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How do we teach Reading

Reading is at the heart of everything we do at St Alban’s. It is so much more than being able to read what is written on a page. Reading equips children for a place in the world. It feeds their imagination and develops their creativity. It can take them to new places and discover new things. It can forge the identity of their personality and shape the person they become.

It is our intention that every child will be a reader and our ambitious curriculum has been intentionally designed to achieve this. We have a systematic approach to phonics from the moment a child steps foot in our school. As soon as a child is ready, they move onto our comprehension teaching where their understanding of texts is deepened. Underpinning all of this, is nurturing a child’s love of reading; ensuring they have high-quality texts, carefully chosen to engage the children.

“At St Alban’s, children learn to read then read to learn for the rest of their lives”

School's Reading Coordinator

English Lead

Mr Frelich

Hello. My name is Mr Frelich and I am the English lead at St Alban's.

Hello. My name is Mr Frelich and I am the English lead at St Alban's. I have a passion for reading that stems back to my childhood.

I grew up reading the Chronicles of Narnia, The Faraway Tree Series and Roald Dhal books to name but a few. Throughout my teenage years I discovered authors such as James Herbert and Stephen King as well as Vampire authors such as Anne Rice and Laurell K Hamilton.

In my 20s I dove heavily into Star Wars books such as The Rogue Squadron Series and the Thrawn Trilogy. I also read the Lord of the Rings for the first time and the Harry Potter Series - both sets of books have now been read multiple times. . . Now into my forties and my tastes have certainly expanded into many different genres. Over the last few years, some of my favourite reads have been War and Peace, the Dwarves Series, Ready Player One and Mage Knight.

I believe reading to be the most important skill a child can be taught at school. A skill that transcends the subject of reading into every facet of school and beyond. Adults may forget how to solve the radius of a circle, what a past perfect verb is, the name of the historian who observed the deeds of Boudica but they never forget the invaluable skill of reading.