Teaching children the love of reading is crucial at Villiers and we take great pride in offering ample opportunities to help develop this positive attitude. A variety of texts are on offer in English lessons and pleasure for reading sessions to ensure children are engaged and eager to read a variety of texts with the intention of developing confident and fluent readers for their future.  We incorporate a range of books that tackle diversity, with authors and characters from a range of ethnic backgrounds.

To further increase their love of reading, we offer an array of initiatives across school to connect them to texts and enjoy the experience. Reading for Pleasure days are offered once a term where children are encouraged to attend school in comfortable attire and bring their favourite book from home, they are also given opportunities in the day to complete activities linking to the book and become engrossed in the text. We also celebrate World Book Day and Roald Dahl Day where children can come to school dressed as book characters. Book fair visits us once or twice a year, allowing children to access and purchase a collection of books. We also endeavour to get as many authors into school as possible to read their stories to our children, hoping to spark future aspirations.

Each classroom is equipped with an appealing thematic reading corner that links with a year group’s topic, this space is encouraged for children to use at different times of the day, again inspiring reading for pleasure. Reading competitions are encouraged throughout the year, such as our ‘Book Bingo’ initiative which is differentiated for KS1 and KS2, which inspires children to read fiction, non-fiction and poetry of different themes. 'Starbooks' is an additional incentive to encourage all children from Nursey to Year 6 to read twice a week at home, where they have the opportunity to gain an array of rewards, including extra breaktimes and hot chocolates. 

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All children in school have full access to decodable books, ranging from standards 1-20. Standards 16-20 ensure all higher ability readers can continue to excel and enjoy reading. These books are replenished throughout the year to ensure children are offered new and up-to-date texts.