Intent

• Our main aim is to provide our children with opportunities to develop a love of learning and access to the wider curriculum and develop life skills.
• We teach English in a cross-curricular way, linking with other areas of the curriculum. Our pupils are taught to speak clearly, to convey their ideas fluently and confidently and to ask questions. Vocabulary is developed systematically through all areas of our curriculum.
• To embed a love of story, our pupils are encouraged to read for pleasure and to read widely, as well as be read to, watch video film and engage in drama.
• Phonic awareness helps the development of reading by segmenting and blending sounds. Our children are heard reading both individually and in groups in school, and we expect children to practice reading at home to develop fluency.
• We place importance on understanding the different parts of a sentence, knowing the effect of punctuation and being confident and competent in spelling in order to develop an enjoyment of sentence construction so children can use varying sentence types for effect.
• Guided reading sessions cover a wide range of text types, including both fiction and non-fiction books. Guided reading also develops the children’s comprehension skills. When reading at home, we expect children to further practice these skills by asking and answering key questions about the text.
• We develop writing skills so that our pupils have the stamina and ability to write at the age expected standard. To support children in moving towards independent writing, we provide a wide range of activities including discussion, role play, use of film and imagery and modelled, shared and guided writing. Children of all abilities are challenged appropriately and next steps identified.
• We have daily, dedicated sessions to develop our fine motor skills to support with formation and stamina of cursive handwriting.
• We provide opportunities for writing for purpose and we encourage pupils to see themselves as authors.

Reading

Our approach to teaching Reading not only supports the development of phonics and reading skills but also nurtures a passion for reading for enjoyment and enjoying a variety of texts. Children are exposed to a wide range of quality texts and opportunities to explore language and broaden experiences.

Phonics skills are taught using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised scheme. Phonics is taught in 5 progressive phases across Reception and Year 1. Year 2 children will apply their phonic knowledge by focusing on GPS (Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling). Children in Year 2 who are not secure in reading words that include Phase 5 phonemes, will continue to have a daily phonics session.

Please click on the link below to access the Little Wandle website:

https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/

Children will read 1:1 with an adult at least once a fortnight as well as in groups during guided reading and group reading times. We also encourage children to read at home regularly with an adult to support their learning. Children take home two book banded books which are used to teach skills such as fluency, intonation, comprehension and enjoyment. Children also have access to a phonic e-book which is matched closely to their phonic level and is used to support children’s letter (grapheme) recognition, sound (phoneme) recognition and segmenting and blending practise. This e book matches the phonic book the children will read in school with their phonic teacher. Each class will have access to the library regularly and children are able to select and take home a library book to share with their families alongside their reading books.

Useful links to websites that support reading:

Oxford Owl - https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/
Little Wandle Parent Support - https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/

(useful videos to support the pronunciation of sounds and the teaching of blending can be found on the parent support page)

Writing

Our approach to Writing begins with developing the physical skills needed for Writing including Fine Motor and Gross Motor skills to enable children to adopt the cursive style of writing. These are developed throughout all year groups through specific teaching and the PE curriculum. Children begin to develop their cursive handwriting through specific Herne handwriting patters which are introduced when they enter Year R, they will then learn to form letters in the cursive style.

Visit Teach Handwriting for cursive handwriting practice - https://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/index.html

Writing Contexts

We teach writing in a cross-curricular way, linking with different areas of the curriculum where possible. We provide opportunities for children to write for a purpose and to see themselves as authors, spending equal time on fiction and non-fiction genres. The tables below outline the writing contexts covered in each year group: