Welcome to the newly created Bentfield Primary School Reading Spine! Through this, we aim to provide an extensive list of books which staff can apply to their own long-term plans and incorporate into their teaching. These are books are to be used as class reads, exemplary books for writing and whole class reading, as well as books which pupils can explore independently. The intention is that by the time they reach Year 6 and beyond, they have developed a wide, rich vocabulary and broader knowledge of the world and, as a result, are able to access the more complex books expected of them in secondary schools. It should be noted that book and text selection in school not only considers narratives and poems but also recognises that a good balance of topic-appropriate non-fiction should also be read to help further develop children’s background knowledge of the subject they are studying.

Our reading spine comprises of a selection of core books in each class, from Nursery to Year 6, which pupils can access throughout the year. From Year 1 onwards, there are two copies of each book; a school copy which remains in the class library area, and a home copy that can be signed out for pupils to take home. We also encourage families to use our reading spine as a recommendation of which books to purchase independently or to access from local libraries. The core books have been selected based on ideas from a range of different sources, for example, Pie Corbett's Reading Spine, Doug Lemov's Reading Reconsidered, and Ashley Booth's The Teaching Booth materials. They are books which we believe will not only give pupils the opportunity to develop their skills in reading, such as fluency and comprehension, but, more importantly, enhance their engagement and love of reading as they move through our school and beyond.  

The core books of our reading spine also take into consideration those readers who are potentially working at a greater depth of understanding and need to be challenged further. On our class lists, the books highlighted in blue are those which demand more from the reader than other types of books. They are complex, either through their lexical level, or because they contain text, for example, which contains archaic, figurative or symbolic language, or non-linear time sequences. We have also taken into consideration books which address diversity and equality (highlighted in purple), to ensure that our reading spine aligns with the aims of our school curriculum. 

We aim to grow this reading spine in the future and incorporate termly sets of books which support our termly themes of learning. In the meantime, please take a moment to join 'Bertie the Bentfield Bookworm' in exploring some of the books displayed on the shelves below (which are also listed in the accompanying documents).

Bentfield Primary School Reading Spine Core Books

(please click on the images to enlarge)

The following documents contain the core books for each class in a list format. As previously mentioned, books highlighted in blue will provide a greater challenge to pupils, whilst those highlighted in purple address aspects of equality and diversity: