OUR KINGSTON READING CURRICULUM

WE ARE READERS!

HOW WE HELP OUR CHILDREN BECOME FLUENT, CONFIDENT AND ENTHUSIASTIC READERS WHO UNDERSTAND, ENJOY AND LEARN FROM WHAT THEY READ

Reading Statement Of Intent (Our Vision) 

At Kingston Primary School, we believe that reading is the gateway to learning and one of the most important skills a child will ever acquire. Reading enables children to access the wider curriculum, develop knowledge of the world, build vocabulary, strengthen communication and foster a lifelong love of learning.

We are committed to ensuring that every child leaves Kingston as a fluent, confident and enthusiastic reader who can:

• Read accurately and fluently.
• Understand and interpret a wide range of texts.
• Use reading to acquire knowledge across the curriculum.
• Develop a rich and ambitious vocabulary.
• Think critically about what they read.
• Read for pleasure and personal enjoyment.
• Appreciate a diverse range of authors, characters and perspectives.

Through high-quality teaching, carefully selected literature and a strong reading culture, we ensure every child experiences a successful reading journey from EYFS to Year 6.

Our passion for reading is shared by many inspirational people and we believe:

"Reading is important, if you know how to read then the whole world opens up to you." Barack Obama.

"The more that you read, the more thing you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." Dr Seuss.

"If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books." Roald Dahl.

How We Become Readers at Kingston

Reading does not develop in isolation. Children first develop their spoken language through discussion, storytelling, drama and debate. These skills support phonics, fluent reading and comprehension. As pupils read increasingly complex texts, they acquire new vocabulary, deepen their knowledge and become confident readers who can learn independently.

What We Believe About Reading

We believe that:

• Reading is fundamental to success across the curriculum.
• Reading develops vocabulary, knowledge and understanding.
• Fluency is essential for successful comprehension.
• Every child should experience high-quality, diverse literature.
• Re-reading and discussing texts deepens understanding.
• Reading for pleasure improves attainment and wellbeing.
• Spoken language and reading are closely connected.
• Every child deserves to see themselves and others represented in books.

The Curriculum For Each Year Group 

Each year group's reading curriculum includes:

• Key reading knowledge and skills.
• Carefully selected core texts.
• Reading Doorway Challenge books.
• Expected reading progression.
• Year-group knowledge organisers.
• Reading non-negotiables.
• Vocabulary expectations.
• Reading for pleasure opportunities.

Core books are set books which have been carefully selected to ensure that our children experience a rich diet of traditional, contemporary, diverse and inclusive literature in the early years of their reading journey.  These are shared with the children using the Kingston core approach:

• Reading the book to the children
• Re-reading the book and discussing key vocabulary
• At least a third reading to deepen the children’s familiarisation and understanding of the text

Reading Doorway books are six well-researched, high quality books that have been carefully selected for each year group. Children are encouraged to read the six books throughout the year and their efforts are acknowledged and celebrated.

Year Group Knowledge Organisers

Progression Document EYFS - Year 6

Implementation of Our Reading Curriculum

1. Phonics: Learning to Read

We teach early reading through our systematic synthetic phonics programme, Kingston Letters and Sounds.

This ensures children develop:

• Secure phoneme-grapheme correspondence knowledge.
• Accurate blending and segmenting skills.
• Reading fluency.
• Confidence when tackling unfamiliar words.

Please See our Phonics page for more information.

2. Fluency: Building Automatic Readers

Reading fluency is explicitly taught and practised across the school.

Children develop:

• Accuracy
• Automaticity
• Prosody
• Expression
• Stamina

We use:

• Choral reading
• Repeated reading
• Teacher modelling
• Shared reading
• Fluency lessons

Fluency enables children to focus on meaning rather than decoding individual words.

3. Active Reading: Understanding What We Read

From Year 1 onwards, pupils take part in regular Active Reading sessions.

During Active Reading, pupils:

• Discuss texts
• Make connections
• Predict outcomes
• Ask questions
• Summarise understanding
• Evaluate authors' choices
• Monitor their comprehension

Children respond using:

• Text-to-Self
• Text-to-Text
• Text-to-World
• Text-to-Film
• Prediction
• Questioning
• Summarising

In Key Stage 2, children further develop comprehension through VIPERS:

• Vocabulary
• Infer
• Predict
• Explain
• Retrieve
• Sequence/Summarise

4. Oracy and Reading

At Kingston, reading and spoken language work hand in hand.

Children develop reading through:

• Book talk
• Choral reading
• Drama
• Performance poetry
• Talk partners
• Vocabulary discussions
• Structured questioning

These opportunities deepen comprehension, improve vocabulary and strengthen reading confidence.

5. Vocabulary Development Through Reading

Reading is one of the primary ways children develop vocabulary.

We explicitly teach:

Tier 2 Vocabulary

High-utility academic words used across subjects.

Tier 3 Vocabulary

Subject-specific words linked to the curriculum.

Vocabulary is explored through:

• Active Reading
• Core texts
• Discussion
• Retrieval activities
• Cross-curricular learning

Reading for Pleasure

Developing a lifelong love of reading is central to our curriculum.

We achieve this through:

• Daily reading opportunities.
• High-quality classroom libraries.
• Well-stocked school library.
• Reading ambassadors and librarians.
• Author visits and reading events.
• Diverse and inclusive literature.
• Independent reading opportunities.

Core Reading Books

Our carefully selected Core Reading Books expose pupils to:

• Classic literature
• Contemporary fiction
• Diverse voices
• Challenging vocabulary
• Rich themes and ideas

Each text is revisited multiple times to deepen understanding, improve comprehension and strengthen vocabulary.

Core Reading Books

The Reading Doorway Challenge

The Reading Doorway Challenge encourages children to explore a carefully chosen collection of high-quality texts during their time at Kingston.

The challenge helps children:

• Experience a wide range of authors and genres.
• Develop reading stamina.
• Improve comprehension.
• Expand vocabulary.
• Build cultural capital.

The Library 100 Book Challenge

In addition to the Reading Doorway Challenge, pupils are encouraged to complete our Library 100 Book Challenge.

This celebrates reading for pleasure and encourages children to encounter a broad range of literature throughout their primary years.

Supporting Vulnerable Readers

We are committed to ensuring every child becomes a successful reader.

When a child is not on track, support may include:

• Phonics intervention.
• Lexia/Doodle intervention.
• Adult reading partners.
• Personalised action plans.
• Holiday reading packs.
• Small-group support.
• Additional reading opportunities.

Early intervention ensures reading difficulties are addressed quickly and effectively.

Diversity and Inclusion

We want every child to feel represented in the books they encounter.

Our reading curriculum includes:

• Diverse authors.
• Diverse characters and experiences.
• Books reflecting different cultures and communities.
• Literature that broadens children's understanding of the world.

We continually review and expand our collection to ensure it reflects modern Britain and our school community.

Impact

By the end of Year 6, Kingston pupils are fluent, confident and enthusiastic readers who:

• Read accurately and with expression.
• Understand and analyse increasingly complex texts.
• Draw upon a rich vocabulary.
• Think critically about what they read.
• Read widely and often.
• Use reading to acquire knowledge independently.
• Appreciate a diverse range of literature.
• Are fully prepared for the next stage of their education.

Most importantly, our pupils leave Kingston with a lifelong love of reading and the confidence to explore the world through books.

Accelerated Reader 

All Junior children have their own login for Accelerated Reader and are encouraged to complete quizzes once they have read a book. the quizzes help to develop comprehension, vocabulary and enhance reading and recall skills.. The children are able to gain points and words and work towards achieving certificates. Teachers will also set challenges throughout the year. For example: who can read a million words?

Accelerated Reader Link

 In order to be able to log in, the link below must be followed as it is registered to Kingston.

https://global-zone61.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/6707848