Pupils’ abilities are developed within an integrated programme of speaking and listening, reading and writing. This is usually implemented through a daily Literacy lesson for Years 1 to 4, and is linked to previous or current learning in other curriculum areas.
Children are encouraged to speak clearly, fluently and with confidence in groups of varying sizes and ages and to listen and respond to other people. Drama is used whenever possible which helps in bringing the curriculum to life.
Reading is an important daily activity and children are encouraged to read and enjoy the wide range of books we have available. We aim to teach reading through the enjoyment of books, and reading activities are planned for every day. Reading opportunities include guided reading, independent reading, reading with buddies, library time, DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) and class stories. Parent volunteers work in partnership with the school to listen to children read.
Children from Reception to Year 2 are taught synthetic phonics on a daily basis through Floppy Phonics. This is levelled and is linked to their spellings. From Year 2, children are taught spellings through a morphological approach. We use Spelling with Grammarsaurus to advance children's spelling skills beyond phonics by focusing on morphology. By focusing on morphology, the children learn important spelling rules and how to build morphemes. This foundation enables children to spell longer words, recognise patterns, and decode unfamiliar words during reading.
We believe that is it vital to ensure that all children develop the skills to write clearly, accurately and coherently to enable them to communicate with accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling. We believe that this aim is best achieved through a rigorous, consistent approach to the teaching of writing that is rooted in the National Curriculum. We use ‘I am a Clever Writer’ as a basis for teaching writing skills. This approach is based on a progression of knowledge across year groups that results in the acquisition of knowledge and skills so that all children know more, remember more and understand more. We ensure our children write every day, practising newly taught skills discreetly before layering them with previously taught skills.
I am a Clever Writer is a 'clearly structured approach to teaching writing' where each strand of writing is broken down into small steps to allow pupils to experience success with their writing. Teaching sequences are carefully planned to ensure opportunities for consolidation and the development of a skill relating to the Clever Writer Checklist. The Clever Writer Checklist remains visible and accessible within the learning environment and is added to as new skills are introduced.
Teachers create their own WAGOLLs (What a Good One Looks Like) based on the stimulus text to model to the children how to include the identified features in their own writing. These are produced for both fiction and non-fiction sequences of learning.
At the end of each sequence of lessons, which usually lasts around a week, the children take part in an extended writing activity on a text type. This is our 'Star Write' and the different aspects of spelling, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary taught during the week should be evident in the children’s extended writing. These strands are taught to match the curriculum for each year group and become increasingly complex over the course of the year as the children become more highly skilled. This allows teachers to teach specific skills discretely and ensure they are layered to give our children the tools they need to become confident writers.
The writing journey that children take as they move through school ensures they can successfully develop their composition (ideas) and transcription (spelling and handwriting). Rigorous teacher assessments and responsive teaching allow us to identify next steps for the children. Monitoring is regularly carried out by the subject leader and the senior leadership team. This monitoring and evaluation cycle is mainly done by book looks, learning walks, analysis of data and planning. Our children thoroughly enjoy showing their work to classroom visitors and they show confidence and pride in their learning.
