will also develop a full range of comprehension skills to deepen their understanding of what they read.

Individual reading

All pupils are listened to read by the class teacher regularly. Pupils have four morning activity sessions per week when they read their individual reading books. Teachers use this time to complete their ‘shoulder tap reading’. Those in need of further support, are listened to at least three times per week.  

Whole Class Reading

Pupils have two fluency sessions and six whole class reading sessions per fortnight – these are a mixture of teaching sessions (where teachers go through a text with the class, model expression, pick out key vocabulary, answer questions together, model how to answer questions and infer meaning etc.) and application sessions where pupils answer questions either in groups, pairs or independently.

Reading Canon

Because reading is at the heart of learning at Oakhill, we have developed our own Reading Canon: a specially designed selection of books to be shared with the children. Our Reading Canon ensures that we:

• Expose children to a wide variety of literature that they normally wouldn’t read
• Include all pupils – everyone is exposed to Reading Canon time
• Motivate children to listen to and read harder texts
• Challenge children with vocabulary, syntax, grammar, context and themes

Oakhill's Reading Shed

We have our own Reading Shed which is run by our Year 6 Reading Ambassadors. Oakhill’s Reading Shed has a wide range of books which the children are able to choose to take home, then bring back to exchange for another. Our Reading Shed promotes a love of reading where the children have free choice and can choose books that match their interests or differ from their usual selection.

What our pupils say about Reading at Oakhill

"I like listening to my teacher read because it relaxes me and they use good expression."

"I go to another place in my head when I read."

"I wouldn't normally choose those books so it is nice to listen to those books."