At The Batt School, it is our whole school ethos which puts reading – and particularly reading for pleasure – at the heart of what we do. To be a ‘reader’ is central to a child’s understanding of the school curriculum and is of vital importance in life. The two areas that are essential for this are:

1. Word Reading: Good early phonics-based teaching of word-decoding skills. This helps children to recognise and understand the sounds that letter combinations make and to recognise and decode words.
2. Comprehension: Supporting and encouraging children to engage with reading through book talk and discussion about text.
   
   Fluent readers can access a full range of life experiences and can enjoy an amazing breadth of genres and writers. It is our moral obligation and passion to ensure that ALL children can access all areas of the curriculum and pursue topics which interest them. In order to achieve this, reading and writing skills are developed through a high-quality text based approach.

Exploration - Children will explore a range of literature and bring their own interpretations and ideas.

Co-operation - Children will know how to exchange information together and take accountability for their own learning and be motivated to increase the learning of others.

Communication - Children will express their creative ideas through a range of genre, debate and drama opportunities.

Innovation - Children will learn to be innovative through stimulating deeper, collective and reflective thinking.

Click here to view our Progression in Reading document.

The use of phonics is one of the many skills needed to be able to be a reader and writer. We teach high quality phonics to ensure the children have the best start possible in reading and writing. We aim to develop each child so that they are able to read with fluency as well as develop a love of reading that will stay with our children all their lives. The Batt follows the systematic approach laid out in the validated Bug Club Phonics Programme.

Click here to view our Phonics Policy 2022
Click here to view our A Phonics Lesson at the Batt
Click here to view our Assessment and Interventions