English
Reading and Writing
Intent
At Sparrow Farm Primary School, we believe that English is an essential part of the curriculum: a subject that not only stands alone, but one that should be an integral part of all learning as it should develop children’s love of reading, writing and oracy skills. We have a rigorous and a well organised English curriculum that provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussions.
We start teaching phonics in Early Years Foundation Stage and continue to consolidate in Key Stage 1 following the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school. This is further supported by a comprehensive scheme of reading books provided by Collins Big Cat Letters and Sounds.Key Stage 2 use the Literacy Shed Reading VIPERS alongside carefully selected classic and age appropriate reads to instil the love of reading whilst making meaningful links with curriculum themes.
Reading for Pleasure
Across the school, we recognise that to develop a lifelong love of reading, reading for pleasure should be encouraged, modelled and celebrated. In Foundation and KS1 children make use of attractive book corners to select books for pleasure. In KS2, children are given Reading for Pleasure time, in which they can read books of their choosing or explore texts that have been recommended to them. Time is also set aside each day for children to enjoy listening to their teacher read and to be fully immersed in the story.
The Write Stuff scheme by Jane Considine is used to teach the skills for Writing (composition and grammar).
Our curriculum closely follows the aims of the National Curriculum for English 2014 to enable all children to:
- read easily, fluently and with good understanding
- develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
- acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
- appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
- write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
- are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.
These aims are embedded across our English lessons for Reading and Writing as well as throughout the wider curriculum. We will provide the means for children to develop a secure knowledge-base in Literacy, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum.
Rigorous assessment and review using The Progress in Reading Assessment by Rising Stars and the Write Stuff Independent Writing Ideas help to ensure that we are able to provide targeted support so that all children experience success in literacy; 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.
Handwriting
In Early Years, Key Stage 1 and in Years 3, Year 4 and Year 5, we use the Letters Join Programme to teach children the initial letter formation, to write as a print, and to write in a cursive style.
Spellings
The spelling rules from Appendix 1 of the National Curriculum are taught using the Vocabulary Ninja scheme in which a new rule is a focus each week.