“I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn’t be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage.” – Roald Dahl

“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.” – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Overview

Burton Road School has long regarded Reading as a highly important part to the curriculum and maintained a high profile for it. It is the key that opens doors to the rest of the curriculum and beyond. It has been prioritised, from an early age, to teach a well-structured phonics programme, alongside: a love of books, language development, role-play and the Talk For Writing programme. Reading has always been prioritised as the area for off-track and disadvantaged pupils to make the most gains. Closing the reading gap is what not only leads to gains in other curricular areas but truly changes life chances. As such, the school has a long established record for high attainment in Reading and exceptional progress made. This has included recognition from the DFE with the school being amongst the top performing schools in the country for its’ percentile rank. Consequently, the new Ofsted Framework (2019) has not led to any significant change in the profile and emphasis of this subject however it has led to a more detailed, analytical self-evaluation regarding the questions that we are likely to encounter and breadth of evidence that we will be asked to provide.

“Some books you read, some books you enjoy, but some books just swallow you up – heart and soul!” - Joanne Harris