Reading

At Waterloo Primary Academy, our children are READERS.

At Waterloo Primary Academy, we believe reading is the key that unlocks all learning. It is our ambition that every child leaves us as a fluent, confident and enthusiastic reader, equipped not only to access the curriculum but to understand the world around them, think critically, and enjoy the lifelong benefits and pleasures that reading brings.

Reading sits at the heart of our curriculum because we know that children who read confidently are more likely to succeed academically, communicate effectively and engage fully with society. We are uncompromising in our belief that every child can become a reader, regardless of starting point or need. Through high-quality teaching, carefully sequenced support and rich literary experiences, we ensure that all pupils develop the knowledge, fluency and confidence to thrive.

Our curriculum is designed not simply to teach children how to read, but to inspire them to want to read.

Early Reading: Building Readers from the Very Beginning

The foundations of reading begin in the Early Years through CUSP Early Foundations and our carefully planned provision for communication, language and literacy.

Children are immersed in stories, rhyme, poetry and rich language through Structured Storytime, high-quality texts and purposeful discussion. Daily story experiences enable children to develop vocabulary, comprehension, listening skills and an understanding of narrative long before they become independent readers.

The CUSP Literature Spine begins in Early Years, meaning children encounter ambitious and diverse texts from the earliest stages of school. Exposure to stories and language builds curiosity, imagination and background knowledge whilst laying secure foundations for future reading success.

We recognise that becoming a reader starts before decoding; it begins with hearing stories, developing language, understanding meaning and seeing reading as something joyful.

Early Reading and Phonics: Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS)

In Early Years and Key Stage 1, children are taught phonics daily through Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS), our systematic synthetic phonics programme.

ELS provides a highly structured and consistent approach to early reading. Lessons follow a clear sequence of review, teach, practise, apply and assess, ensuring pupils develop secure decoding skills and increasing automaticity.

Every child reads fully decodable texts precisely matched to their phonics knowledge, allowing them to experience success, develop confidence and build fluency.

Our phonics provision is strengthened through our partnership with the English Hub, which provides quality assurance, professional development and ongoing support. This ensures fidelity to the programme and continuous refinement of teaching practice.

We recognise that some pupils require phonics support beyond Key Stage 1. For these children, intervention continues through ELS, ensuring decoding gaps are addressed quickly and systematically. By maintaining consistent routines, language and instructional approaches, pupils continue developing confidence as readers whilst accessing increasingly ambitious texts.

As children move through school, strong decoding skills transition seamlessly into comprehension, interpretation and critical thinking.

What Do We Teach?

Reading at Waterloo is carefully mapped and progressively sequenced through CUSP Reading, which is built around three evidence-informed pillars:

• explicit vocabulary instruction
• prosodic reading (reading fluency)
• thinking hard about texts

These elements work together to develop pupils who read accurately, fluently and with deep understanding.

Children study whole texts through a carefully designed literature spine, comprising core and supplementary texts selected for literary quality, ambition and cultural significance. The spine provides a broad and challenging reading diet, exposing pupils to diverse authors, themes, perspectives and experiences.

Texts have been chosen to act as windows, mirrors and sliding doors:

• windows into experiences beyond pupils’ own lives
• mirrors that allow children to see themselves represented
• sliding doors into different cultures, viewpoints and possibilities

Our literature reflects a diverse society and introduces pupils to a wide range of voices, backgrounds, historical periods and global experiences. Children encounter texts exploring migration, identity, justice, resilience, belonging and moral responsibility alongside heritage literature and classic texts.

Reading therefore becomes more than a curriculum subject; it becomes a means of understanding people, communities and the wider world.

How Do Pupils Learn?

Each CUSP Reading lesson follows a structured sequence rooted in evidence-informed teaching:

Connect → Explain → Example → Attempt → Apply → Challenge

Lessons develop progressively from understanding texts to analysing themes, authorial intent and deeper meaning.

Across the curriculum pupils develop increasingly sophisticated reading competencies including:

• language meaning and vocabulary
• retrieval and summarising
• inference and prediction
• understanding themes and structures
• authorial intent
• comparison and connection between texts
• personal response and critical thinking

These competencies are revisited repeatedly, enabling children to become increasingly expert readers over time.

Reading fluency is explicitly taught through prosodic reading strategies, including repeated reading, echo reading and performance reading. This ensures pupils read with increasing pace, expression and understanding.

Adaptive Practice: Ambition for Every Child

At Waterloo, ambition does not change because a child finds reading difficult.

Adaptive teaching ensures all pupils access rich texts and high-quality discussion regardless of need or starting point. Guided by the CUSP Scaffolding Toolkit, teachers remove barriers whilst maintaining challenge.

Support may include:

• vocabulary pre-teaching
• structured pre-reading
• additional modelling and guided practice
• adapted response frameworks
• clarification and summarising
• bespoke scaffolds through dual Knowledge Notes
• oral rehearsal and repeated reading

These approaches support pupils with SEND, EAL and other additional needs, whilst ensuring they remain immersed in ambitious literature.

We believe adaptation should increase access, not reduce expectation.

Reading Support and Intervention

Reading support at Waterloo is responsive, personalised and precisely targeted.

Where additional intervention is required, pupils will access personalised ELS interventions and pupils from Year 2-6 access Reading Plus.

Reading Plus provides adaptive support tailored to individual reading profiles. The programme develops:

• reading stamina
• fluency
• vocabulary
• comprehension
• confidence and independence

Diagnostic information enables support to be carefully matched to pupils’ strengths and barriers, helping close gaps whilst promoting sustained progress.

Interventions are continually reviewed to ensure support remains purposeful and effective.

Reading for Pleasure: Creating Lifelong Readers

We want children to read because they can, but also because they want to.

Reading for pleasure is actively promoted throughout school through:

• daily story time
• class reading environments
• exposure to diverse texts and authors
• shared reading experiences
• opportunities for discussion and recommendation

To strengthen this culture further, we have registered our pupils with the local library, ensuring families have free access to books beyond school, helping children develop reading habits that extend into home and community life.

We believe reading should be visible, valued and celebrated.

How Do We Know Pupils Have Learned?

The impact of our Reading curriculum is monitored through:

• ongoing assessment within lessons
• fluency checks
• pupil voice and book study
• assessment outcomes
• progress in reading competencies over time

By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils leave Waterloo as readers who are fluent, reflective and confident. They understand how texts shape thinking, challenge viewpoints and deepen understanding.

Most importantly, they leave with the knowledge that reading opens doors.

Our Reading Vision

At Waterloo Primary Academy, our children become readers who:

• read fluently
• think deeply
• speak confidently
• question critically
• read widely for pleasure.

Because when children become readers, they gain the power to learn, belong and succeed.