English
Our Approach to Reading
At Greenways Primary Academy, we believe that reading is at the heart of learning. It opens doors to future opportunities, fosters imagination, builds critical knowledge across the curriculum, and helps develop confident, creative, and articulate learners.
Our intention is for every child to become an independent, fluent, and reflective reader who can read for both meaning and enjoyment — fully prepared for the next stage of their education and beyond.
Our Approach to Teaching Reading
A Tailored, Inclusive Approach
We recognise that children develop reading skills at different rates. That’s why reading instruction at Greenways is personalised, with children reading daily through:
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Shared reading
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Guided group sessions
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1:1 reading with an adult
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Explicit whole-class reading lessons
Children are encouraged to engage with a wide range of texts in school and at home, promoting both challenge and enjoyment.
Phonics and Early Reading (EYFS & Key Stage 1)
We use Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, a validated synthetic phonics programme. This supports children in making strong connections between letters and sounds and applying their phonics knowledge across the curriculum.
Phonics is planned progressively to ensure children build a secure understanding of the phonetic structure of the English language, laying the foundation for fluent, confident reading.
Developing Comprehension in Key Stage 2
As children move into Key Stage 2, our focus shifts towards developing higher-level reading comprehension through structured lessons using the VIPERS framework (Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explanation, Retrieval, Summarising/Sequencing). These lessons expose pupils to high-quality literature and rich vocabulary.
We use Accelerated Reader from Year 2 to Year 6 to support independent reading, monitor progress, and ensure pupils read books at an appropriate level of challenge.
Creating a Reading Culture
Reading for pleasure is actively encouraged and celebrated through a variety of initiatives, including:
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Stoke’s 100 Reads – promoting a love of diverse, age-appropriate literature
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Vocabulary Builders – inspired by Alex Quigley’s Closing the Vocabulary Gap, supporting curriculum vocabulary acquisition
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Home–School Reading – supported by reading records, workshops, ‘secret storytellers’, and a home–school library
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Pupil Ownership – through 1:1 target setting, personalised feedback, and rewards such as Millionaire’s Club, book vouchers, and certificates
These strategies help embed reading across the curriculum and empower children to take responsibility for their own progress.
Impact and Outcomes
Our pupils leave Greenways as skilled, enthusiastic, and confident readers, ready to thrive in secondary education. Current data shows that reading attainment and progress in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 is above national expectations, including at Greater Depth
WATaSpeller
Spelling is an important element of the primary curriculum and is a thread that weaves through all aspects of children’s learning. Improving Literacy in Key Stage 2 Guidance Report states, “Fluent writing supports composition because pupils’ cognitive resources are freed from focusing on handwriting, spelling, and sentence construction and can be redirected towards writing composition. Extensive practice, supported by effective feedback, is required to develop fluent transcription skills.”
What is WATaSpeller?
Each class has words from the National Curriculum that we feel our pupils should be confident in spelling and applying accurately by the end of the academic year. The spellings are progressive and pupils are assessed each half term by the class teacher. All spellings are displayed in classrooms on spelling rockets for pupils to refer to daily to support their learning and build their confidence in spelling these words accurately.
When pupils get 100% of the spellings correct, they are awarded a ‘WATaSpeller’ badge for each level they achieve by spelling all words accurately.
