English

English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society. A high-quality education in English teaches pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Pupils are taught to plan, revise and evaluate their writing. Through reading and writing, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development and enables pupils to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society.

Our overarching aim for our English curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. We aim to ensure that all pupils:

- 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
- use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
- are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate

Writing

The programmes of study for writing at key stages 1 and 2 are transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing).

The teaching at Looe Primary Academy develops pupils’ competence in these two dimensions.

Writing down ideas fluently depends on effective transcription: that is, on spelling quickly and accurately through knowing the relationship between sounds and letters (phonics) and understanding the morphology (word structure) and orthography (spelling structure) of words. Writing also depends on fluent, legible and, eventually, speedy handwriting.

Pupils are taught how to plan, revise and evaluate their writing. These aspects of writing are incorporated into the National Curriculum programmes of study for composition. Effective composition involves forming, articulating and communicating ideas, and then organising them coherently for a reader. This requires clarity, awareness of the audience, purpose and context, and an increasingly wide knowledge of vocabulary and grammar.

Our Approach to the Teaching of Writing

We have a rolling programme which identifies what genres of writing are taught when. This document also identifies the high quality texts which we use to exemplify the specific age appropriate features of this genre.

The table on the left identifies how a unit of work would be planned and taught.

At Looe, we use the principles of the storytelling approach and ensure that oracy is at the heart of learning, starting in the Early Years and Key Stage One. The skills and knowledge being taught in each unit are displayed visually for the children on a ‘Learning Journey’ in their books and in the classroom.

The mapped skills and knowledge are taken from the National Curriculum and are assessed regularly against the progression of skills exemplified in the Evidence Gathering Grids (Devon LA Planning and Assessment materials).

Vocabulary, Handwriting and SPAG

Vocabulary serves as the cornerstone of language acquisition, facilitating communication and language proficiency. It therefore remains a priority focus area to ensure we expose children to as much contextual language as possible through the explicit teaching of Tier 2 words (ambitious and interesting words) or Tier 3 words (subject-specific language). Our progress ladders for learning in the wider curriculum identify the subject specific vocabulary we want children to know and use.

Spelling, punctuation, grammar and handwriting are taught discretely and regularly and are also woven through the units of writing. In Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling sessions, we teach the spelling objectives prescribed for each year group. The focus for these sessions is to review, teach, practice and apply taught spelling patterns in a fun and creative way to allow pupils to apply these in their writing. Twinkl spelling and handwriting resources are used consistently to ensure knowledge and skills build progressively over time.

We encourage children to apply their writing across a range of subjects. Writing across the curriculum not only means children have the opportunity to further develop their writing skills but also helps them to grasp, organise and integrate prior knowledge with new concepts.

Reading

We are a reading school. We therefore:

• Promote a love of reading and books at every opportunity. Our displays reflect this and are evident in classrooms and corridors. Our children regularly access the school library and are encouraged to join their local library. Our staff read to children every day – they are advocates for reading.

• Have a rigorous and a consistent approach to phonics. All our staff receive phonics training. We aim to ensure pupils master the phonic code as soon as possible.

• Have a consistent approach for children who fall behind. We assess against the Babcock objectives for Years 1-6 and we ensure children only move up book level when they are ready.

• Have a ‘read it and understand it’ approach in Early Years and KS1. We plan comprehension activities as much as phonics because we understand that children need both skills to be an effective reader.

• Use VIPERS and Reciprocal Reading to promote children’s articulation of the key reading skills apart from phonics.

• Use a rotation timetable between guided sessions with differentiated texts and whole class shared reads with differentiated activities.

• Use a variety of high quality texts and resources.

• Keep detailed records which have comments linked to the skills. We have a consistent approach to reading records/guided reading books. Reading records are used to promote regular reading at home.

• Link our reading explicitly to writing skills this may be through displays, learning journeys and follow up activities which promote writing • Ensure that after phonics, children choose from a carefully sequenced selection of books to read at their ability

Across the school, children are listened to by a teacher or teaching assistant on a 1:2:1 basis or during Guided Reading sessions in a smaller group. During this time, the adult listens to the child reading a book band book linked to their ability. Comments about the child’s word reading and comprehension are evidenced on the individual reading record and/ or on the skills based record sheets. These comments are specifically linked to skills and curriculum areas. (The ‘VIPERS’ terms come directly from curriculum and these words are therefore highlighted to help assess the progress a child is making in each year group).

The structure of colour book bands in KS2

When a child is assessed as being, for example, at the level of brown for Year 3, they will read books from the trolley, labelled ‘brown’. If they finish reading these, they can choose from the ‘Brown plus’ basket in their classroom. The same applies for Grey (Year 4), Dark Blue (Year 5) and Dark Red (Year 6). These books have been chosen because they are on Pie Corbett’s recommended ‘Reading Spine’ for each year group, or are books recognised as ‘high quality reads’ by The Book Trust and Books for Topics. They are a varied range of genres which also build vocabulary that can be applied in writing. The children may take these books home in addition to their library book. In addition to either bringing home a phonics phase book, or a coloured book band book, children will also bring home a library book that they have chosen for pleasure.

What do we mean by ‘Guided Reading’?

The children are grouped by their book band / ability. The teacher / adult uses the children’s individual assessments to help them to progress with both decoding and comprehension. Texts are therefore differentiated and allow the children to access a book / extract at the appropriate level. Whilst the adult/s work with a small, differentiated group, the other groups in the class will be working independently on reading based activities. Throughout the year, teachers will use a range of fiction and non-fiction texts. Teachers use a variety of resources and texts such as the Nelson comprehension work books, guided reading sets and texts that hold a particular interest to the children. Where possible, the chosen texts may link to the current topic. Test based questions are also used at points throughout the year for assessment purposes and to familiarise children with test layouts, language and techniques.

What is ‘Shared Text / Whole Class Reading?’ This is sometimes referred to as ‘Shared Book’ lessons or ‘Shared Text’ and enables children of all abilities to access a high quality text for enjoyment and comprehension activities together. Lesson objectives and success criteria will be used, in the same was as they are for a writing lesson. The questions will be differentiated, but the text will be shared so that all children can answer questions about it at their own level. The skills will often be based on ‘VIPERS’. These lessons may be based on:

• The class novel.

• An extract of interest for the children arising from their curriculum study.

• A visual text such as a film from Literacy Shed or a picture a topic related text

• A book that mirrors the genre being looked at in the writing Learning Journey to deepen knowledge and understanding as well as broadening vocabulary.

• At some points in the term: A section of a test paper that can be worked through together afterwards.

Research shows that it is the combination of Guided Reading sessions, together with Shared Text/ whole class reading lessons that has the highest impact in terms of a child’s progress in reading.