At Chilthorne Domer Church School, reading is the cornerstone of our entire curriculum and a fundamental element of our pupils' lived experience. The journey begins with an accredited phonics programme, providing children with the essential building blocks of literacy before they progress onto carefully levelled books. As children grow in confidence, we maintain a sharp focus on developing fluency and prosody, ensuring they don’t just decode words, but read with expression and true understanding.

A Culture of Rich Literacy

Reading is woven into the very fabric of daily life here. We ensure every child is exposed to challenging and sophisticated texts through our daily class read-aloud sessions. These moments allow pupils to immerse themselves in high-quality literature while hearing expert modelling from their teachers. To further champion this culture, our dedicated Year 5 and 6 Reading Ambassadors lead by example, inspiring a love of books across all year groups.

Partnership and Support

We believe that success in reading is a shared mission between school and home. We work closely with families by:

• Setting clear expectations for home reading to ensure consistent practice.

• Celebrating progress with a reward system that motivates children to read regularly.

• Prioritising intervention to ensure that any child who finds reading difficult receives the extra support and ample opportunities needed to keep pace with their peers.

Reading Workshops 

In November 2024 we held an open morning for families to come in and share reading workshops with their children. We also provided tea and cake while Mrs Bond spoke to everyone about the importance of reading. We even completed a quiz... with prizes! If you were unable to attend, the presentation is below along with the quiz questions.

Reading Quiz!

Have a go at our reading quiz by following this link... 

https://create.kahoot.it/share/reading-workshop-2024/547b718a-9b67-409c-b504-a205658aa042