English
Intent
At East Rainton we give our pupils the opportunity to:
- Access all areas of English.
- Unite the skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening.
- Experience English through all areas of the curriculum.
- Access to a wide range of high-quality reading materials.
- To enjoy reading and to be able to talk about the authors they enjoy.
- Be taught phonics using a Phased Approach using phonic bugs.
- Become confident in all aspects of English.
Implementation
At East Rainton we –
- Encouraging all staff to model effectively the use of language as a tool for thinking and communicating.
- Teach phonics using phonic bugs which starts in Reception and continues in year 1.
- Provide high quality books as a stimulus for teaching writing supported by The literacy tree planning. This provides a wide range of writing styles and immersing children in a range of different genre.
- Providing children with access to library books to broaden their experience of books.
- Providing a reading folder and home reading record for each child.
- Listening to children read regularly, both in group and 1-1 situations, as appropriate.
- Providing children with extra-curricular opportunities through visits and visitors which feed their imagination and support the development of all literacy skills.
It is our aim to make learning fun, accessible to all, appropriate to individual needs and of most importance real and related to other areas of their learning. We place a great deal of emphasis on basic skills therefore, along with spelling patterns, phonics, sentence and text work, handwriting and general presentation of work are all high on our English agenda and are taught in discrete sessions, as appropriate.
Impact
A detailed monitoring programme is in place giving the English Subject Leader an opportunity to ensure there is a positive impact on the children progress in English. The school’s strength is reading with attainment above Sunderland and National target being achieved. The school has improved the quality of the writing across the school and aims to continue to make improvements. The handwriting of has been a focus and is now of a high standard.
The school aims to ensure all children leave Primary school with the ability to read and writing in order for them to be secondary ready.
The Teaching of Reading
At East Rainton Primary School we aim to make all of our pupils readers. We
aim to ensure a balanced mix of approaches to reading so that our pupils
achieve: the skills required, a positive attitude and confidence as well as an
interest and a life-long love of literature.
We aim to make exciting texts accessible to pupils via stimulating reading areas
and inviting library areas, which cater for all abilities with the inclusion of
appropriate levelled books.
We aim to provide all children with stimulating, appropriate home reading books
to share with parents, as soon as they are ready. For Reception and Key Stage 1
children, these include a reading scheme book, online phonics books linked to
current learning and a child chosen library book. They will also take home word
lists to support their learning (phonics, high frequency words and common
exception words). Children in Key Stage 2 will take home a book from our
Oxford Reading Tree scheme or when appropriate, a ‘free reader’ book from our
library.
Click here to read about Early reading and phonics
Online Programmes
Foundation Stage and Key Stage One children have access to the Teach Your
Monster to Read app and Bug Club Phonics online books and games both in school
and at home. These aim to support in their development of phonics and early
reading skills.
Children in lower Key Stage 2 access the Accelerated Reader programme, in
order to develop their comprehension skills. Children in upper Key Stage 2
access the Reading Plus programme to develop their comprehension skills, as
well as to improve the speed and fluency of their reading.
In all of these programmes, progress is monitored by class teachers and English
Leaders and achievements are rewarded via certificates.
Assessment
Staff will assess the children formatively throughout the year through 1:1
reading and whole class/shared reading and individual progress will be recorded.
In addition, children from year 1 onwards will sit more formal reading
comprehension tests termly, using the NFER tests. Both formative and
summative testing will be used to determine an accurate picture of a child’s
attainment. Any children identified as not being on track will receive targeted
intervention as appropriate.
Reading Schemes
Oxford Reading Tree
Project X
Bug Club Phonics