English

Talking is fundamental to learning. Pupils are encouraged to speak clearly, confidently and with expression in order to state their ideas and opinions. Just as important is the need to listen carefully to others and respond in appropriate ways. At St Anne’s, pupils are given opportunities in all areas of the curriculum to develop their speaking and listening skills, in paired, group or whole-class situations. Therefore, role play and drama activities are intrinsic elements of speaking and listening across the school. Extra support is given to children with Speaking and Listening difficulties through our expert Speech and Language provider Talk About Town and for pupils with English as an Additional Language.

Intent- why does our reading curriculum look like this?

St Anne’s, we want children to establish an appreciation and love of reading at all stages of their primary school journey. We believe that the teaching of reading is integral to a child’s understanding and appreciation of the world around them. We aim to develop the vocabulary they need to effectively express themselves. Our reading curriculum strives to foster a lifelong love of reading. We encourage our children to discover new information and develop their comprehension skills by reading widely using both fiction and non-fiction texts which (where possible) are linked to their topics across the curriculum. We are lucky to have a wide range of books in school and class teachers select books to read aloud based on personal choices or suggestions from children.

By the time our children leave St Anne’s, we envisage that they will be competent readers who can recommend books to their peers, seek out books from a range of different genres including poetry and engage in discussion about authorial choices or impact on the reader. Once our children have unlocked the key to reading here with us at St Anne’s, it is our intention that they will be able to apply their reading skills in order to access any subject in their secondary education and beyond.

Implementation – How do we achieve this?

Early reading and Phonics

Learning to read is one of the most important things a child will ever learn. It underpins everything else, so we believe in putting as much energy as we possibly can into making sure that every single child learns to read as quickly as possible. We also want our children to develop a real love of reading and to want to read for themselves. This is why we work hard to make sure children develop a love of books as well as simply learning to read.

We start teaching phonics in Nursery/Reception and follow the Little Wandle programme, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.

As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read. At St Anne’s, we also model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects. Alongside this the children are taught the ‘tricky words’ – high frequency words which do not follow the regular phonetic pattern.

Phonics and reading activities are taught as a whole class. Discreet phonic sessions take place daily for 20 minutes and there are also enhanced phonic activities within the indoor and outdoor environment available for the children to explore independently throughout the day – (in the Nursery and Reception classes.) Phonics provision is also supplemented by a wide range of speaking and listening, English, spelling and grammar activities. 

In EYFS and Year 1, we hold annual Phonics workshops to support parental knowledge and understanding. Once children are confidently reading and have finished the Little Wandle programme, they move onto the Pathways to read programme. This generally happens when children are in Year 2.

What happens when children finish the Little Wandle Phonics Programme?

After completing the Little Wandle Phonics programme, children are specifically taught reading skills through Pathways to Read. Each class has 3 or 4 sessions of Pathways to Read per week.

·         Session 1 focuses on a shared read. Children are placed in mixed ability pairs to develop their fluency skills. Building on their phonics knowledge and developing an understanding of language, using the text to support their ideas, which is modelled by the class teacher.

·         Sessions 2, 3 and 4 focuses on guided reading. This provides children with further opportunities to explore challenging texts, discussing themes, to deepen their understanding at a level appropriate to their reading knowledge.

Reading for pleasure and Home Reading:

EYFS has ‘Story Time’ daily and in KS1/2 the minimum expectation is 3x PW. The aim of this is to further expose children to a range of texts, promote the love of reading and to build the vocabulary that the children are exposed to.

Our school and class libraries allow children to immerse themselves in the wonderful world of books. They are stocked with an attractive range of fiction and non-fiction to support every ability and reading choice and encompass the latest reading trends and classic texts that should be part of every child’s primary school experience- building the children’s cultural capital.

We also celebrate reading together throughout the year by taking part in both school based, local and national reading initiatives including National Poetry Day, World Book Day, author visits, book swaps and reading challenges (which are set on google classroom and class dojo).

Children in Reception and Y1 take home a Little Wandle book that is phonically decodable and matches the phonemes that they are secure with. In Y2, if children did not pass their phonics screening they will also take home a Little Wandle book that is matched to the phonemes they are learning in their phonics intervention, however other children will be ‘benchmarked’ and take home a colour banded book. In Key Stage 2, children may read their own books from home or the class library corner.

Involving Parents

We recognise and value our shared role in developing your child’s skills as a reader from reading aloud and sharing books, to developing their understanding and skill in extracting information.  We involve parents a great deal in the teaching of reading and staff will explain and support you in your important role in relation to this in each Key Stage.  Every child will bring reading materials home daily along with a Reading Record.  This book is used across the school and we ask you to make constructive comments and record when your child practices their reading at home. We really value your support in completing the Reading Record as it has a major impact on children’s progress.

Impact – how will we know our children are achieving?

Through the teaching of systematic phonics, our aim is for children to become fluent readers by the end of Key Stage 1. With decoding taught as the prime approach to reading, children will become familiar with this strategy and have the confidence to work out unfamiliar words in any new texts they encounter even when they have come to the end of the Little Wandle programme. Children will have the opportunity to develop their fluency and comprehension as they move through the school; accessing a range of texts independently.

Attainment in reading is measured using statutory assessments such as the end of EYFS, Key Stage 1 and 2 and following the outcomes in the Year 1 Phonics Screening check. Additionally, we track our own reading attainment through the use of Little Wandle half termly and screening assessments, and using our assessment tool Balance. Teachers record formative and summative assessment against statements. Teachers then use this to address gaps and plan activities to support gaps.

We place great value on the importance of accurate spelling and the correct use of punctuation and grammar. We follow the National Curriculum to ensure that teaching is both structured and rigorous throughout the school. Each year group from Year 1 upwards, has termly blocked spellings which are accompanied by handwriting activities. We have daily handwriting and spelling practice. We ensure a consistent approach to the teaching of phonics throughout the Foundation Stage and Key Stage One following the Little Wandle Phonics scheme with additional intervention sessions in Key Stage Two for those children who require additional support. 

Intent: Why does our Writing curriculum look like this?

At St Anne’s, we endeavour to ensure that the English Curriculum is rich in carefully selected texts; is varied through classic and contemporary fiction, poetry and non-fiction; and inspires children to read and write for both pleasure and a specific purpose.

We intend for our children to leave as confident, capable and independent writers, who not only understand the purpose and importance of writing but also enjoy the writing process.  We intend for children to use their writing skills across the curriculum. We want to prepare children with the essential writing skills they will need for later life by providing an enriched and engaging English curriculum, where they can:

Throughout their time at St Anne’s, children will develop their skills by exploring a whole range of different genres, with a focus on exploring a range of models of excellence and using these to guide the drafting and editing process. It is important to note that we not only develop a real enjoyment of writing in English lessons but in all subjects across the curriculum.

As a result of an excellent English curriculum we want our children to:

·         Write with fluency and present an author’s voice.

·         Write with a clear purpose across all subjects,

·         Think about the impact they want their writing to have on the reader and know how they will achieve this.

·         Use a wide range of ambitious vocabulary and has an excellent knowledge of writing techniques to extend details or description.

·         Confidently communicate their knowledge, ideas and emotions through their writing

·         Structure and organise their writing to suit the genre they are writing in and include a variety of sentence structures.

·         Displays excellent transcription skills that ensure their handwriting is well presented, joined and legible, correctly punctuated and spelled correctly.

·         Edit and improve their writing, so every piece they produce is to the best of their ability and better than the last.

Implementation: How will we achieve this?

At St Anne’s, writing is taught five times per week, with one lesson designated to teaching of spelling patterns. Teachers follow Pathways to Write scheme, where each class studies a different high-quality text lasting from a few weeks to a whole term depending on text type, length and year group Long, medium and short term planning and the use of progression maps ensure that a variety of genres are progressively taught and built upon both throughout the year and throughout the school. Within each unit of work, sequenced lessons ensure that prior learning is checked and built upon and that National Curriculum objectives are taught through a combination of approaches/opportunities e.g.

·         Opportunities to participate in drama & spoken language activities

·         Exploring the features of different text types and modelled examples (E.g. Spotting features in a WAGOLL – What a good one looks like)

·         Handwriting practise

·         Vocabulary practise

·         Shared writing (modelled expectations)

·         Discrete Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar lessons

·         Independent writing

·         Planning, drafting, editing, up-levelling and presenting

Spelling

Children are taught a spelling rule explicitly each week and have an opportunity to explore rules and patterns in words.  We use the Spelling Shed website and app as a resource to support learning at home and at school. Through exploring spelling patterns and rules, we aim to create confident and proficient spellers using a discrete teaching approach underpinned by phonics.

Children are also taught to

·         Spell accurately and identify reasons for mis-spellings.

·         Proof-read their spellings

·         Recognise and use word origins, families and roots to build their skills

·         Use dictionaries and thesauruses. 

Handwriting

It is paramount that children are rigorously taught correct letter formation from the very beginning of their time in school. During the foundation stage, children follow letter formation patterns from Little Wandle. They are taught to sit properly in order to have the correct posture for writing, hold a pencil in the correct position and develop a legible handwriting style alongside developing their gross and fine motor skills.

In KS1 and KS2, we follow Penpals handwriting scheme, which offers a clear progression through five developmental stages. It teaches children a fast and fluent handwriting style to help them achieve their potential in writing. Penpals uses a combination of DVD-ROMS for whole-class teaching and practice books and write-in workbooks for small group and individual work. Sky-writing and lesson warm-ups develop the fine and gross motor skills that are crucial for handwriting. In Years 5 and 6 basic handwriting issues are revised and speed and fluency improved.

Our children are regularly reminded of the core skills needed to learn in writing with the use of the school curriculum character – Ravi the Writer.  This character is regularly used to encourage children to reflect on the key skills needed when working within the writing curriculum.

Impact: How will we know that our children are achieving?

By the end of each key stage, children are expected to know, apply and understand the skills and techniques specified in the English curriculum plans.

Children’s writing is formatively assessed continually across the year using our internal assessment and tracking system. At the end of each unit, children are assess against the ‘mastery keys’ for that half term as set out by Pathways to Write. This ensures individual pupil progress is maintained, mastery keys are revisited various times throughout the year to ensure they are secured by the end of each year.

In addition, we use spag.co.uk to track children’s SPaG knowledge. This is completed independently and is adapted for the lowest 20% and EAL children. Teachers then use the assessment data to address gaps and plan activities to support gaps.