Reading
Launchpad Reading at Flying High Academy Ladybrook
At Flying High Academy Ladybrook, we want every child to become a confident, fluent reader who develops a lifelong love of books. To support this, we deliver Launchpad Reading in Foundation 2 and Year 1. This is a whole-class approach to reading that combines high-quality texts with structured, engaging lessons.
Through Launchpad Reading, children build essential skills in Phonics, vocabulary and comprehension while developing their confidence and enjoyment of literature. Lessons are inclusive and interactive, combining teacher modelling, group discussion and targeted support to meet the needs of all learners.
Reading lessons focus on the following key areas:
- Auditory and visual discrimination – recognising, comparing and distinguishing between different sounds and patterns.
- Decoding – using phonics knowledge to read unfamiliar words.
- Prosody – reading with expression, using tone, pitch, and appropriate pauses to bring the text to life.
- Comprehension – understanding, interpreting, and responding to what is read.
The structure of the week is carefully designed to ensure these skills are taught and revisited in a systematic way:
Lesson 1: Reciting and orally retelling the story.
Lesson 2: Clarifying and exploring new vocabulary.
Lesson 3: Visualising understanding.
Lesson 4: Retrieval of key details.
Lesson 5: Retrieval to consolidate and embed learning.
This consistent approach not only supports children in becoming accurate and fluent readers but also nurtures a love of stories, language, and learning.
Big Cat Collins Reading Books
At Flying High Academy Ladybrook, children are only expected to read books that are carefully matched to their current decodable level. We use Big Cat Collins for Letters and Sounds, a high-quality reading scheme that has been closely aligned to our Phonics programme by the English Hub. This ensures that the books children take home are closely matched to the Phonics they have been taught in school.
All children are regularly assessed and given books that are matched to their individual decodable ability. To support fluency and confidence, children take home the book they have been reading in school during the previous week; this gives them valuable opportunities to revisit a familiar text, practise their skills, experience success, and build confidence when reading at home.
This structured approach ensures that children read with accuracy, grow in fluency, and, most importantly, develop a love of reading.
If you would like to see what a book looks like, please click the link below: