At All Saints, our Christian vision is that, through the power of God’s love, children will reach their true potential and be able to live their lives with an open mind so that they learn from the world around them. We believe that reading is the key to unlocking learning and is fundamental to children’s success across the curriculum and beyond. Through our reading and phonics curriculum, we aim to develop confident, fluent readers who have a lifelong love of books and reading.
We teach phonics through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme, providing a systematic, synthetic and progressive approach to early reading. Through high-quality teaching, regular assessment and timely intervention, we ensure that all children develop the knowledge and skills needed to become successful readers. Reading is prioritised across the school, enabling children to access the wider curriculum, develop their vocabulary and deepen their understanding of the world around them.
Alongside the teaching of phonics, we foster a love of reading through exposure to high-quality texts, shared reading experiences and opportunities to read for pleasure. We want every child to experience the joy of reading, develop confidence in their own abilities and become independent readers who are motivated to explore books for learning and enjoyment.
In line with our school motto, Love, Live and Learn, we aim for children to develop a love of reading, live as confident and independent learners and learn the essential skills that will support them throughout their education and future lives. We want every child to leave All Saints as a fluent, enthusiastic and thoughtful reader, equipped with the knowledge, confidence and curiosity to flourish and fulfil their God-given potential.
More information on Little Wandle Phonics Scheme can be found below:
Visit the Little Wandle Website
At All Saints, children begin their phonics journey from the very start of Reception through daily phonics lessons following the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme. Lessons are carefully sequenced to ensure children develop secure phonological awareness, decoding skills and confidence as readers. In Reception, children begin with shorter sessions and additional oral blending activities before progressing to a full 30-minute lesson as quickly as possible. Daily teaching continues into Year 1, enabling children to build fluency and automaticity in reading. Weekly review sessions provide opportunities for consolidation, ensuring children secure and retain previously taught knowledge and skills.
Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 participate in three Reading Practice sessions each week using fully decodable books that are closely matched to their phonic knowledge. These carefully structured sessions focus on decoding, prosody and comprehension, enabling children to develop reading accuracy, fluency and understanding. By revisiting the same text across the week, pupils gain confidence and experience success as readers. The books are then shared at home, providing opportunities for children to celebrate their progress and further develop their reading fluency with family support.
At All Saints, fostering a love of reading is a whole-school priority. We recognise that reading for pleasure plays a vital role in children’s academic achievement, wellbeing and personal development. Through daily story time, children are immersed in a rich and diverse range of high-quality texts that broaden their experiences, develop vocabulary and inspire curiosity about the world around them. Teachers carefully select engaging texts that promote enjoyment and nurture positive reading habits. Children in Early Years and Key Stage One also take home a weekly choice book to share with their families, helping to establish reading as a valued and enjoyable part of everyday life.
The combination of curriculum core texts, phonics and reading schemes fuel a love of reading that we intend to last a lifetime. From the use of Little Wandle to deliver phonics and early reading skills, the use of Accelerated Reader to motivate even the most reluctant of readers and the use of VIPERS to provide structure and depth to guided reading – we believe it is the balance and progression provided by these programmes that create successful, confident readers. We recognise the positive impact of providing regular opportunities for individual, group and whole-class reading throughout the school day. We also recognise the key role of reading in a child’s vocabulary development and ensure this is taught explicitly across the curriculum through the use of word and/or working walls. The texts children are exposed to have been carefully selected to offer interest to children with varied reading preferences. We aim to offer a balance between fiction and non-fiction texts by offering a high-quality fiction diet through English and quality non-fiction texts to enhance our wider curriculum subjects. The core texts that underpin out English teaching have both a fiction and non-fiction written outcome to ensure even coverage of these genres.
What are Reading VIPERS?
VIPERS is an acronym to aid the recall of the 6 reading domains as part of the UK’s reading curriculum. They are the key areas which we feel children need to know and understand in order to improve their comprehension of texts. VIPERS stands for Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explanation, Retrieval, Sequence or Summarise. These 6 components focus on the comprehension aspect of reading and not the mechanic e.g. decoding and fluency. VIPERS ensures that our Key Stage 2 pupils are familiar with answering with a range of questions and allow teachers to consider pupils responses carefully.
Please find examples of the different types of VIPERS questions in the handbook below: