INTENT

 To ensure all pupils:

•  read with confidence, developing fluency and understanding;
•  have an interest in a variety of books and read for pleasure;
•  show an interest in words and their meanings in order to develop a rich vocabulary to draw upon when reading;
•  develop their power of imagination;

IMPLEMENTATION

• Phonics is taught daily and is at the heart of all learning. Reading is our priority so that we prepare children with a valuable life skill of reading. In the early years, children learn quickly how to decode words that are closely matched to their phonics phase. Reading books from ‘Monster Phonics’, our validated scheme from reception to year 2, are used in order to provide children with the essential tools to succeed in reading. As children’s reading skills progress and they become fluent, children will move onto ‘Free Reader’ books. 
•  Guided reading is planned weekly through group sessions or as whole class through book talk. Throughout children’s time at Ashbrook, they experience a wide range of texts that are progressive in language, structure and complexity. The skills they learn from these are then applied to their work across the curriculum.
•  Teachers read high quality stories every day, to further immerse children in different worlds and language, to ignite their imagination, understanding of story structures, characters, settings, plots, feelings and how problems can be solved. 
•  Children visit our school library to pick a book of their choice and take home a ‘sharing book’ because we aim to foster a love of reading and for children to gain the enthusiasm to choose increasingly challenging texts. 
• Our Nursery children encounter the early stages of phonics through a range of listing, singing, rhyming games, also using the Monster Phonics scheme.