Millbrook Combined School – Reading and Phonics Curriculum Statement 2025
Intent | Implementation | Impact
Our Vision for Reading:
At Millbrook Combined School, we believe that reading transforms lives. We aim to foster a lifelong love of reading by immersing our pupils in a rich culture of language, story, and discovery. We see reading as the foundation for all learning — enabling children to access the wider curriculum, develop empathy, build vocabulary, and explore new worlds and ideas.
Reading at Millbrook is about more than decoding; it is about thinking, understanding, imagining, and enjoying. We want every pupil to leave our school as a confident, fluent, and enthusiastic reader, ready for success in the next stage of their education and beyond.
Intent:
Our reading and phonics curriculum is designed to ensure that all children:
- Develop a love of books, stories, and poetry, engaging with a wide range of high-quality literature.
- Become fluent, confident readers who can decode, comprehend, and discuss texts independently.
- Build strong oral language and vocabulary, enabling them to express themselves clearly and creatively.
- Are taught systematically and progressively, ensuring early reading skills are securely established and extended through each key stage.
- Learn to read for pleasure and purpose, developing independence, curiosity, and resilience as lifelong readers.
- We aim for every child to experience the joy and empowerment that comes from being able to read confidently and independently.
Connecting Reading to the Whole Curriculum: The Big Ideas:
Reading at Millbrook is not an isolated skill — it is a key gateway to understanding the wider world. Our curriculum is explicitly designed to connect reading to the school’s Big Ideas:
- Humankind: Exploring human experiences, emotions, and cultures through stories, biographies, and historical texts.
- Processes: Understanding sequences, cause and effect, and logical thinking through narrative and informational texts.
- Creativity: Inspiring imagination and originality through poetry, fiction, and storytelling activities.
- Investigation: Encouraging inquiry, questioning, and critical thinking through non-fiction, research-based texts, and problem-solving stories.
- Materials: Developing awareness of the physical and abstract through texts about science, technology, and everyday objects.
- Nature: Engaging with texts about the environment, plants, animals, and ecological systems.
- Place and Space: Broadening perspectives through geography, cultural texts, and stories set in diverse locations.
- Comparison: Understanding similarities and differences in ideas, events, and characters across texts.
- Significance: Identifying key themes, events, or individuals that shaped societies and ideas.
- Change: Exploring narratives of growth, transformation, innovation, and historical developments.
By intentionally linking reading to these Big Ideas, we ensure that literacy supports pupils’ understanding of the broader curriculum and encourages them to think critically, creatively, and empathetically about the world.
Implementation:
Early Years Foundation Stage (Nursery & Reception):
Phonics and Early Reading:
- Nursery focuses on Phase 1 phonics: sound discrimination, rhythm, rhyme, and oral blending.
- Reception covers Phases 2–4 through the Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS) programme, following the Review–Teach–Practise–Apply model.
- Vocabulary-building strategies (e.g., Grandma Fantastic, Word Buckets) and Helicopter Stories are planned for future implementation.
Reading for Pleasure and Vocabulary:
- Daily story, rhyme, and poetry sessions develop comprehension, vocabulary, and imagination.
- Print- and language-rich classrooms, interactive reading displays, and book corners foster independence and curiosity.
- Pupils select books for classroom reading corners, reflecting their identities and cultural capital.
Home Partnerships:
- Reading diaries, home story videos, and guidance support consistent practice beyond school.
Key Stage 1 (Years 1–2):
Systematic Phonics and Early Fluency:
- Daily ELS lessons continue, with six-weekly assessments monitoring progress.
- Pupils below age-related expectations receive timely interventions.
- Mock Phonics Screening Checks in Year 1 prepare pupils for statutory assessments.
Transition to Fluent Reading:
- Year 2 pupils engage in guided reading sessions, developing fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary.
- Weekly exposure to whole-class texts ensures familiarity with sustained reading and a variety of genres.
Home Reading:
- Matched decodable books and sharing stories promote confidence, fluency, and enjoyment.
Key Stage 2 (Years 3–6):
Reading Lesson Structure:
Five dedicated reading lessons per week, exploring whole-class texts through:
- Introduction to themes, predictions, and vocabulary.
- Drama, discussion, and inference-based activities.
- Targeted comprehension questions.
- Linked non-fiction to build knowledge and context.
- Response to feedback and consolidation of learning.
Accelerated Reader (AR):
- Pupils read at individual levels and complete comprehension quizzes.
- Termly STAR Reader Tests and ZPD scores guide book selection.
- Targets and achievements are celebrated to encourage home and school engagement.
Broadening Reading Horizons:
- Interactive displays, author studies, and pupil-led book selections foster engagement.
- Teachers embed reading strategies across all subjects, connecting texts to Big Ideas where relevant.
Assessment and Tracking:
Formative Assessment:
- Observations, weekly comprehension checks, and self-assessment against National Curriculum objectives.
Summative Assessment:
- ELS assessments (Nursery–Year 2), STAR Reader Tests (Years 2–6), annual standardised tests, and mock SATs in Year 6.
- Targeted Support and Intervention:
- Structured 1:1 reading sessions for pupils requiring additional support, delivered by teachers, TAs, or trained volunteers.
- Progress monitored via reading records, STAR Reader data, and teacher observations.
- Home–School Reading Culture:
- Reading diaries, home reading expectations, and incentives ensure continuity and engagement beyond the classroom.
Impact:
By the end of their time at Millbrook, pupils:
- Are fluent, confident readers capable of decoding, comprehending, and discussing a wide range of texts.
- Demonstrate secure phonics knowledge applied accurately in reading and writing.
- Use rich, expressive vocabulary in speech and writing.
- Read independently for pleasure and purpose, connecting texts to wider learning.
- Can articulate preferences and opinions about what they read.
- Achieve outcomes reflecting their potential, prepared for continued success in secondary education.
Our success is measured not only through attainment but through the visible culture of reading across the school — pupils choosing to read, talk about books, and see themselves as readers for life, with reading experiences reinforcing the Big Ideas across the curriculum.
Progression Overview: EYFS to KS2:
Phase | Phonics & Decoding | Fluency & Comprehension | Vocabulary & Reading for Pleasure |
|---|
| Nursery (EYFS) | Phase 1 phonics: sound discrimination, rhythm, rhyme, oral blending | Listening to and joining in with stories and rhymes | Developing a love of books and storytelling through play |
| Reception (EYFS) | ELS Phases 2–4: secure blending and segmenting | Shared reading and prediction | Daily story time, poetry, and vocabulary enrichment |
| Year 1 | ELS Phases 4–5: full GPC coverage; mock PSC practice | Reading decodable books fluently | Exploring stories and poems with increasing independence |
| Year 2 | Consolidation of phonics; guided reading focus | Early comprehension strategies (retrieval, inference) | Expanding reading choices and fluency |
| Years 3–4 | Secure decoding; focus on fluency and expression | Comprehension through structured reading lessons | Vocabulary development and reading confidence |
| Years 5–6 | Fluent readers; focus on depth of understanding | Analytical comprehension and authorial intent | Independent reading for pleasure; broad literary exposure |