It is with great determination that we strive to engender a lifelong love of reading and language through the immersion of stories and texts that interest, inspire and excite our children. We strive for children to read a variety of genres and use these as models for their own writing.
The staff at St George’s are committed to providing a reading culture and supporting children in developing good reading habits that will support them throughout their education, in their personal life and beyond. It is our vision that these exciting materials and opportunities will inspire our children to write.
Encouraging children of all abilities to emulate the writing styles of famous authors and in turn inspiring a generation of children to use word choice and style to engage the reader and eventually lead to them being innovators of their own masterpieces, producing writing that they feel proud to read aloud; knowing that others will enjoy.
English Speaking and Listening
Pupils at St George’s are taught to speak clearly and convey ideas confidently using standard English. We encourage children to justify their ideas with reasons; ask questions to check understanding; develop vocabulary; negotiate; evaluate and build on the ideas of others and select the appropriate register for effective communication. It is evident to anyone who visits St George’s that there is an ethos where children feel safe and valued, thus encouraging them to interact in a respectful and expressive manner. The classroom environments are stimulating and creative and there is a rich diet of vocabulary in and around the school, which enhances the speaking and listening skills taught. Each week at St George’s in our Achievement Assemblies the children speak with clarity and enthusiasm as they share the work they have completed throughout the week. The children regularly take part on leading worships and church services. We encourage children to show respect and respond to the views of other children and adults in an appropriate way and this is done at every point of the school day, not just in focused English lessons.
Reading for Pleasure
Reading for pleasure is at the heart of all that we do here at St George’s and we have pupils that have developed the habit and passion for reading regularly and widely. The vast array of opportunities supports the children in becoming skilled in reading, but most importantly our children love nothing more than getting lost in the pages of a book. Early reading is high on our agenda and we recognise that the early years of a child’s life are crucial. The experiences that we offer the children in the EYFS and Year 1 are fundamental in laying the foundations for future reading success.
Reading interest is sparked in our children from day one and children have picture books to read, leading to phonic based books and on to more complex novels as they reach KS2. Class libraries, mystery readers, daily reading, our Reading Dog, initiatives to encourage regular reading and celebrations of authors are just some of the many experiences we provide for our children.
Reading
Intent
At St Georges Primary School we believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children’s love of reading. We want to foster a lifelong love of reading by exposing our children to various literature across all curriculum areas. We believe that reading opens up a new world for children and gives them the opportunity to explore new ideas, visit new places, meet new characters and develop a better understanding of other cultures.
Through building up children’s vocabulary, we give them the word power they need to become successful speakers and writers as well as confident readers. Reading is a key life skill and we strive to embed a culture of reading into the core of what we do. Children have opportunities to read independently and be read aloud to as well as having opportunities to discuss and recommend books they have read to their peers.
Reading of quality literature is interwoven into our curriculum through the use of key texts to expose our children to various genres and authors and to enhance the variety of topics that we teach. We reflect the diversity of our nation in our English curriculum promoting equality and tolerance each and every day. Our reading material is carefully chosen to show progression through and across the year groups.
We understand the importance of parents and carers in supporting their children to develop both word reading and comprehension skills so we want to encourage a home school partnership which enables parents and carers to understand how to enhance the skills being taught in school, as such, we offer regular parent information sessions and provide opportunities to talk about their children’s progress in reading.
Implementation
Reading is a vital skill that will support children’s learning across the whole curriculum. As a school, we ensure that our children are taught to read with fluency, accuracy and understanding. We want our children to become enthusiastic, independent and reflective readers. Reading is taught regularly right through school from Reception.
Within reception, reading is taught through both literacy focussed activities such as Drawing Club based on books and through specific teaching using the Read Write Inc (RWI) phonics programme. In EYFS and KS1, assessments are made every term to ensure the children are learning at the appropriate stage. Phonics is taught daily. Once graduated from RWI, children in Year 1 and 2 join a comprehension group. Here they practice improving reading fluency but also begin to answer increasingly complex questions about the text. The skills of reading comprehension are taught discretely throughout KS2 during whole class reading lessons each day. In these lessons, a wide range of high-quality extracts are used to support the teaching of reading.
At St George’s we have a library stocked with fiction and non-fiction books. Children are free to access the main library and take home books which are of interest to them. In addition, every classroom has a well-stocked library from which children can take books home.
At St Geroge’s, we identify children who need support and provide intervention in the most effective and efficient way that we can. We run intervention reading groups. Many children on the SEND register have reading and comprehension as one of their targets. We help each child maximise their potential by providing help and support where necessary whilst striving to make children independent readers once we have helped to equip them with the confidence, tools and strategies that they need.
We love to celebrate success of all learners and strive to help all children achieve their goals. Reading is celebrated in classrooms and around school at St George’s. In addition, throughout the school year our English curriculum is enhanced through World Book Day, drama workshops, whole school book weeks, reading rocks subscription, author visits and a range of trips and visits which enrich and complement children’s learning.
Impact
The outcome of phonics teaching at our school will be that children will have a secure knowledge of phonics, enabling them to become confident readers, making expected progress or more, with a life-long love of reading. Children will be able to apply their phonic knowledge to confidently spell many words either correctly or phonetically using the sounds they have learnt. They will know spelling alternatives for different sounds and be able to apply these consistently.
By the end of LKS2 we expect our children to:
· have decoding skills that are secure and hence vocabulary is developing.
· Be independent, fluent and enthusiastic readers who read widely and frequently.
· Be developing their understanding and enjoyment of stories, poetry, plays and non-fiction and learning to read silently.
· Be developing their knowledge and skills in reading non-fiction about a wide range of subjects.
· Be able to justify their views independently about what they have read.
By the end of Year 6 we expect our children to read sufficiently fluently and effortlessly with understanding of age appropriate interest level in readiness for secondary school.
We would also expect our children to:
· Have a love of reading that feeds the imagination
· Read widely across both fiction and non-fiction, developing knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live.
· Have a developed vocabulary beyond that used in everyday speech
Library
Children have opportunities to visit the school Library on a daily basis. Children are encouraged to read for pleasure at home and at school and the books stocked in the library are chosen and organised by the children themselves. Furthermore, St George’s collaborates with the local library and invites them in to speak to both children and parents with children taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge. Our library is manned by our team of Junior Librarians. They open the library daily and recommend books to their peers. Our library is also open to our Village Pre School, who visit to use our facility each week.
Phonics
In EYFS and key stage one, discrete phonics lessons are taught in ability groups following the RWI programme. RWI is a synthetic phonics programme that has proven success in developing early readers, writers and spellers.
Synthetic phonics
When your child is learning to read there are two crucial things to learn:
- the sounds represented by written letters
- how to blend the sounds together to make words.
Synthetic Phonics is a way of teaching reading.
Children are taught to read letters or groups of letters by saying the sound(s) they represent – so, they are taught that the letter l sounds like llllll when we say it. Children can then start to read words by blending (synthesising) the sounds together to make a word.
We use Read Write Inc. Phonics for our children in Reception to Year 2 and for our children in Years 3 who need to catch up.
Writing
Impact
At St George’s School, writing is a crucial part of our curriculum. By the end of year 6, we intend our children to have developed a love of writing and to be able to express their thoughts and ideas clearly and creatively through the written word. We also intend to create writers who can re-read, edit and improve their own writing. We want our pupils to be able to confidently use the essential skills of grammar, punctuation and spelling.
At St George’s School, we set high expectations for all our children to take pride in their work and have a fluent, cursive handwriting alongside an attention to detail in presentation.
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 English 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. We have a rigorous and well organised writing curriculum and framework that provides many purposeful opportunities for writing. We use a range of ways to motivate and inspire writing, such as, picture books, novels, poetry and video clips. Varying our curriculum in this way help us develop confident and enthusiastic writers. Writing tasks are specific and meaningful and often meet a purpose to engage children and to illustrate how their writing skills can be applied in real life contexts. Teachers also ensure that cross curricular links in writing are woven into the programme of study.
Children learn spellings or spelling patterns each week and these are tested in school. Children who need additional support with spelling receive a variety of interventions that are tailored to address their gaps.
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.
Marking is rigorous in English and across the curriculum, we use a set marking ‘code’ which the children know and understand. We encourage our children to be amazing Author Writers by learning how to edit and refine their work every day. Regular English book scrutinies and learning walks are carried out to check all teachers are following our English policy rigorously.
We love to celebrate success of all learners and strive to help all children achieve their goals. Our displays celebrate children’s writing. In addition, throughout the school year our English curriculum is enhanced through World Book Day, drama workshops, author visits, whole book weeks and a range of trips which enrich and complement children’s learning.
Impact
The impact on our children is clear: progress, sustained learning and transferrable skills. With the implementation of Drawing Club in the Reception year, we develop a love of writing from a very young age, this travels with the children as they enter the world of the ‘Curious Quests’ in Year 1 and 2. Immersion in this form of creative writing lays the foundations for the more advance writing which takes place in KS2, following The Write Stuff scheme of work. Teaching focuses on creativity, whilst honing the writers craft, using grammatical constructs and developing a flair for writing.
Every 6 weeks, writing is assessed against our school writing criteria. This ensures careful tracking to make sure children are achieving at age related expectation. Each year we have children achieving greater depth in 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 is woven into our Curious City curriculum which allows children to transfer their skills and consolidate their learning. Ultimately this results in a deeper understanding of how and when to use specific grammar, punctuation and grammar objectives.
We hope that as children move on from St George’s 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.
Communication, Language and Literacy in the EYFS
Speaking and listening runs throughout the whole of the EYFS. There are stories, rhymes and role-play every day where the children have the opportunity to talk, listen and join in. We encourage the children to take their first steps in early reading and writing through role-play, free choice activities and focused teaching sessions. Our Reception/Year 1 class have a library session each week, where the children are invited to choose a library book to take home. They also bring home early reading books, letters, sounds and words to practise and learn. Physical development is particularly important in the EYFS as children develop the use of their gross and fine motor skills through initiatives such as dough disco and play with malleable materials. This eventually leads to children being able to handle writing equipment effectively –an essential step in learning to write.
Statutory Assessments
In addition to these in-school assessments there are statutory assessment that take place. In Year 1, children take part in the Phonics screening in the summer term. Children who did not pass the test in Y1 retake the test at the same time of year in Y2. In Year 2 and Year 6 the children take a formal reading and SPaG assessment as part of SATs.