Reading
At Herons Dale, Reading gives pupils access to communication, stories, information and the wider curriculum. We recognise that pupils begin from very different developmental starting points, so reading is understood as a continuum that begins with attention, listening, shared enjoyment and meaningful interaction with sounds, symbols and texts.
As pupils progress, teaching develops sound awareness, phonological awareness, letter recognition, blending, segmenting, decoding, vocabulary, comprehension and fluency. Phonics is taught systematically where it is the appropriate route. Adapted and alternative approaches ensure that pupils who are not yet accessing formal phonics continue to develop the foundations needed for literacy.
Reading is taught directly and woven throughout school life through sensory stories, interactive books, class texts and topic learning. Symbols, AAC, Objects of Reference, Makaton, switches, adapted texts and personalised resources remove barriers while preserving an ambitious entitlement to high-quality literature.
How Reading Develops Across Our Pathways
Discoverers
Our youngest and most complex learners develop early literacy through shared attention, listening, anticipation, sensory exploration and enjoyment of stories. Songs, rhymes, environmental sounds, objects, sound buttons and interactive texts help pupils notice, respond and communicate. Repetition builds familiarity and allows pupils to show recognition and preference.
Explorers
Pupils develop listening, turn-taking, sound discrimination and increasingly purposeful engagement with books, pictures and symbols. They explore rhyme, rhythm, environmental sounds and print awareness. Where appropriate, pupils begin the early stages of the school’s phonics progression while continuing to build communication and comprehension.
Adventurers and Voyagers
Pupils develop phonological awareness and increasingly systematic phonics knowledge. They learn grapheme-phoneme correspondences, blend and segment words, recognise common words and read increasingly independently. Adapted Pathways to Read teaching develops vocabulary, retrieval, sequencing, prediction and comprehension through accessible high-quality texts.
Pioneers
Formal learners continue to develop accurate, fluent word reading alongside deeper comprehension. They explore a broad range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, retrieve and interpret information, make inferences and discuss authors’ choices. Pupils develop stamina, independence and confidence in reading for different purposes.
Navigators
Pupils in the Navigator cohort access reading through a flexible combination of pathway approaches matched to their assessed starting points, interests and readiness. Adapted Pathways to Read, personalised folders, high-interest texts and carefully structured sessions support engagement. Reading takes place within calm, predictable routines and draws on texts that connect with pupils’ interests and experiences. Stories and information texts support literacy while also helping pupils explore emotions, relationships and unfamiliar situations safely.
What Pupils Learn
Across the school, pupils learn to:
- attend, listen and respond to sounds, language and shared texts
- develop enjoyment of stories, rhymes, poems and information books
- recognise pictures, symbols, print and environmental signs
- develop auditory discrimination and phonological awareness
- learn letter-sound relationships and use phonics where appropriate
- blend, segment and decode words with increasing independence
- develop vocabulary and understanding of spoken and written language
- retrieve information, sequence events, predict and make inferences
- express preferences and discuss texts through their preferred communication method
- read with increasing accuracy, fluency, confidence and independence.
Cultural Capital and Enrichment
Reading introduces pupils to people, places, experiences and ideas beyond their immediate lives. A broad range of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, sensory stories and topic texts helps pupils encounter different cultures, families, identities and perspectives. Classroom reading areas and personalised materials are selected to be accessible, engaging and appropriately challenging.
Visits, visitors, performances, themed days and learning outside the classroom provide meaningful contexts for reading. Pupils may use books to prepare for a new experience, follow signs and information in the community or revisit an event through photographs, symbols and shared texts. School development work continues to strengthen the diversity and representation within reading resources.
Preparing for Adulthood and British Values
Reading supports independence by helping pupils understand information, routines, instructions, signs and choices. Functional reading enables pupils to navigate home, school and community environments more safely and confidently, while reading for pleasure can become a lasting source of enjoyment and wellbeing.
Through stories and information texts, pupils encounter different lives, beliefs and perspectives. Shared reading develops listening, turn-taking and respectful discussion. Pupils learn to express their own views, consider the experiences of others and access the information they need to participate in their communities.