Our Reading Culture

At Holy Trinity School, we recognise that reading is the key to unlocking lifelong learning and we are committed to establishing a rich reading environment that fosters a love of reading. We encourage our children to read a variety of both fiction and non-fiction. We do this by giving them access to a range of books, newspapers and other reading material. We benefit from well-stocked libraries and classroom mini-libraries offering regular book loans and quiet reading spaces. We also enjoy many book celebrations throughout the year, including regular and well-supported book fairs, Roald Dahl Day, Shakespeare Week, National Poetry Day, Summer Reading Challenge and our annual World Book Day celebration that has been known to last longer than a day!

At Holy Trinity, we recognise the importance of allowing time to share stories for pleasure, therefore each class has daily timetabled opportunities for reading and listening to stories and poems, in addition to Guided Reading sessions, Phonics lessons (in Reception, Years 1 and 2) and English lessons plus further opportunities for reading in other curriculum areas.

Please see below recommended reading lists for each year group, supplied by https://www.booksfortopics.com/

Reading Practice Book (Reception – Year 4)

This book has been carefully matched to a child’s current reading level. When matched correctly, a child will read it with little help to develop their fluency and confidence in reading. When listening to their child read their practice book, parents and carers should give their child lots of praise and celebrate their success! If their child cannot read a word, they should decode and blend it together. Once finished, they should talk about the book together.

Library Book (Reception – Year 6)

Library books have been selected by our children to enjoy with their families. Families could…

• read the book to or with their child
• discuss the pictures
• enjoy the story
• predict what might happen next
• use different voices for the characters
• explore the facts in a non-fiction book.

Parents and carers can have a positive impact on their child’s reading by…

• sharing books for reading practice and books for pleasure to encourage a love of books
• modelling the importance of reading practice to develop fluency, using different voices and expression, discussing unfamiliar vocabulary, talking about the pictures, predicting what might happen next
• encouraging their child to re-read books at home they have read at school to build fluency
• updating their child’s reading log at least three times each week with encouraging and informative comments (including book title and pages read).