ENGLISH

 At Mount Street Primary School we believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and talk. We have a rigorous and well organised English curriculum that provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and talk throughout all we do.

Oracy is key across all subjects. In English the use of talk and active listening is taught explicitly. Talk tasks, time to talk, sentence stems, talk partners are key to developing a confident communicator.

At Mount Street school, we believe that learning to read is one of the most important skills a child will ever acquire. It’s the key that unlocks a world of knowledge and imagination. We are committed to giving every child the very best start to their reading journey, building a strong foundation that will last a lifetime. 

Our approach to early reading focuses on two key components: 

• Phonics: We use a systematic, synthetic phonics programme to teach children the sounds and letters of the English language. This approach ensures they quickly develop the skills to decode words, build fluency, and become confident readers. 
• Reading for Pleasure: While phonics gives children the tools to read, we believe that fostering a love of books is equally important. Our classrooms are rich with diverse and exciting texts, and we encourage children to explore different genres and authors. We believe that when reading is a joyful experience, children become lifelong readers. 

We work in close partnership with parents to support reading at home. By working together, we can ensure every child develops into a confident, enthusiastic, and fluent reader, ready for the next stage of their education. 

Reading Intent | What and why do we teach what we teach?

At Mount Street, our reading curriculum follows the objectives of the National Curriculum and the reading framework. The aims of teaching reading, as outlined in the National Curriculum, are to ensure that all pupils:

• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for writing
• write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
• Appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
• Use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain their understanding and ideas and are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debates

Reading Implementation | How and when do we teach what we teach?

• Systematic phonics taught consistently through the school with regular reassessment
• Statutory spellings learnt and practised in all year groups
• Whole Class Reading (WCR) taught from Y1-Y6,  where children are learning reading skills and focusing on a range of text types and styles
• A focus is placed on reading fluency
• Walk throughs for reading fluency are used
• Daily reading done in class and quizzes through AR when a child is effectively able to access
• Focus children identified and read with as priority 
• Daily class reader for pleasure – high-quality texts available both on AR and off. Class reader for pleasure – high-quality text exposure

Reading Impact | How do we assess the impact of what we teach via pupil outcomes?

• By engaging in and listening to high quality texts, children display enthusiasm for their English work and can discuss stimuli and models confidently.
• Through RWI, the skills needed for reading are taught explicitly and are regularly monitored
• The skills for fluency are taught
• Gaps are identified and interventions in place to close gaps rapidly.
• Reading curriculum improvement in staff subject knowledge and use of high-quality texts to guide teaching in collaboration with the LAT and cross curricular
• Early targeting in phonics to close gaps and progress children
• Positive attitudes towards learning and enjoyment in reading, writing and spelling – evident from pupil conferencing , pupil voice and learning walks
• Positive attitudes towards learning and enjoyment in reading, writing and spelling – evident from pupil conferencing and learning walks
• Phonics Screening checks show a general increase in results, with lates data being above national averages– 77% (2023)  - 67% (2024) – 75% (2025) - 89% (2026)

What does this look like for the children at Mount Street?

Phonics

Please follow the link to our Phonics Page

Pupils begin the Read, Write, Inc programme on their first day in Reception (for some children they start during their last term in Nursery).  Once learners have completed the programme they move on to the 'Accelerated Reader Programme' which encourages reading and develops comprehension skills.  Pupils continue on this programme throughout their time at Mount Street .

We use 'Read, Write, Inc' Phonics to teach children to learn to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension.  Throughout the programme, children learn the alphabetic code: the 150+ graphemes (letters) that represent the 44 speech sounds.  They rapidly learn sounds and the letter, or groups of letters, they need to represent them in daily Speed Sound Lessons.  Simple and enjoyable mnemonics help all children to grasp the letter-sound correspondences quickly.  This knowledge is taught and consolidated every day.  High frequency words that are phonically decodable are taught as 'tricky' words (Red Words) and are practised frequently.

Lively phonic books are matched to children's increasing knowledge of phonics and 'tricky' words so that, early on, they experience plenty of success.  Repeated readings of the texts support their increasingly fluent decoding.

A thought-provoking introduction, prompts for thinking out loud and discussions help teachers ensure that children comprehend what they are reading.

Teachers read aloud and discuss picture books with similiar themes to those in the Storybooks, so children build up background knowledge ready for the next Storybook.

More details about our phonics approach are available on our phonics page.

Accelerated Reading scheme

We use Accelerated Reader (AR) to help further develop our children's reading. Pupils take a 'Star Assessment' to determine their reading age, and are then given a 'Book Level' range. Pupils read books from within this range and quiz to determine understanding.  This system ensures they read accurately and for meaning.

We like to acknowledge classes and children who make a special effort to read and quiz and give out regular certificates for children reaching significant milestones. If you have any questions regarding Accelerated Reading, please speak to your child's class teacher.

 Our school includes a large number of children from a range of cultures with first languages other than English. This is a situation to be celebrated and used to widen the horizons of all our pupils.

VIPERS

When teaching reading from year 2 and into KS2, we follow the acronym 'VIPERS' to ensure our reading sessions are clear and focused. In year 2 we teach the skills progressively in their reading sessions and by the time they move into KS2 the children have a deeper understanding of each reading skill.

Fluency

Once the children are proficient in the mechanics of reading, we teach how to read for meaning. Reading for meaning means reading fluently. We use a range of reading styles within one lesson developing our reading skills.

We use our checklist when we read independently and when we read with others.

10 Benefits of Daily Reading

Children who read often and widely get better at it.

Practice makes perfect in almost everything humans do, and reading in no different.

Reading exercises our brain.

Reading is a much more complex task for the human brain rather than watching TV, for example. Reading strengthens brains connections and builds NEW connections.

Reading improves concentration.

Children have to sit still and quietly so that they can focus on the story when they are reading. If the read often, they will develop the skill to do this for longer.

Reading teaches children about the world around them.

Through reading a variety of books children learn about people, places, and events outside of their own experience.

Reading improves vocabulary and language skills.

Children learn new words as they read. Subconsciously, they absorb information on how to structure sentences and how to use words and other language features effectively in their writing and speaking.

Reading develops a child's imagination.

As we read our brains translate the descriptions we read of people, places and things into pictures. While we are engaged in a story we are also imagining how a character is feeling. Children then bring this knowledge into their writing.

Reading helps children to develop empathy.

As children develop they begin to imagine how they would feel in that situation.

Reading is a fun.

A book or an e-reader doesn't take up much space and is light to carry, so you take it anywhere. You'll never be bored if you have a book in your bag.

Reading is a great way to spend time together.

Reading together on the sofa, bedtimes stories and visiting the library are just some ways of spending time together.

Children who read achieve better in school.

Reading promotes achievement in all subjects, not just English. Children who are good readers tend to achieve better across the curriculum.

Extreme Reading Competition

Here at Mount Street, we love reading so much that we even do it in unusual places! Have a look at the pictures and think about the most extreme place that you've ever read a book.

Authors, reading experiences and more!

We have been lucky enough to work with The National Literacy Trust on the Young Readers Programme over the last 4 years. Through this we have enjoyed a range of fabulous activities in our city linked to books and all things reading in addition to meeting and listening to some fantastic authors including most recently: Dr Huw Lewis Jones and attending a live workshop with Michael Rosen.

We are also active as a school on Authorify where we regularly watch live lessons, workshops and book reading from a wide range of Authors sharing their newest books to date, We love sending questions in for them to answer.

Our children gain so much from these workshops and it is invaluable to hear their journeys as authors, including where they get their inspiration from!

A huge well done to all our children who took part in the Summer Reading Challenge 2025. It's always great to read a new book and remember...the library is free to join! They always have special events after school and in the holidays too!

Plymouth Libraries

TOP 50 BOOKS for your CHILD and Recommended Websites

Listed below are the top fifty books recommended per year group. Have a look and see how many of these you can read this year. If you click on the link you can also download a checklist too. Happy reading!