18. Reading - The Pedagogy: Chris Such

This podcast reinforces themes in the Education Secretary’s speech at the CST Conference (October 2025), which emphasised literacy, inclusion, and evidence-informed teaching as core drivers of curriculum quality. It follows two other videos based on Chris Such’s book Primary Reading Simplified (‘Primary reading simplified’ and ‘Reading - the process’), exploring the pedagogical heart of reading - moving beyond mechanical decoding or extract-based comprehension towards reading as a rich, communal, disciplinary act. 

The discussion challenges the dominance of carousel guided reading and extract-led test preparation, proposing instead a coherent model of reading instruction grounded in three interrelated priorities:

1. Fluency through active, supported decoding practice.
2. Breadth through sustained engagement with whole, high-quality texts.
3. Depth through discussion of authorial craft, meaning, and reader response.

Crucially, this model positions reading as both curricular substance and pedagogical method: pupils learn through books as much as they learn to read them. It invites teachers - particularly in primary settings - to think of reading as the curriculum, and leaders to create conditions for teachers’ professional growth through deep engagement with children’s literature. For secondary colleagues, this perspective matters because the habits, fluency, and attitudes to reading built in primary education form the foundation for disciplinary literacy, critical thinking, and subject engagement throughout a young person’s time in education. Chris also discusses principles of powerful practice that could underpin approaches to reading in secondary schools, and which are crucial for consideration with introduction of a reading test for Year 8 pupils.

Reflection questions:

For primary practitioners - whole-class pedagogy

• How does the argument against carousel/ability-grouped reading align with your current classroom practice?
• What would it take to make whole-class reading the “default” in your school?
• Are pupils regularly experiencing whole texts - novels, poems, information books - or mainly extracts?
• How might you sequence reading across the year to balance fluency, breadth, and depth?
• Which of the three lesson structures (fluency, extended, close reading) feels most developed in your practice? Which needs more attention?
• How can echo reading be used to increase accessibility?
• How do you currently develop teachers’ knowledge of children’s literature
• What could change in staff meeting time or CPD structures to make reading and discussing texts part of professional learning rather than an “extra”?
• How are book choices for classrooms and libraries made?

Download additional questions for your team here

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