Intent

At Sherborne St John C of E Primary School we believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion. One of our priorities is teaching children to read and develop their all-important comprehension skills. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and who can use discussion to communicate and further their learning.

We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge-base in English, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum. We believe that a secure basis in literacy skills is crucial to a high quality education and will give our children the tools they need to participate fully as a member of society.

Implementation

These aims are embedded across our English lessons and the wider curriculum. Our English curriculum and framework provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. We use a wide variety of quality texts and resources to motivate and inspire our children. Teachers also ensure that cross curricular links with concurrent topic work are woven into the programme of study.

Reading

Whole class reading lessons: We teach lessons which focus on developing pupils’ level of understanding of the text, through discussion, written and oral tasks; and the exploration of new vocabulary. Pupils will be taught to retrieve, infer, predict, summarise, analyse and evaluate a whole class text.  We encourage our pupils to read for pleasure and to read widely. In these lessons, pupils explore a novel/book, developing their reading skills and their ability to understand the author’s intent, connections and links to their own experiences. Discussion and critiquing are key aspects of these lessons. ReadWrite.Inc Phonics is used across KS1 to teach phonics and develop early reading. 

Reading across the curriculum: We maximise opportunities for pupils to read a variety of texts and text types through our projects. Our project lessons discreetly focus on the teaching of reading by increasing the pupils’ vocabulary, knowledge and understanding of the topics being taught in Science, History and Geography.

Independent Reading: Pupils are encouraged to read daily and have times in class when they can read for pleasure independently. We also encourage pupils to read daily at home and monitor this through reading records. Pupils are tested regularly.

Reluctant readers, or those pupils who struggle with reading are heard reading every day to ensure that they make expected progress. Teacher led daily phonics (ReadWrite.Inc Phonics) is used from Foundation to Year 2. One to one or group work tutoring supports pupils not at age related expectations.

Once a child reaches Year 3, they start to become free readers, depending on their assessments. A child will remain on the scheme if they are required to do so and will receive additional support in school with regards to their fluency, decoding and comprehension skills.

Our Reading Buddies scheme is a much loved part of life at school and aims to encourage children to find pleasure in reading with someone older or younger. The children will be able to read a range of fiction and non-fiction texts.

We have also introduced an eBook service to the children from Autumn 2021 where children are able to read a book of their choice on a device either at home or in school. Our aim is that this will encourage more children to read a wider variety of books at home.

 

Writing

Ensuring writing is purposeful: Each writing unit is planned in accordance with the national curriculum objectives and Hampshire model, whilst considering the purpose of writing. Where possible writing units will be linked to the topic/project, so that children can benefit from the links and deepen their understanding. Where possible ICT will be used, to improve children’s communication skills and to give a different platform to present / perform their work. Elements of ‘Talk for Writing’ strategies are used to teach the skills of writing in KS1. LKS2 are trialling a new scheme as of 2021-22: The Write Stuff. This is to support the children’s writing in more depth at sentence level.

Assessment: At the basic level, we consistently provide feedback towards children’s written work in their exercise books. This feedback may be individual or whole class. Teachers track a child’s learning objectives through independent written assessments, which are carried out termly.

Spelling approach: We use The Spelling Shed to teaching spellings from KS1. A weekly lesson is provided for children to learn their new words, understand the meanings in context and practise using ‘tips or tricks’ to spell the words. Children are tested weekly to see how well they have learnt the spellings from the previous week. For those children still needing phonics intervention, this is carefully planned for assessing their gaps.

Grammar and punctuation rules are taught both discretely and as part of English sequences of work to fit to the writing genre. In the long-term plan, teachers carefully match the national curriculum objectives to writing genres, to ensure that new terminology taught, can be applied in context.

Handwriting: As part of the ReadWrite.Inc Phonics programme, correct letter formation is taught from EYFS and practised each day. When children reach Year 2, they are introduced to use cursive handwriting. Handwriting is still practised in other year groups with the expectations that children use joined up handwriting.

We identify children who need support and provide intervention in the most effective and efficient way that we can. We run intervention reading groups and are fortunate to have volunteering parents who come in regularly to hear children read. Most children on the SEND register have reading and comprehension as one of their targets. Teachers plan and teach English lessons which are differentiated to the particular needs of each child.  We help each child maximise their potential by providing help and support where necessary whilst striving to make children independent workers once we have helped to equip them with the confidence, tools and strategies that they need.

We run parent information sessions on phonics, reading and writing for Year R parents, SATs for Year 2 parents and a SATs meeting for Year 6 parents so that they understand age-related expectations. These sessions are always very well attended by parents and carers who often comment about how helpful the sessions have been for them.

Impact

The impact on our children is clear: progress, sustained learning and transferrable skills.  With the implementation of the writing journey being well established and taught thoroughly in all key stages, children are becoming more confident writers and by the time they are in upper Key Stage 2, most genres of writing are familiar to them and the teaching can focus on creativity, writer’s craft, sustained writing and manipulation of grammar and punctuation skills.

Termly assessment shows that most children at SSJ are achieving in English at age-related expectations.  Each year we have children achieving at a greater depth in reading and writing at the end of KS1 and are working hard to emulate that at the end of KS2.

As all aspects of English are an integral part of the curriculum, cross curricular writing standards have also improved and skills taught in the English lesson are transferred into other subjects; this shows consolidation of skills and a deeper understanding of how and when to use specific grammar, punctuation and grammar objectives.

We hope that as children move on from our school, to further their education and learning, that their creativity, passion for English and high aspirations travel with them and continue to grow and develop as they do.