Reading

Reading at Newton Hill Community School

At Newton Hill Community School we believe that the ability to read is fundamental to pupils’ development as independent learners, during their time at school and beyond. Reading is central to our ability to understand, interpret and communicate with each other and the world around us.

As a school we aim to inspire and motive children by providing them with a breadth of reading materials which stimulates their imagination and feeds their thirst for knowledge. By the end of their journey through school we wish to have instilled a love of reading into all children.

We know success in reading has a direct effect on progress in all areas of the curriculum; therefore, reading is given a high priority at Newton Hill Community School, enabling the children to become enthusiastic, independent and reflective readers across a wide range and types of literature, including different text types and genres.

Reading is a complex skill with many components. Successful approaches to the teaching of reading should encourage children to use a variety of strategies in their pursuit of meaning. It is important to lay firm foundations in this crucial area of the curriculum and establish a consistent whole school approach to the teaching of reading.

Our aims for all children at Newton Hill Community School are for them to:

  • Become fluent, confident and expressive readers.
  • Read with enjoyment across a range of genres.
  • Read for pleasure as well as for information.
  • Read and respond to a wide range of different types of literature.
  • Understand the layout and how to use different genres and text types.
  • Understand and apply their knowledge of phonics and spelling patterns and use this to decode words with accuracy.
  • Build their bank of sight words to enable fluent reading.
  • Have an interest in words and their meanings, developing a rich and varied vocabulary.
  • Understand and respond to literature drawn from a range of cultures and literacy heritage.
Recommended Reading Books for Pleasure