English
Reading
Intent
At Wigmore Primary School, we endeavour to provide pupils with an engaging, purposeful and ambitious reading curriculum. We believe that learning to read is at the heart of unlocking the curriculum and strive for children to learn to love books. Through effective teaching of early reading we allow children to first develop the skill of learning to read before progressing to reading to learn as they move throughout the school.
Reading allows children to access wider learning opportunities and not only supports them with their academic success but also to develop key life skills and their understanding of their own and other’s emotional well-being. We believe that by encouraging and inspiring children to read that they will not only go on to become successful adults but it will create a community of children who love to read.
Extensive reading and exposure to a wide range of texts makes a huge contribution to students’ educational achievement and develops a life-long love for reading. We believe that every child should be given the tools in both word reading and comprehension to develop into an enthusiastic and confident reader, providing children with the exposure to different types of texts. Throughout our school, a love of reading is encouraged and children are immersed in a range of quality texts to ensure that all children feel that reading is for them and it is key that our approach to teaching phonics and reading is accessible to all learners, regardless of background.
The EYFS Framework and National Curriculum for reading aims to ensure that all pupils:
- Listen attentively in a range of situations. They listen to stories, accurately anticipating key events and respond to what they hear with relevant comments, questions or actions. They give their attention to what others say and respond appropriately, while engaged in another activity.
- Follow instructions involving several ideas or actions. They answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions about their experiences and in response to stories or events.
- Read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read.
- Develop high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language.
- Develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment and exposure to a range of different texts, covering fiction and non-fiction genres.
- Have the opportunity to read texts aloud becoming fluent readers who practise intonation, pitch and tone.
- Are motivated and inspired to choose books written by different authors.
- Are read to by the class teacher who models how to use the reading voice effectively.
- Make links between reading as a reader and reading as a writer.
- Make links with SMSC and cultural capital by choosing a variety of books that have clear links to history, heritage and culture.
Planning and progression
- Long term planning is produced and reviewed yearly for whole class reading. This identifies the key whole class texts which each year group (from year 2 upwards) will engage in. We also produce a literacy spine which is updated with other texts which are used within English lessons.
- Medium-term plans are produced by class teachers (Year 2 upwards) for whole class reading which will identify the key skills that are focused on within each lesson.
- During phonics lessons, whoever is leading the session will follow the appropriate weekly plan and template from Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised.
- A progression of skills document outlines the key reading skills children will learn throughout the different phases and year groups.
- Texts that pupils engage with will also be identified on English medium-term plans which class teachers produce termly and are consistently reviewed. Class teachers will choose which texts are used and these may sometimes be linked to other curriculum areas where appropriate.
Implementation
Teaching and learning
The teaching of phonics starts in the Foundation Phase (Nursery/Reception) and continues through to Year 1. At Wigmore Primary School, we follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.
Foundations for phonics in Nursery
We provide a balance of child-led and adult-led experiences for all children that meet the curriculum expectations for ‘Communication and language’ and ‘Literacy’. These include:
- sharing high-quality stories and poems
- learning a range of nursery rhymes and action rhymes
- activities that develop focused listening and attention, including oral blending
- attention to high-quality language
We ensure Nursery children are well prepared to begin learning grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) and blending in Reception.
Nursery children will follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Foundations programme which covers the following elements:
- Foundations for Language
- Foundations for a Love of Reading
- Foundations for Phonics
Daily phonics lessons in Reception and Year 1
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:
- Children in Reception are taught to read and spell words using Phase 2 and 3 GPCs, and words with adjacent consonants (Phase 4) with fluency and accuracy.
- Children in Year 1 review Phase 3 and 4 and are taught to read and spell words using Phase 5 GPCs with fluency and accuracy.
Daily Keep-up lessons ensure every child learns to read
Any child who needs additional practice has daily Keep-up support, taught by a fully trained adult. Keep-up lessons match the structure of class teaching, and use the same procedures, resources and mantras, but in smaller steps with more repetition, so that every child secures their learning.
We timetable extra phonics lessons for any child in Year 2 and above who is not fully fluent at reading or has not passed the Phonics Screening Check. These children urgently need to catch up, so the gap between themselves and their peers does not widen. We use the Rapid Catch-up assessments to identify the gaps in their phonic knowledge and teach to these using the Rapid Catch-up resources – at pace.
These short, sharp lessons last 15-20 minutes daily and have been designed to ensure children quickly catch up to age- related expectations in reading.
Teaching reading: Reading practice sessions three times a week
We teach children to read through reading practice sessions three times a week. These:
- are taught by a fully trained adult to small groups of approximately six children
- use books matched to the children’s secure phonic knowledge using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments and book matching grids on pages 11–20 of ‘Application of phonics to reading’
- are monitored by the class teacher, who rotates and works with each group on a regular basis.
Each reading practice session has a clear focus, so that the demands of the session do not overload the children’s working memory. The reading practice sessions have been designed to focus on three key reading skills:
- Decoding
- Prosody: teaching children to read with understanding and expression
- Comprehension: teaching children to understand the text.
In Reception these sessions start in Week 4. Children who are not yet decoding have daily additional blending practice in small groups, so that they quickly learn to blend and can begin to read books.
In Year 2 and 3, we continue to teach reading in this way for any children who still need to practise reading with decodable books.
Home reading
The decodable reading practice book is taken home to ensure success is shared with the family.
Reading for pleasure books also go home for parents to share and read to children.
We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised parents’ resources to engage our families and share information about phonics, the benefits of sharing books, how children learn to blend and other aspects of our provision, both online and through workshops.
Additional reading support for vulnerable children
Children in Reception and Year 1 who are receiving additional phonics Keep-up sessions read their reading practice book to an adult daily.
Ensuring consistency and pace of progress
Every teacher in our school has been trained to teach reading, so we have the same expectations of progress. We all use the same language, routines and resources to teach children to read so that we lower children’s cognitive load.
Weekly content grids map each element of new learning to each day, week and term for the duration of the programme.
Lesson templates, Prompt cards and How to videos ensure teachers all have a consistent approach and structure for each lesson.
The Reading Leader and SLT use the Audit and Prompt cards to regularly monitor and observe teaching; they use the summative data to identify children who need additional support and gaps in learning.
Ensuring reading for pleasure
‘Reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s success.’ (OECD 2002)
‘The will influences the skill and vice versa.’ (OECD 2010)
We value reading for pleasure highly and work hard as a school to grow our Reading for Pleasure pedagogy. We read to children every day. We choose these books carefully as we want children to experience a wide range of books, including books that reflect the children at Wigmore Primary School and our local community as well as books that open windows into other worlds and cultures.
Every classroom has an inviting book corner that encourages a love for reading. We curate these books and talk about them to entice children to read a wide range of books.
In Nursery/Reception, children have access to the reading corner every day in their free flow time and the books are continually refreshed.
Children from Reception onwards have a home reading record. The parent/carer records comments to share with the adults in school and the adults will write in this on a regular basis to ensure communication between home and school.
As the children progress through the school, they are encouraged to write their own comments and keep a list of the books/authors that they have read.
We use the Everybody read! resources to grow our teachers’ knowledge of current books, the most recent research and to grow our own Reading for Pleasure practice.
Daily Whole Class Reading lessons in Year 2 and up
We teach whole class reading for 30 minutes a day and cover a range of texts (including picture books).
We follow a 4-part structure:
- Pre-teach
- Just read
- Close read
- Comprehension activity
One of the sessions will also be used to listen to individual readers.
Within these sessions, we use each of the VIPERS skills as a starting point and ensure that the children are primed to enable them to understand the text, hear a fluent model reading the text and then complete a comprehension activity based on one of the key reading skills.
KS2 Daily Reading
Once children reach KS2, they begin the Accelerated Reader Programme and will use a similar scheme when they reach our High School to ensure continuity and clear progression.
This ensures that they are still reading books which are appropriate to their age and reading ability while still maintaining challenge.
Each time the children complete a book they take a quiz to check their comprehension of the text. The children read their ARP book daily in school and will take some quizzes in school if they finish the text. They are also provided with time to read for pleasure, choosing books from their class book corner or books related to their topics in other curriculum areas (from our library).
KS2 Reading Support
As part of our support for children with SEN or who aren’t making expected progress, there are several interventions carried out throughout the school by trained staff.
This includes SNIP literacy, precision teaching and Rapid Catch-Up. The most appropriate intervention will be chosen depending on the pupil’s needs.
The lowest 20% of readers (identified as not achieving the expected standard) are listened to read daily by an adult. Wider learning We pride ourselves on the range of opportunities that children are given in school, including:
- Trips and visits to the theatre
- Celebration days such as World Book Day and a whole school Reading Café
- Reading buddies and sharing texts between classes
- Productions and nativities (performance reading)
- Drama based lessons
Writing
Intent
Our aim is that Wigmore pupils will develop a love for writing whilst gaining the communication skills necessary to be successful learners and citizens. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately and 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 who can use discussion to communicate and further their learning.
We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge-base in literacy, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the Wigmore Primary. We believe that a secure basis in literacy skills is crucial to a high-quality education and will give our children the tools they need to participate fully as a member of society. We will strive to equip pupils with the skills needed to write effectively across a variety of genres and for a range of different audiences. Pupils will discuss and refine their ideas through speaking and listening activities. Using accurate spelling, grammar, punctuation and handwriting, written pieces will be clear, fluent and engaging. Pupils will edit and improve their work, taking pride and care in producing high quality writing. Through the use of adventurous vocabulary, varied sentence structure, careful planning and imaginative flair, pupils’ writing will aim to engross and enthral the reader. We also endeavour to ensure children experience writing for purpose through different initiatives.
The EYFS Framework and National Curriculum for writing aims to ensure that all pupils:
- 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.
Planning and progression
Our long term plan establishes which high quality texts will be used as a basis for writing and what genres will be covered in each year group. This ensures that children access a range of genres throughout their time at Wigmore Primary School. The medium term plan establishes the writing experiences, including the RAFT (reason, audience, features and tone) and grammar focus for each unit and the length of time intended to be spent on each unit of work. Our short term plan identifies the specific objective for each lesson following our sequence of lesson guidance for writing.
Implementation
Teaching and learning
In the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception) children are given opportunities to:
- speak and listen and represent ideas in their activities.
- use communication, language and literacy in every part of the curriculum.
- become immersed in an environment rich in print and possibilities for communication.
- Use the inside and outside space to role play and develop writing skills.
- When children start in Foundation Stage the organisation is more flexible based on free flow play with modelled activities and support. Children are observed during child initiated play where they apply the skills they have learnt, both inside and outside the classroom.
In KS1 and KS2, as children progress through the school, daily writing input follows the following structure:
- hook to engage children and give them purpose for writing
- predication making
- activities linked to understanding of the text
- identifying features of the genre
- teaching of grammar and punctuation skills in context
- capturing ideas for writing
- the writing process: plan; write; edit; review
Teachers use a range of teaching strategies, including:
- Story telling
- Modelling
- Shared Writing
- Scaffolding
- Explanation to clarify and discuss
- Questioning to probe pupils understanding, cause them to reflect on, and refine their work, and to extend their ideas
- Investigating ideas
- Discussion
- Listening and responding
Handwriting is taught daily using the Nelson Handwriting scheme to ensure children’s handwriting and presentation is in line with year group expectations. Children also write in books with preprinted handwriting lines to aid accurate and consistent handwriting when writing.
Once children complete Little Wandle phonics, they move on to learning weekly spellings following the spelling rules. The statutory spelling lists for each year group are incorporated within these. Daily spelling input provides engaging practise sessions to help children understand word meaning and spelling rules thus enabling them to become confident spellers. Incorrect spellings are picked up in their writing and require children to act upon corrections.
Within units of work, grammar and punctuation year group objectives are integrated to match the genre of writing. This is aimed to help children see purpose in punctuation and grammar and use newly taught skills in context.
Wider learning
We encourage and provide opportunities for writing skills to be implemented in other areas of the curriculum and wider areas of the school such as young writer’s club and holding writing days.