Our Reading Spine

At St. Patrick’s Catholic Primary School, we want it to be a place where children are read to, enjoy listening to high-quality books and share their enjoyment of stories through discussion.

Our 'Reading Spine' is one element of the approach we take to foster a love for reading in our children. The spine is a core of books that create a living library inside our children's minds.  It is a store of classics and essential reads that help our children engage at a deeper level and enter the world of the story.  We have produced our very own 'Reading Spine' for every year group; giving children access to these high-quality texts.

Because we know that children bring their existing knowledge to what they are reading, our Reading Spine books are carefully linked to our Enquiry Questions. Our VIPERS text extracts are also selected to complement our Reading Spine Books. By doing so, we are helping our children to connect their knowledge in a meaningful way. Ultimately, while our children are continuing to enjoy a range of books throughout their school journey, they are also learning to become meta-cognitive readers.

We use the reading spine books in every year group over the school year.  From your child moving into Year 1 at St. Patrick’s Catholic Primary School, to leaving in Year 6, they will have been immersed into 43 of the most fantastic books available to children!

How It Works

Each year group has a set of (approximately) 6 texts that make up our reading spine.  The composition of the books/texts chosen for the spine underpins (where possible) the themes within our enquiry topics.

The text extracts used for VIPERS sessions link with the whole class reading spine book and will cover the following genres:

• Fiction
• Non-fiction
• Poetry