Intent
At Prees C.E. Primary School, our English curriculum is designed to develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion, and prepare our learners for life as successful, valuable and socially responsible citizens. We encourage an appreciation of rich and varied texts and a habit of reading widely and often. We nurture a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly, imaginatively and accurately, and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and to use discussion to communicate and further their learning in all areas of the curriculum.

Our intentions for speaking and listening are for children to:

• speak clearly and audibly, and to take account of their listeners;
• listen with concentration, in order to identify the main points of what they have heard;
• express their views and opinions;
• adapt their speech to a wide range of circumstances and demands.
   

Our intentions for reading are for children to:

• read 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 speaking;
• use discussion to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas, supported with evidence from the text;
• be competent in asking and responding to questions, demonstrating a clear understanding of what they have read.
   

Our intentions for writing are for children to:

• foster an enjoyment of writing and a recognition of its value;
• write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences;
• improve the planning, drafting and editing of their written work;
• use spelling, punctuation and syntax appropriately and with confidence;
• develop a legible, neat handwriting style.
   

Implementation

Speaking and listening
Speaking and listening underpins the development of reading and writing and is vital for children’s development across all aspects of the school curriculum. We provide our children with a wide range of opportunities to hear and use good quality and adventurous vocabulary. Correct, standard English is modelled by teachers and teaching assistants. Children are encouraged to ask questions, discuss in pairs and groups, and to use conventions for discussion, as well as debate, as it is recognised that the skills that are developed through this medium are unique and help to build self-confidence and effective communication skills.

Reading
At Prees CE Primary School and Nursery we aim to foster a love of books and reading from the very first day your child attends our school. We do this through books always being available for the children to read - every classroom has a reading area with a selection of books and we also have two dedicated library areas; we share books at every opportunity. We read, retell, rewrite, adapt and share books during more formal lesson time linked to literacy skills and thematic work.

Teaching Phonics
At Prees CE Primary School and Nursery, we believe that phonics is fundamental in helping children build the necessary foundations to develop into fluent, confident and passionate readers and writers.  We use Song of Sound as our phonic scheme, which provides a progressive and structured programme for the children to master phonics effectively.

During the first few weeks of school your child will begin to bring home reading books. These will begin with simple picture books which may contain no words. These encourage your child to tell their own story by observing what is taking place in the illustrations. This helps the children to develop story style language. The children will also be read to on a regular basis.

The children will progress onto books containing simple short words or sentences  that they are able to sound out using the phonic skills they have learnt in class. This then leads onto more complex books containing longer sentences which eventually lead onto story books.

The children are heard regularly in school by a variety of adults and books are changed on a regular basis, it is however beneficial for a child to reread stories.

In school, we use a phonics approach to reading. Our chosen systemic approach to phonics resource, is Song of Sound. The children will learn phonics (letter sounds) in class and use this to sound out and blend words.

Our reading scheme is levelled into coloured stages and the children progress through these levels at their own pace. Once they have completed coloured stage lime books the children become “free readers” and are able to select their own reading material.

In Key Stage 2 the children are taught reading through a Guided reading approach. The children develop their reading skills through high quality discussion and begin to understand what has been read and create links both within the text and beyond. This approach helps the children develop and embed core reading skills and become more confident readers. The children do not just read the given texts, they unpick them with the support of the adult leading the session.  They also learn the skills to reason and infer which therefore allows them to build a greater understanding of the given text. Picture book studies also form part of our reading approach throughout the school.  This whole school approach to reading gives all children the opportunity to become more confident, fluent and expressive readers.

Reading at home
Reading with your child is the most useful, productive, powerful and enjoyable activity to do at home that will not only help them achieve at school, but also strengthen your relationship. We expect families to read at home as often as possible – daily would be the most beneficial. Reading at home, should be recorded in your child’s Reading Diary.  This could be listening to your child read, an adult reading to a child or sharing a story together.  We want to make sure EVERY child (and grown-up) at Prees CE primary School and Nursery LOVES reading as much as their teachers do!

Reading with your child is a lot more than just hearing them read their school books – here are some ideas to help you and your child develop a love of reading:

• Help them with their phonics sounds as they read.
• Read to them; model how a story should be read with exciting pitch, tone, pause, punctuation and character voice.
• Read a range of different types of text – NOT JUST THEIR SCHOOL BOOK!
• Discuss what they are reading: ask questions about what might happen next and about what has already happened.
• Share your favourite books.
• Visit the Library.
• Make time for stories EVERY night: a routine is always good and story time can be a very special time for children and the parents/carers to share together.

Writing
Writing is taught through the use of quality texts. We teach the children to infer, understand and use high-level vocabulary and a range of punctuation. Each text is purposefully selected to promote a love of reading, engagement and high-quality writing within each child. We ensure that each year group is taught the explicit grammar, punctuation and spelling objectives required for that age group. As well as teaching the National Curriculum objectives, teachers are able to embed the skills throughout the year in cross-curricular writing opportunities.

In EYFS, emergent writing is encouraged through the use of different writing materials, including felt-tipped pens, crayons, chalk, sand, magnetic letters, big brushes, water, paint and computers, as well as writing in all areas of learning, such as postcards, menus, invitations and labels. Alongside this, children take part in a range of activities to encourage and develop gross and fine motor skills necessary to write in a legible script. Daily phonics lessons build their phonic and spelling knowledge to enable them to sound out words and spell high-frequency words correctly.

Teachers model writing skills and the use of phonics and spelling strategies in modelled and shared writing sessions, delivered as part of the daily English lesson. Guided writing sessions are used to target the specific needs of both groups and individuals. Children have opportunities to write at length in extended independent writing sessions at the end of a unit; applying their taught skills to a piece of independent writing.

Each year group is provided with a ‘Progression in Skills’ document which gives detailed information about the genres and statutory requirements that each year group should follow. The documents show progression in genres across the year groups. Teachers will use the resources to plan daily English lessons that are differentiated and tailored to a class’ needs.

Spelling
In EYFS and Key Stage ne, daily phonics is the key to the children’s learning of spelling. This is taught using ‘Song of Sounds’ Children are taught to blend sounds to read and segment to spell. At the same time, they learn words which are not phonically plausible (common exception words).

In Key Stage Two, the children move towards using their phonic knowledge to help them understand spelling rules and patterns. We teach children to use their growing understanding of the morphology and etymology of words to support their spelling. Children are taught to recognise which strategies they can use to improve their spelling and are actively encouraged to apply learnt strategies to their independent writing.

Handwriting
Handwriting is taught in a sequential and progressive approach, with teachers and teaching assistants modelling the handwriting style. We believe that children’s self-esteem and pride in their work can be raised by good quality presentation. Handwriting sessions are taught discretely. Resources such as handwriting slopes and pencil grips are provided when needed. We strive for our children to correctly form their letters, joining with a cursive style, with children having good handwriting habits so that they can write fluently and legibly by the end of Key Stage Two. Children start by learning how to form their letters in the early years. Then, children are introduced to pre-cursive style writing in Year 2, before continuing to develop through cursive script from Year 3 onwards, including learning joining techniques.

Impact
Children leave Prees C.E. 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, being able to successfully use discussion to communicate and further their learning.

English Long-Term Plan