Sudbury Primary School

The programmes of study for reading at key stages 1 and 2 consist of two dimensions:

• word reading
• comprehension (both listening and reading).

It is essential that teaching focuses on developing pupils’ competence in both dimensions; different kinds of teaching are needed for each.

Skilled word reading involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words.

Underpinning both is the understanding that the letters on the page represent the sounds in spoken words. This is why phonics should be emphasised in the early teaching of reading to beginners (i.e. unskilled readers) when they start school.

* Please go to our Phonics page for more information regarding phonics.

Good comprehension draws from linguistic knowledge (in particular of vocabulary and grammar) and on knowledge of the world. Comprehension skills develop through pupils’ experience of high-quality discussion with adults, as well as from reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non-fiction.

All pupils must be encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, and to gain knowledge across the curriculum.

Reading widely and often increases pupils’ vocabulary because they encounter words they would rarely hear or use in everyday speech. Reading also feeds pupils’ imagination and opens up a treasure-house of wonder and joy for curious young minds.

Below are some questions you should aim to use whilst reading with your child to develop their comprehension:

At Sudbury, we also measure our pupils' reading ages. A child's reading age is defined as "a child's reading ability expressed with reference to an average age at which a comparable ability is found."

To assess pupils' reading ages, we make use of the New Group Reader Test from GL Assessment. The test is a fully adaptive, standardised, reading assessment. As it is adaptive, it offers a personalised experience for each pupil, ensuring that it is accessible for those who are struggling and challenging for those who need to be stretched.

There is no more crucial skill for success in any subject than reading, so being able to accurately assess and monitor this is essential. The test is proven to deliver a reliable assessment of reading comprehension, set against national benchmarks. We administer the test twice per year and it provides an additional opportunity for teachers to identify problems that may hold back a child’s progress, with customised practical classroom solutions for each pupil and the ability to demonstrate the impact of the interventions we put in place.