Reading and Phonics
At Holy Trinity, we intend for every child to become a confident, fluent and passionate reader who develops the skills to unlock learning and a lifelong love of books.
Early Foundations in Nursery
In Nursery, we focus on developing pre-reading skills. Children are immersed in a language-rich environment filled with songs, rhymes, storytelling, and listening activities. They explore sounds through environmental listening, rhythm and rhyme games and oral blending and segmenting games. This stage develops children’s phonological awareness and prepares them for the systematic teaching of phonics. In the Summer term, children begin to learn their Set 1 sounds using Read Write Inc. (RWI), giving them an early foundation in phonics before Reception.
Reception – Beginning the Journey of Reading
When children enter Reception, they begin the Read Write Inc. (RWI) phonics programme. Through daily, structured lessons, children are explicitly taught Set 1 sounds (pure sounds, avoiding “uh”), oral blending and segmenting to build early word reading, blending to read simple CVC words such as cat, dog, pin, red words (common exception words) that cannot be sounded out, and build fluency by re-reading short decodable books matched to their phonic knowledge. Children are assessed every half term and placed into groups matched to their phonics knowledge, ensuring teaching is targeted and progress is accelerated. In the Spring term, children in Reception join with Key Stage 1 for some reading sessions, giving them access to books at their level and accelerating progress for early readers.
Key Stage 1 – Building Fluency and Comprehension
In Year 1, children continue their RWI journey, progressing through Set 2 and 3 sounds, including digraphs (ai, ee, igh) and alternative spellings. Children are assessed every half term and grouped according to their phonics knowledge, so they are always working at the right level for their stage of learning. Their progress is carefully monitored through daily phonics assessments and supported with targeted intervention groups where needed.
At the end of Year 1, all children take the Phonics Screening Check. This ensures they have a secure knowledge of grapheme-phoneme correspondences and can blend unfamiliar words. Children not yet secure receive tailored support and re-sit the screening in Year 2.
By the end of Key Stage 1, most children complete the RWI programme and are confident, fluent readers. If a child still requires support, they continue with RWI until they are fully secure, regardless of year group, ensuring no child is left behind.
Transition to Comprehension – VIPERS Approach
Once children are secure in phonics and reading fluently, they move onto a structured comprehension approach using VIPERS:
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Vocabulary – exploring and clarifying ambitious words
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Inference – reading between the lines to understand hidden meaning
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Prediction – anticipating what might happen next
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Explanation – discussing author’s intent and choices
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Retrieval – finding explicit information in the text
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Sequencing/Summarising – ordering events or summarising key points
Children practise these skills through carefully chosen texts that are diverse, engaging, and challenging.
Key Stage 2 – Developing Independence and Critical Thinking
In Key Stage 2, every class has daily whole-class reading sessions. Here, teachers model fluency and explicitly teach strategies for tackling comprehension questions. Children are guided through high-quality texts, both fiction and non-fiction, and are encouraged to engage in rich discussion and debate.
Children also engage with Testbase resources, where teachers model how to approach different question types, underline key words, and structure answers effectively. This prepares children for the rigour of the Key Stage 2 SATs while deepening their ability to think critically about texts.
We ensure all children, including those with SEND or additional needs, are supported at every stage of their reading journey. Our aim is that every pupil leaves Holy Trinity not only able to read well, but also with a genuine love of reading that will last a lifetime.
Library
Children have full access to a lovely library. They are given weekly time slots to change the books. It is used for independent reading and research in the adventure curriculum.
Some useful resources to support your child can be found below:
| Name | Format | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Files | |||
| Reading VIPERS Question Stems KS1 PDF.pdf | |||
| Reading VIPERS Question Stems KS2 PDF.pdf |
Reading at home
We believe that reading at home is just as important as reading at school. All children are expected to read daily for 10–20 minutes.
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Children learning phonics should read their phonics books every day to build fluency.
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Older or more confident readers can enjoy a wider range of books, including school reading books, library books, or texts that interest them.
Regular reading at home helps children to:
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Improve fluency and confidence
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Develop a love of books and stories
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Build vocabulary and comprehension skills
We encourage parents and carers to listen to their children read, ask questions about the text, and enjoy sharing stories together.
What to read?
Have you ever wondered what books to buy for your child or as a present for someone else? This website has excellent ideas for recommended books for all Primary School aged children.
https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/category/reading-lists-for-primary-school-pupils/
