Hurst Green Primary School
Reading
Read to know more. Read to be more. Read for life.
Welcome to our Reading homepage here at Hurst Green
At Hurst Green Primary School, we believe reading opens the door to learning, imagination and opportunity. We are passionate about developing confident, fluent readers and creating a culture where books, stories and reading are valued across the school. From early phonics through to reading for pleasure, we aim to ensure every child develops the skills, knowledge and love of reading needed to succeed. Through high-quality texts, engaging reading environments and daily opportunities to read, we encourage all children to become lifelong readers.
Our Reading Aims
- Develop enthusiastic readers who read with confidence.
- Read accurately, fluently and with understanding.
- Use phonics effectively to decode unfamiliar words.
- Use reading to support learning across the curriculum.
- Develop a strong knowledge of vocabulary and grammar.
How do we achieve this?
- Teach early reading consistently through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised.
- Ensure reading books are accurately matched to children's phonic knowledge.
- Work closely with parents and carers to support reading at home.
- Promote a strong culture of reading and reading for pleasure throughout school.
- Teach whole-class reading lessons across Key Stage 2.
- Use regular assessment to identify gaps and provide targeted support.
Find out more about how we teach children to read on our Early Reading & Phonics page.
Early Reading and Phonics
Find out more about how we teach phonics and early reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised.
Our Early Reading and Phonics page includes information about Reading Practice sessions, assessment, Keep Up support, and guidance to help parents and carers support reading at home.
Click the link below to find out more.
Reading in Key Stage Two
In Key Stage 2, reading is taught five times each week through focused 30-minute sessions. Teachers use year-group specific reading units organised around a 10-day teaching cycle, providing a consistent approach while allowing teaching to be adapted to pupils' needs.
Each unit has a strong focus on developing fluent, confident readers. Teachers activate prior knowledge and explicitly teach key vocabulary before pupils engage with age-appropriate texts. A significant part of each session is dedicated to reading, using approaches such as contiguous, echo, shared and timed reading. Teachers model fluent, expressive reading and explicitly teach phrasing and prosody.
As each unit progresses, pupils apply their reading knowledge and skills with increasing independence. Teachers use a gradual release approach of ‘I do, we do, you do’, moving from teacher modelling to shared and paired practice before pupils apply their learning independently.
Reading is predominantly taught within the classroom, with appropriate scaffolds used to ensure all pupils can access and engage with the text. Pupils who need additional help receive targeted support matched to their needs. This may include additional reading practice, adult support, vertical grouping or targeted phonics intervention.
This consistent approach ensures pupils regularly hear high-quality reading, read extensively themselves and receive the teaching and practice they need to become fluent, thoughtful and increasingly independent readers.
10 Magical Minutes
At Hurst Green, every class enjoys 10 Magical Minutes as a dedicated part of the school day when the class teacher reads aloud to the children.
This protected time gives children the opportunity to listen to and enjoy high-quality books together as a class. Teachers bring stories to life, model fluent and expressive reading and give children the chance to experience books they might not yet be able to read independently.
The book will often be chosen from our Hurst Green Reading Spine, which provides children with a carefully selected range of high-quality texts throughout their time at school. These books have been chosen to introduce children to a rich variety of authors, stories, characters, themes and experiences.
Most importantly, 10 Magical Minutes is about the shared enjoyment of a great book. It gives every child, every day, the opportunity to experience the magic of being read to and helps us build a strong culture where books, stories and reading are valued across our school.
Reading at Home
At Hurst Green Primary School, we encourage all children in EYFS, KS1 and KS2 to read at home at least three times each week. Children in EYFS and KS1 bring home fully decodable Little Wandle books that are carefully matched to the sounds they know, alongside a school library book to enjoy at home. Pupils in KS2 bring home reading books that are matched to their reading ability and are encouraged to read a wide range of texts and authors to help develop fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
We support parents through phonics workshops, reading guidance, videos, reading diaries and regular communication to help families support reading at home effectively. Pupils can also earn reading certificates for every 25 home reads completed through our Reading Reward System
50,000 Home Reads Challenge
Coming soon: our exciting new 50,000 Home Reads Challenge!
Reading Rewards
At Hurst Green, we want to celebrate the fantastic reading our children do at home and encourage everyone to develop positive reading habits.
Every home read helps children work towards their next Reading Reward. Children receive a certificate for every 25 home reads they complete, with special milestones celebrated all the way up to 250 reads!
Each read should be recorded and dated in your child's reading diary. One read per day counts towards their total, and we recommend spending around 10 to 20 minutes reading together.
Certificates are presented in class assemblies, giving us the opportunity to celebrate children's achievements and recognise the effort they put into reading at home.
Parents and carers play an important part in helping children become confident and enthusiastic readers. Thank you for supporting your child and helping us to make reading a valued part of everyday life at Hurst Green.
Every read counts!
Reading Challenges
Here at Hurst Green, we love to set reading challenges during the holidays!
We regularly share reading challenges for children across the school, including EYFS, KS1 and KS2. These challenges are designed to promote reading for pleasure and encourage children to engage with books in a range of enjoyable and meaningful ways beyond the classroom.
If your child completes one of our reading challenges, we would love you to share a photograph with us by emailing info@hurst-green.dudley.sch.uk. We will share photographs on our website, in line with our photo permissions, and children will receive a certificate in assembly to celebrate their achievement.
School Library
Our new school library offers a calm and welcoming environment, thoughtfully designed to nurture a lifelong love of reading. It provides pupils with the opportunity to explore books independently and discover the enjoyment of reading for pleasure.
At Hurst Green, pupils visit the library each week with their class teacher. During these sessions, they can choose books that match their reading ability, reflect their personal interests, or can be shared at home as part of a bedtime story. Pupils are also encouraged to recommend books to their peers, helping to create a collaborative reading culture.
Each month, the library highlights a range of featured selections, including Picture Book of the Month, Staff Favourites, Non-Fiction Book of the Month, and New Arrivals. We also showcase themed collections, alongside both staff and pupil recommendations. These features help to broaden pupils’ reading experiences and introduce them to a diverse range of authors and genres.
KS2 Book Nook!
We are delighted to introduce our brand-new Key Stage 2 Reading Nook, a welcoming space designed to put reading at the heart of our school.
The Reading Nook provides children with a comfortable and inviting place to stop, pick up a book and enjoy reading. With a wide selection of books to choose from, we hope it will encourage children to explore new authors, discover different genres and, most importantly, develop a lifelong love of reading.
At Hurst Green, we want our children to see reading as much more than something they do in lessons. Reading opens doors to new knowledge, new ideas and new worlds. Our Reading Nook is another way we are creating a strong culture of reading for pleasure across our school.
A huge thank you to our PTA for supporting the development of the Reading Nook and helping us to provide even more books for our children to enjoy.
We are looking forward to seeing the nook become a much-loved part of school life, with children sharing recommendations, discovering new favourites and enjoying time with a good book.
Long Lane Library
To further promote reading for pleasure, each class regularly visits Long Lane Library. These visits are an important part of helping children develop independence and enthusiasm as readers.
During these visits, children:
- Explore a wide variety of books, including fiction, non-fiction and poetry
- Learn how to choose books that interest them
- Develop an understanding of how a library works
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Have the opportunity to borrow books to enjoy at school
Library visits help children to see reading as an enjoyable activity beyond the classroom and encourage families to continue this experience together.
Mystery Reader
Our Mystery Reader programme is one of our most popular ways of bringing reading to life at Hurst Green.
Throughout the year, we invite parents, carers, grandparents and other family members into school to surprise the children by becoming a Mystery Reader for their class. Our Mystery Readers choose a favourite book to share, giving children the opportunity to enjoy stories with different readers and discover new books and authors.
The children love trying to guess who their Mystery Reader might be and are always excited when our special guest arrives!
Mystery Reader helps us celebrate reading for pleasure and strengthens the important link between reading at school and at home. It also shows our children that reading is something to be shared, enjoyed and valued by everyone.
Thank you to all of our wonderful Mystery Readers who give up their time to share their love of books with our children.
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Reading Buddies
Our Reading Buddies programme brings together children from Year 5 and Year 1 to share books and enjoy reading together.
Each Year 5 child is paired with a Year 1 reading buddy, giving our younger children the opportunity to read regularly with an older pupil. During their time together, the children share books, talk about what they have read and enjoy stories together.
Our Year 5 pupils are fantastic reading role models. They encourage and support their younger buddies, helping them to develop confidence, fluency and, most importantly, a love of reading. The programme also gives our older pupils the opportunity to develop their communication skills, responsibility and confidence.
Reading Buddies is another way we are building a strong reading community across Hurst Green, where children of all ages can share their enjoyment of books and reading.
Reading Bears!
We are very excited to introduce our new Reading Bears!
Each class from EYFS to Year 3 will have its very own Reading Bear, complete with a personalised book bag, reading diary and a selection of carefully chosen books. Our Reading Bears are ready to join children at home and help make reading together even more enjoyable.
Throughout the year, every child will have the opportunity to bring their class Reading Bear home for a special reading sleepover. Children can snuggle up with their bear, choose a book from the bag and enjoy sharing stories with their family.
Each Reading Bear will visit two children every week:
- One child will take the bear home from Monday to Thursday.
- Another child will take the bear home from Friday to Monday.
Some of the books in the bag are quite long, so there is no expectation for children to read them all during their time with the bear. Simply choose the books you would most like to enjoy together. Of course, keen readers are welcome to read as many as they wish!
There is no need to take the Reading Bear on any special trips or adventures. The focus is simply on creating a special opportunity to enjoy books, poems and reading together at home.
We hope our Reading Bears help create lots of happy reading moments and encourage our children to develop a lifelong love of reading.
Happy reading!
Supporting the Lowest 20% of Readers
At Hurst Green Primary School, we quickly identify pupils who may be at risk of falling behind in reading through regular Little Wandle assessments, phonics checks, reading assessments and professional teacher judgement.
In EYFS and Key Stage 1, pupils receive daily Little Wandle ‘Keep Up’ support matched closely to their next steps. Children who do not pass the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check receive daily Little Wandle Rapid Catch-Up intervention in Year 2 and, where needed, into Year 3.
In Key Stage 2, pupils within the lowest 20% of readers receive additional targeted support to develop fluency, comprehension, vocabulary and confidence. This may include daily reading with an adult, small-group intervention and adaptive teaching within lessons.
Our aim is to ensure every child becomes a confident, fluent and successful reader.
Why Reading Matters
Reading regularly helps children to:
- become fluent and confident readers
- develop a wider vocabulary
- improve their writing
- build knowledge across the curriculum
- develop imagination and empathy
- enjoy books and reading for themselves
How You Can Help at Home
- Read little and often.
- Read to your child, even when they can read independently.
- Let your child choose books they enjoy.
- Talk about what you're reading together.
- Visit the library and explore different authors and genres.