Peterborough pupils build confidence with books they choose
Recipes, biographies and mystery stories all have a place in the reading lessons at St Augustine’s Junior School in Peterborough.
Headteacher Sam Brunt encourages children to choose subjects that interest them. Pupils make book covers, record reviews on tablets and join reading cafés. They also visit nearby Woodston Library.
The school’s unvalidated 2026 Key Stage 2 results show 77% reached the expected reading standard, compared with 75% nationally.
Enjoyment sits alongside teaching support. In its March 2023 inspection, Ofsted described tailored phonics teaching, books matched to pupils’ knowledge of sounds, and weekly individual time with teachers for children at risk of falling behind.
One school’s results cannot show that choosing books caused the difference, and the inspection describes earlier practice. The figures are a useful sign of progress rather than proof of a single method.
The children’s experiences add something the scores cannot. Isha told BBC News that her chosen story was the first thick book she had read: a small, concrete step towards feeling at home with books.
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