Reading
Our Vision
At Moss Park, we believe that reading is the foundation of all learning and a gateway to imagination, knowledge, and lifelong success. We aim to develop and grow a love of literature and reading for pleasure while equipping children with the skills and confidence to read fluently, widely, and with understanding.
Reading at Moss Park is not just a skill; it’s an experience. Through daily opportunities to read, listen to stories, and engage in discussions, our pupils grow as confident readers with a deep appreciation for the rich and varied literary heritage of the world.
Our Aims
Read easily, fluently, and with good understanding.
Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for pleasure and information.
Build a wide vocabulary and an understanding of grammar and linguistic conventions.
Appreciate and explore the richness of literature across time and cultures.
Use reading to enhance their ability to write clearly, accurately, and creatively.
Engage confidently in discussions about books, ideas, and their own understanding.
Become competent in speaking and listening, using reading to support formal presentations, debates, and collaborative learning.
Implementation
At Moss Park Primary, reading is at the heart of our curriculum and daily school life. We prioritise reading as a fundamental skill and a source of joy and discovery. Our reading curriculum follows the National Curriculum while being tailored to ensure progression, cohesion, and engagement.
Children are provided with daily opportunities to:
Practise reading aloud to improve fluency and comprehension
Listen to stories, poems, and non-fiction texts to develop a love of literature
Read independently for pleasure and information
Engage in meaningful discussions that connect literature to the world around them
Reading is structured through a progression model that builds knowledge and skills sequentially, ensuring that every child meets defined expectations at the end of each year and leaves Year 6 as a confident, capable, and enthusiastic reader.
Here's what we do to teach reading
Phonics and Early Reading
In Reception and Year 1, pupils are taught systematic synthetic phonics through the Phonics Bug Club program. Guided reading sessions use phonetically decodable books to bridge phonics knowledge with text comprehension, using a carousel teaching method. Discover how we teach reading with Phonics Bug
Fluency and Comprehension
We focus on expression, pitch, pace, and other elements of fluency. Through repeated practice with age-appropriate texts, children build these skills while deepening their comprehension. Once decoding skills are secure, whole-class teaching emphasises comprehension alongside fluency, empowering children to read with understanding and confidence.
Text Selection and Curriculum Integration
Guided reading includes narrative, non-narrative, and poetry texts. Novels reflect our core values of Teamwork, Friendship, Perseverance, and Respect, while non-narrative texts build knowledge across subjects. Our curriculum features classic literature, diverse voices, current issues, and modern formats like webpages to develop versatile reading skills.
Reading for Pleasure
Each year group enjoys a diverse range of age-appropriate texts designed to foster a love of reading. Texts are carefully selected for progression, diversity, and modern relevance. Events such as World Book Day, library visits, author talks, and film nights further promote reading for pleasure. Our goal is to grow a lifelong love of reading in every pupil.
Integration Across Subjects and Home Partnership
Reading is embedded across the curriculum, with texts linked to English, History, Science, and more. Pupils read book-banded texts in school and at home, while also choosing books that reflect their personal interests. We partner with families through reading records, workshops, and reward systems to celebrate progress and encourage home reading.
Reading books and schemes
We use the Phonics Bug Club reading scheme, carefully matched to our phonics program. For non-decodable texts, pupils choose from a variety of banded reading schemes, including Collins Big Cat, Oxford Reading Tree, and Project X.
More information on our book banding can be found here.
Inspiring a Love of Reading at Moss Park: Going the Extra Mile to Grow Readers and Minds
We are delighted to announce that after our recent assessment in the Liverpool Reading Quality Mark, we were awarded SILVER status. This shows how the whole school is committed to ‘Reading for Pleasure’. This is a fantastic achievement for the school. A huge thank you to all of the parents, pupils, staff, governors and community who have supported us in achieving this award. A summary report of the success in meeting the criteria and the strengths of the school can be found attached to this page.
Reading Raffle Winners
Here are our Spring Reading Raffle Winners of 2024!
Events
World Book Day
Well done to this years 'Best Dressed' winners!
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Trips
Our Librarians visited WH Smiths in Stretford Mall and discussed how the manager organises their book collections. The children had sneak peeks at some new book releases and wrote their own recommendations - look out for them on the shelves!
