Reading at Hexham First School

At Hexham First School, we strongly believe that learning to read—and developing a lifelong love of reading—is fundamental to every child’s success as a learner and as a future member of society. We aim to inspire our children to read every day, both at home and in school, helping them to grow not only as skilled readers but as enthusiastic, thoughtful lovers of books.

We know that reading opens the door to all learning. Our goal is to ensure that every child becomes a fluent, confident reader who can access the wider curriculum, develop a rich vocabulary, and experience the joy and escapism that reading can bring.

Our Reading Aims:

• To build on the language experiences and early reading skills children bring with them to school.

• To support children as they grow from inexperienced readers to independent, fluent readers who engage with a wide range of texts for different purposes.

• To maintain high expectations for all pupils, supporting them in achieving the highest possible standards in reading.

• To ensure that reading is both a tool for learning and a source of pleasure, whether independently or shared with peers or adults.

• To encourage children to use reading as a way to pursue personal interests, expand their knowledge, and develop research skills.

• To promote an understanding that reading is essential not only in school but throughout life.

Our Approach to Reading:

• We foster a love of books and reading through a rich reading environment in every classroom and in our brand-new school library—a beautifully designed, inviting space where children can enjoy a wide range of high-quality texts in comfort.

• Teachers read aloud to children every day, sharing a variety of high-quality fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. These sessions develop language, model fluent reading, and spark curiosity and imagination.

• We teach both key aspects of reading:

  • Word recognition and decoding skills – taught systematically in EYFS and KS1 through daily phonics sessions using the Read Write Inc. (RWI) programme.

  • Language comprehension skills – developed through rich discussion, questioning, and guided reading opportunities, allowing children to understand, interpret, and engage deeply with texts.

• Children progress through carefully selected, levelled books, including those used with the Accelerated Reader programme, ensuring that they read texts matched to their ability while being appropriately challenged.

• Reading for pleasure is central to our ethos, with time dedicated daily to independent reading, shared reading, and book talk across all year groups.

Our Reading Environment:

We are proud of our beautiful new school library, which serves as a hub of reading enjoyment. The space is aesthetically pleasing and comfortable, encouraging children to browse, explore, and enjoy books in a calm, inspiring environment. The library is regularly updated with a range of brand nediverse, high-quality literature to reflect our children's interests and broaden their reading horizons.

By nurturing a love of reading and teaching children the skills they need to read confidently, we are setting them up not only for academic success but for a lifetime of learning, enjoyment, and discover

Here is an updated and polished Comprehension Statement for 2025 that clearly explains the use of VIPERS at Hexham First School. It’s written for clarity and accessibility—ideal for your school website, reading policy, or parent information documents.

Comprehension at Hexham First School – 2025

At Hexham First School, we believe that developing strong comprehension skills is just as important as learning to decode. While phonics lays the foundation for reading, it is language comprehension that enables children to understand, interpret, and enjoy texts.

To support the development of comprehension across the school, we use the VIPERS approach, which provides a consistent structure for teaching and practising key reading skills from Year 1 upwards.

What Are VIPERS?

VIPERS is an acronym that helps children (and teachers) remember the six core reading domains set out in the National Curriculum for England. These are the essential skills children need to master in order to become confident, capable readers.

Each letter in VIPERS stands for a different reading skill:

• V – Vocabulary: Understanding new or challenging words in context.

• I – Inference: Reading between the lines to understand what is implied.

• P – Prediction: Using clues to anticipate what might happen next.

• E – Explanation: Justifying opinions and explaining ideas clearly.

• R – Retrieval: Finding and recalling information directly from the text.

• S – Sequence (KS1) / Summarise (KS2):

  • Sequencing focuses on the order of events (used mainly in KS1).

  • Summarising involves identifying key points or themes (used in KS2).

How We Use VIPERS

• Daily Comprehension Sessions: VIPERS is used daily, especially in KS2, as part of our reading comprehension lessons. These sessions are carefully planned to focus on one or more reading skills at a time.

• Text Variety: Pupils explore a range of high-quality fiction, non-fiction, and poetry texts to practise and apply VIPERS strategies in different contexts.

• Questioning and Discussion: Teachers use VIPERS to guide targeted questioning, encouraging pupils to think deeply about texts and justify their responses with evidence.

• Tracking and Targeting: VIPERS also supports teachers in tracking which skills pupils are confident in and where more practice or support is needed. This ensures that comprehension teaching is precisely targeted to pupil needs.

• Inclusive for All Abilities: Because VIPERS is skills-based, it is adaptable for a wide range of learners. All children, regardless of reading level, engage in meaningful comprehension activities and discussion.

Further Information

VIPERS was developed by The Literacy Shed and is widely used in schools across the UK.
You can find out more here:
👉 https://www.literacyshedplus.com/en-us/browse/reading-vipers

By embedding VIPERS across our curriculum, we ensure that our pupils not only learn how to read but also develop the skills to understand and enjoy what they read, empowering them as thoughtful, independent readers.