Reading by year group:

Nursery

Reception

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Reading at School

There is more to learning to read than seeing a word on a page and saying it out loud. We need to understand what we read as well. We can think about learning to read as having two branches:

Phonics – the mechanics of reading
Comprehension – reading for understanding

Find out more about these two areas and how they are taught to your child in school here, as well as more information on the reading schemes schools might be using and how they are levelled.

image of a woman helping a boy sound out phonics

What is Phonics?

Discover more about what phonics is, and how your child will be taught to read in school, including ways you can support Phonics teaching at home.

Find out more

image of students in a school classroom, working

Comprehension

Find out how comprehension is taught in school, including ways you can support your child at home, developing those crucial skills of reading for understanding.

Find out more

Learn more about phonics and comprehension by watching our introductory videos on the subject.

Reading Schemes

Your child’s school will probably use a reading scheme such as the Oxford Reading Tree or Big Cat.

These books slowly build in difficulty and aim to match your child’s reading skills. They are designed to allow your child to practise the reading they can do without feeling like it’s too much or too hard.

You can find out more about the reading schemes school use by clicking the links below.