Reading at Town House School
At Town House School, we take pride in our comprehensive approach to continuing children’s journeys as early readers. Our aim is to ensure that they transition to the next phase of their education as lifelong learners who can read fluently across a wide range of text types.
We use the Read Write Inc. (RWI) phonics programme to provide continuity for our pupils, the majority of whom join us from Holland House Infant School. All staff, across every year group, receive early reading training and ongoing updates directly from Read Write Inc. to ensure they are fully equipped to support early readers across the curriculum.
Supporting Early Readers
During the transition to Year 3, we work closely with Holland House Infant School to identify children who still require direct phonics teaching, as well as those who score less than 37 in the phonics screening check. These pupils are closely tracked as a group to ensure their needs are met within the whole class. Upon arrival at Town, children still working on phonics seamlessly continue with Read Write Inc. delivery. Each week, these pupils receive four 45-minute phonics lessons focusing on speed sounds, segmenting, blending, and the relationship between phonemes and graphemes. They then apply this learning by reading books that contain only their known GPCs (grapheme-phoneme correspondences).
Our Reading Leader conducts half-term assessments of these pupils, regrouping them if necessary and planning how to reintegrate them into whole-class learning once they complete the programme. The Reading Leader also works closely with teachers to ensure consistency in provision for early readers across the curriculum.
Building Reading Fluency
For children who have completed phonics, our focus shifts to developing reading fluency, empowering them with the confidence to apply their knowledge across the curriculum. To support this, we have invested in the HfL Reading Fluency Programme, which enhances staff expertise in fluency-building strategies. We use a cascade model of training to ensure that all staff benefit from this approach.
Children identified as disfluent readers or at risk of not meeting the expected standard participate in an 8-week teacher-led intervention by the end of the academic year. While the HfL Reading Fluency Programme focuses on small-group interventions, we have also restructured whole-class reading lessons to embed fluency strategies for all readers.
- In Years 3 and 4, children take part in four 30-minute reading sessions each week:
- Two sessions focus on building fluency and modelling prosody using the class novel.
- Two sessions focus on pre-teaching key vocabulary linked to wider curriculum learning.
We firmly believe that high-quality teacher modelling of fluency drives reading success—rather than test outcomes alone. While we dedicate time in Year 6 to exploring different question styles, the majority of Upper Key Stage 2 reading lessons focus on engaging with popular literature and using reading sessions to pre-teach key vocabulary and concepts linked to the wider curriculum.
Developing a Love of Reading
At the heart of our reading provision is a commitment to fostering a lifelong love of reading. We recognise that this cannot be achieved without truly understanding the reading habits of our pupils.
To encourage children to read widely, we have devised our own Reading Challenges, which promote engagement with a variety of genres from both classic and contemporary authors. Rewards for completing these challenges include:
- Trips to a local bookshop
- Access to books from the school’s reading vending machine!
We also have a dedicated team of Junior Librarians who run our well-stocked library, assisting their peers in selecting books that match their interests. Additionally, we actively engage with local authors, poets, and nationwide events such as World Book Day.
Class Novel
Our pupils usually rank class novel time as the highlight of their day! At 3pm, all other learning is stopped and pupils spend twenty minutes being read to. We aim to read approximately three novels per term (length depending) and typically one will focus on developing kindness, empathy and respect, another will have a topical link and the third will be a well known text for that age group.
Writing at Town House School
Our writing curriculum is currently undergoing exciting changes in Years 3 and 4, which we are confident will have a significant impact on our pupils. Inspired by the success of repeated reading in fluency sessions, we are now focusing on building writing fluency, working in collaboration with Holland House Infant School to create a structured teaching model across Years 2, 3, and 4.
From March 2025, our new Lower Key Stage 2 (Year 3 and 4) lesson structure will place greater emphasis on:
- Oral composition as both a preparation for writing and a valuable learning tool in its own right.
- Transcription skills, including joined handwriting, spelling, and accurate punctuation.
- Proofreading and editing, with pupils reading their own work aloud to assess its impact on the reader.
In terms of composition, writing in Years 3 and 4 will focus on:
- Retelling stories and creating original narratives
- Writing about real events
- Producing short explanations linked to topic work
Writing in Upper Key Stage 2
As pupils progress into Upper Key Stage 2, they are introduced to a wider range of writing purposes and audiences. They explore how key themes can be woven into their work and develop stamina for extended writing. Lessons continue to emphasise spelling, punctuation, and grammar, ensuring pupils can apply these skills effectively in independent writing.
Writing for Pleasure
Above all, we understand that children must see themselves as writers and feel inspired to write for pleasure. To support this, we allocate two weeks per term for personal writing projects, linked to national competitions and real-world opportunities:
- Autumn Term: Entries for the BBC 500 Words Competition (all submissions are entered into the national competition).
- Spring Term: Poetry entries for the Young Writers’ Anthology.
- Summer Term: Writing book reviews, providing every child the opportunity to earn a Blue Peter badge.
These projects are incredibly popular with our pupils, and we are immensely proud of their enthusiasm and engagement!