Reading at Harper Bell
At Harper Bell, reading sits at the heart of everything we do. We are passionate about nurturing a lifelong love of reading and believe that reading is the key that unlocks the entire curriculum. Through a rich and carefully designed reading curriculum, we inspire children to enjoy reading while developing the skills they need to become confident, thoughtful and effective readers.
We place great importance on harnessing a genuine love and passion for reading, ensuring that children experience books that spark curiosity, imagination and emotion. Our pupils are exposed to a wide range of high‑quality, meaningful texts that reflect both their own experiences and the wider world. Through reading, children deepen their understanding of key global issues, develop empathy and learn to see the world from different perspectives.
Reading at the Centre of the Curriculum
Reading underpins all areas of learning at Harper Bell. Children have frequent opportunities to read across the curriculum, not only in English lessons but also through subjects such as history, geography, science and RE. Carefully chosen texts provide context, build background knowledge and deepen understanding, allowing pupils to make meaningful connections between subjects.
Our curriculum ensures that reading is:
- Relevant to the children and community we serve
- Rich in language and vocabulary
- Diverse in themes, genres and voices
- Purposeful and embedded throughout learning
Developing Skilled and Effective Readers
Alongside developing a love for reading, we explicitly teach children the key reading content domains to ensure they become increasingly skilled and effective readers as they progress through their learning journey at Harper Bell.
Key Reading Content Domains
We focus on the following areas to support reading success:
- Word Meaning and Vocabulary - Developing a broad and rich vocabulary so pupils understand and use ambitious language confidently
- Retrieval - Teaching children how to locate and select key information from a text accurately
- Inference - Supporting pupils to read between the lines, drawing conclusions about characters, events and themes using evidence from the text
- Explanation - Encouraging children to explain their ideas clearly and justify answers using carefully chosen examples
- Prediction - Helping pupils to make thoughtful predictions based on what they have read and their wider knowledge
- Summarising and Sequencing - Enabling children to identify key ideas, events and themes and explain them coherently
By developing these skills progressively, children become more fluent, thoughtful and confident readers who can engage deeply with texts.
A Love for Reading
We believe that children who love reading will choose to read. At Harper Bell, pupils are encouraged to read for pleasure, enjoyment and curiosity, as well as for learning. Through story time, shared reading, independent reading, book talk and access to inviting reading spaces, children are supported to develop positive reading habits and a strong reading identity.
Our Christian Ethos and Reading
Our approach to reading is underpinned by our Christian values. We believe that reading helps children develop wisdom, understanding and compassion. As the Bible reminds us:
"The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple."
Psalm 119:130
Through reading, we aim to illuminate minds, broaden horizons and nurture thoughtful, reflective learners.
Our Commitment
Through a rich reading curriculum, Harper Bell ensures that children:
- Develop a genuine love of reading
- Build strong comprehension skills
- Broaden their understanding of the world
- Grow in confidence, empathy and knowledge