English
At Dordon Primary School, our aim is to help children develop fluency in, and a love for, the English language, through both spoken and written word. English is a core subject within the National Curriculum and is a requirement for educational progress and to be literate. By the age of 11, we aim for children to be able to:
- read, write and speak with confidence, fluency and good understanding
- have an interest in a wide range of reading materials and read spontaneously for enjoyment and pleasure;
- acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language;
- be familiar with the language features of a range of non-narrative and narrative forms;
- be able to model their own writing on these familiar styles according to the context, purpose of, and audience for, their writing;
- draw upon increasing powers of imagination, initiative and critical thinking in all aspects of their literacy development
- at least meet age related expectations in all aspects of English.
- speak clearly and convey ideas confidently using Standard English;
- develop their understanding through exploring ideas and organising them for writing;
- read fluently with understanding
- write at length, with accurate spelling, punctuation, and correct use of grammar for a range of purposes and audiences;
Reading
Dordon Primary School is determined that every child will learn to read and become fluent, confident readers, regardless of their background and needs. All children will be exposed to stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction to develop their vocabulary, language comprehension and promote a genuine love of reading. We want to inspire them to become life-long readers who enjoy books and have a desire to read for pleasure.
Reading is at the heart of our curriculum, underpinning every subject area. We want every child to read widely, and to gain a rich knowledge across the curriculum. By offering a wide range of texts, we will broaden their experiences to allow them to have a better understanding of the world in which they live and support the development of their cultural capital.
Reading is such an important life skill and it is of utmost importance that we enable them to become independent readers who can read easily and understand information, fully engage in all learning and be well prepared for the next stage of their education and life.
By the end of KS1, children will be fluent at decoding and those that are not will receive extra catch up and intervention.
By the end of KS2 children will read with confidence and understanding and read for pleasure and enjoyment and acquire a wide vocabulary They will meet age related expectations for reading, with the aspiration to exceed them.
For further details about how this is implemented please see our Reading Policy
Early Reading Dordon Primary School.
We teach early reading through the systematic, synthetic phonics programme Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised. Right from the start of Reception children have a daily phonics lesson which follows the progression for Little Wandle Letters and Sounds and this continues in Year One to ensure children become fluent readers.
We teach phonics for 30 minutes a day. In Reception, we build from 10-minute lessons, with additional daily oral blending games, to the full-length lesson as quickly as possible. Each Friday, we review the week’s teaching to help children become fluent readers.
Children make a strong start in Reception: teaching begins in Week 2 of the Autumn term. We follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised expectations of progress (please click here for the progression).
Four new phonemes and their corresponding graphemes are taught (GPCs) each week and they are then used in the final lesson of the week to review the week’s learning. Children will also learn tricky words during these sessions.
In the Autumn and Spring term, Reception learn phase 2 and phase 3 GPCs and then will spend the final term learning phase 4.
Year 1 begin the Autumn term with 3 weeks of revision of phases 2, 3 and 4 before learning phase 5, which will be completed by the end of the year. Year 2 children will begin the year by revisiting phase 5 and other previously taught phases to ensure all children are completely confident with applying these GPCs in their reading. Half termly assessments take place through Reception and Year 1 and Year 2 if necessary to help inform future teaching and help identify children who have gaps in their phonic knowledge and need additional practice. Daily assessment of learning also takes place within the classroom so staff can quickly identify any children who are in danger of falling behind and provide the appropriate daily ‘Keep Up’ intervention.
For support with the pronunciation of the phonemes taught, please refer to the videos below.
https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
Reading Practice Sessions
Children in Reception, Year 1 and some in Year 2, read fully decodable books with an adult 3 times per week during our ‘Reading Practice’ sessions. These books are then sent home for children to build their reading fluency and showcase their developing skills and phonetic knowledge to their parents/carers. These 3 reading practice sessions each have a different focus; decoding, prosody and comprehension.
Reading for Pleasure
Reading for Pleasure remains a whole school priority. As often as possible, teachers read aloud to the children. Our texts are chosen carefully so there is a range of high quality, diverse material to engage the children and appeal to a range of children.
Children read independently at different times of the day. Reading is very much encouraged at home and parents are supported to understand how to read to/with their children. Teachers promote reading for pleasure through making recommendations and informal book talk; this includes promoting the reading targets for each key stage. Children can borrow books regularly from class book corners, shelves, and the library to supplement reading books that are taken home.
Writing
At Dordon Primary School, we aim for children to be able to write at length by the time they are 11. Throughout school, there is a carefully planned progression of writing skills and knowledge that begins right in nursery and reception. All children will gradually;
- acquire a wide range of vocabulary
- have an understanding of grammar conventions and use them independently
- be exposed to and embed the writing structures of narrative and non-narrative genres
- confidently model their own writing on familiar styles
- meet age related expectations.
Writing is taught daily as discrete English skills, writing for purpose to embed skills and to also write across other areas of the curriculum.
Children are also taught to take pride in their writing and presentation.
We follow Penpals letter formation skills and promote a build up of handwriting skills and the use of a pen progression in KS2. By the end of KS2, children will have been taught letter joins and produce well presented, neat writing, that wants to be read by others.