English and Reading at Stirchley Primary School
Intent
At Stirchley Primary School, English sits at the heart of our curriculum and develops our children’s love of reading, writing and the spoken word. It is our intention that by the end of their primary education, children have the required knowledge and skills that allow them to speak, read and write fluently. We believe that this will give our children the tools they need to succeed in life.
The National Curriculum (2014) forms the basis for all subject teaching ensuring continuity and progression in an age-related curriculum. In addition, teachers make sure the content is relevant and stimulating by delivering through themes and topics. Our English curriculum has been developed to recognise the importance of English in every aspect of daily life and to develop children’s love of reading, writing and oracy. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children love to read, take pride in their writing and can clearly and accurately 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 to be able to use discussion to communicate and further their learning.
Our intent is to enable children to:
- Read easily, fluently and with good understanding.
- Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information.
- 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.
- Develop a love of writing and to be able to express their thoughts and ideas clearly and creatively through the written word.
- Re-read, edit and improve their own writing.
- Confidently use the essential skills of grammar, punctuation and spelling.
- Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language.
- Use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and clearly explain their understanding and ideas.
- Become competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.
Implementation
We ensure that our English teaching and learning provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. We use a wide variety of experiences, quality texts and resources to motivate and inspire our children. English is taught in a creative and stimulating way through ‘Literacy Shed Plus’ units. Literacy Shed plus is an evidence-based teaching of English. The units of work chosen centre on engaging visual and written texts with a wealth of writing opportunities. We aim to write for different purposes- to entertain, express, inform and persuade. We teach pupils to use the grammar, punctuation and spelling taught and to be able to proof-read their own work and make amendments and improvements. All pupils receive a daily English lesson. Teachers also ensure that cross curricular links with concurrent topic work are woven into the programme of study.
- Teachers create a positive reading and writing culture in school, where both are promoted, enjoyed and considered ‘a pleasure’ for all pupils.
- Children are immersed in a whole school reading culture as soon as they enter the school. Reading is championed, valued, respected, and encouraged.
- Year 6 reading buddies read twice a week with KS1 children. This is to encourage our younger children to read aloud which is a great technique to improve fluency and reading skills.
- Promotion of reading through teachers reading out loud regularly to their class (class reads are carefully mapped out across the school to ensure there are diverse and engaging texts).
- We deliver daily phonics lessons in Early Years and Key Stage One using the high quality DfE accredited phonics programme Bug Club Phonics. Bug Club Phonics is a Systematic Synthetic Programme (SSP) and works in conjunction with our phonics reading book scheme.
- Whole class reading sessions delivered each week.
- Termly poetry recitals promote a love of poetry.
- Vocabulary mats to be used where needed and thesauruses and dictionaries which are easily accessible for pupils to use.
- We teach a range of genres across the school (progressing in difficulty) both in English and other curriculum areas; resulting in pupils being exposed to, and knowledgeable about literary styles, authors and genres. They can express preferences and give opinions, supported by evidence, about different texts.
Impact
Children leave Stirchley Primary School as happy, confident learners who have developed a love of reading and writing with the key skills and knowledge necessary for the next stage of their learning. They have high aspirations and are confident in the art of speaking and listening, able to successfully use discussion to communicate and further their learning.
- Pupils enjoy reading and writing across a range of genres.
- Pupils enjoy reading regularly, for information and for enjoyment.
- Pupils discuss books with excitement and interest.
- Pupils enjoy writing and use the features of different genres and styles.
- Pupils can confidently write for different purposes and audiences.
- Pupils have a wide vocabulary that they use within their writing.
- Pupils have a good knowledge of how to adapt their writing based on the context and audience.
- Pupils leave primary school being able to effectively apply spelling rules and patterns they have been taught.
- Parents and carers will have a good understanding of how they can support pupils’ reading development at home.
- Parents and carers will have a good understanding of how they can support spelling, grammar and composition and home.
- The % of pupils working at ARE within each year group will be at least in line with national averages.
- The % of pupils working at Greater Depth within each year group will be at least in line with national averages.
Pupil Progress Meetings
Regular pupil progress meetings are held to identify which children are on track and which children need intervention work to keep them on track/close gaps. Interventions are planned, reviewed and progress discussed.
Each term, data from various assessments is analysed to track progress for groups, classes and individuals across the school. This data is used in termly Pupil Progress Meetings, where rigorous discussions are held with each teacher regarding the outcomes of the assessments and plans for interventions.
Mrs Gregory
English Lead
