English

Being able to read with fluency, skill and understanding is a crucial skill for education and for life, both in terms of enjoyment and as a vehicle for learning. At St Michael’s, we are committed to ensuring that all of our children are taught to read well through a purposeful, systematic and engaging curriculum, in discreet reading lessons and through learning opportunities across the curriculum. Above all, we want children in our school to become enthusiastic, independent and reflective readers who love to read.

We aim to:

• Instil children with a love of reading that lasts for their lifetime, share with them an enthusiasm for children’s literature and help children to recognise the value of reading as a life skill.

• Ensure our children have sound phonic awareness and use a phonics first approach to reading.

• Encourage children to become enthusiastic and reflective readers by introducing them to good quality books, from a variety of cultures and in a range of different styles and formats.

• Develop our children’s understanding of a variety of text types including non-fiction, fiction, poetry and drama.

• Develop children’s confidence, fluency, and independence when reading for different purposes.

• Develop children’s abilities to reflect on and have an interest in what they have read and the language and grammar choices made by the author.

Teaching Approaches and Strategies:

Our reading curriculum is both rigorous and systematic and supports and challenges pupils to develop in decoding, prosody and comprehension. It is based on opportunities to enjoy reading and reflects the importance of early phonics, the home-school reading partnership and opportunities for shared reading, whole class reading teaching and smaller reading groups.

Pupils are given regular opportunities to experience a wide range of high-quality texts and are taught to respond to and reflect on these, justifying their responses with reference to the text itself.  Children experience excellent models of reading and discussion about reading, using a variety of quality texts written for a range of purposes.

Phonics – In order that all pupils benefit from a systematic, synthetic approach to the teaching of phonics from entry to school, we use Little Wandle Letters and Sounds to structure and deliver our teaching of phonics. Phonic sessions are taught daily in our Foundation and Year One classes. They sit alongside high-quality reading experiences, to ensure that every child becomes a reader. Every child in our Foundation and Year One classes also has 3 group reading sessions each week, based around a text matched to their secure phonic knowledge. These sessions focus on decoding, prosody and comprehension in turn.

Group and one-to-one ‘Keep-up’ phonics sessions are taught additionally for children at risk of falling behind. Catch-up phonics lessons are planned and delivered in Year Two based on pupil need and their acquisition of both phonics knowledge and early reading skills. For a small number of pupils, catch-up phonics sessions continue into Key Stage Two. These use the Little Wandle model and resources to ensure consistency and fidelity to the programme.

Reading at home/independently: To support reading development, children from Reception onwards take home a reading book to enable them to continue practising reading outside of school. In Reception and Year 1, pupils take home the decodable reading practice book from the Little Wandle reading sessions that week. This ensures that success is shared with the family. Reading for pleasure books also go home for parents to share and read to children.

In Year 2, once a child is a fluent reader and has completed the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds programme, they will progress onto ‘Accelerated Reader’, which systematically tracks independent reading as well as enabling children to develop a love of reading by experiencing a wide range of texts. Pupils will select books to read at home and will complete a quiz on the book once completed. These quizzes test comprehension skills, in line with National Curriculum priorities.

Towards the end of the Spring Term of Year 5, pupils who are working confidently above age-related expectations in reading, will come off Accelerated Reader. They will begin to freely select books to read independently from the library, from home or from class collections. In Year 6, almost all pupils will read independently of Accelerated Reader. Only those who are working towards expected standards in reading will remain on Accelerated Reader to track progress.

Reading instruction in Key Stage Two

Reading in Key Stage Two is taught through whole class reading sessions. These sessions take place 3 times a week for 30 minutes each session. Reading is taught through whole class reading for three main reasons:

1. To ensure all children are taught through age-appropriate texts
2. To maximise learning time for all children
3. To teach and practise the focussed skills of close reading.

Sessions form part of longer reading sequences (approximately 2-3 weeks). These are kept focussed and pacey by choosing extracts and short texts to study, rather than whole books. This also provides the benefit of exposing children to a greater breadth of texts and widening their sights when selecting books for independent reading. Texts are selected within a whole school progression to ensure opportunity for rapid skill development, as well as to meet pupil need as it arises. There is often opportunity to enrich curriculum learning through the texts selected.

Each reading session includes prepare, read and react opportunities and objectives for individual lessons are selected using the whole school reading progression. There is an increasing expectation of written recording through KS2 and this is recorded in a skills book. Additional guided groups are planned and delivered if required to ensure all children ‘keep up.’ Separate fluency instruction is given for those with a fluency level below age-related expectations.

Reading instruction in Y2

In order to bridge effectively between the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds programme and whole class reading in Key Stage Two, reading instruction is Year 2 has been carefully designed.

The end of Year 1 Little Wandle phonic assessments are used to inform ongoing phonic need. All children remain on the Little Wandle programme for the first half term to plug class gaps and embed prior learning. Reading groups continue, in line with the expectations followed through Foundation Stage and Key Stage One, until the Autumn half term.

Following this point, Little Wandle ‘catch-up’ phonic groups and one-to-one sessions will run for those pupils who require it. Reading instruction and practice continues for these pupils as per Y1 (3xsessions each week: decoding, prosody, comprehension; reading practice books sent home matched to phonic/reading level)

Reading instruction for all fluent readers in Year 2 will be delivered through guided reading groups. These groups will use a breadth of texts, including both decodable and non-decodable books. Each child will receive two sessions per week focusing on fluency/prosody and comprehension. The comprehension focus is planned from the reading progression, as in Key Stage 2. Some written responses are expected from the Spring term onwards, to ensure breadth of response, as well as end of Key Stage readiness.

Reading for pleasure at St Michael’s

In addition to our reading curriculum provision, at St Michael’s we believe a love of reading should be at the heart of how we teach, learn and grow. As such, we place a huge emphasis on developing a love of reading outside of reading lessons as well. We do this is a number of ways:

• Our English curriculum is built around high-quality texts. Every writing sequence in built around a diverse, enriching text and these are used as a vehicle for teaching the writing curriculum, with a view to developing authorial choices with a reader in mind. These text choices also enable pupils to make comparisons between texts, plot themes and conventions through whole books and enjoy reading and exploring texts together.
• Our evidence-based reading spine has been carefully designed to represent a broad, rich collection of books that we want all of our pupils to experience and enjoy. Our spine includes both archaic and contemporary fiction, poetry and ambitious non-fiction texts. Books have been selected for their richness in vocabulary, their status as timeless classics, their themes, their cultural reflections and their breadth. Space has also been given to enable teachers to select books with or for their class. These books are read to whole classes for enjoyment regularly through the week.
• The school library is well-stocked and children are encouraged to choose a text to read for pleasure, alongside their ‘reading book.’
• Class reading corners are high profile in classes and are filled with varied texts which children are free to borrow.

Assessment

As part of our established planning cycle, teachers routinely assess children’s reading and their progress through the National Curriculum. The school curriculum document shows the National Curriculum alongside ambitious end of year expectations for children working at an expected level in each age group. Teachers’ assessment informs the planning cycle to ensure that pupils receive the teaching they need in order to move forwards with pace and confidence. There are different elements of assessment within reading:

• Reading aloud is used to analyse children’s strengths and weaknesses and to plan future work and targets accordingly
• Whole class and group reading tasks provide assessment opportunities against the main curriculum domains for reading
• Children’s attainment and progress is regularly monitored and reviewed through Accelerated Reader, PIRA Tests, regular phonic progress checks and end of Key Stage tests. Children also undertake a phonic check in Year1.        
• Progress meetings within year groups and with members of SLT are used to discuss progress in reading and any concerns are raised and addressed.

• At St Michael’s we create a community of readers who have the skills to become independent readers, thinkers and learners both inside and outside of the classroom. Children are inspired with a lifelong love of books and reading, because we understand the central importance of literacy to children’s holistic wellbeing and academic success.

  In developing reading for comprehension, our curriculum exposes children to a range of form and genre through high-quality texts that broaden children’s reading experiences, help them to develop opinions and tastes, and encourage them to be reflective about their own reading habits. In this way, we create a culture of reading that inspires, motivates and equips children as they move on to the next stage of their education and beyond. 

At St Michael’s C of E Primary Academy, our writing curriculum is designed to enable children to become creative, accurate and interesting writers who show control and choice over their writing and who are able to adapt it to meet different contexts and for different purposes. At the heart of our curriculum is our belief that writing should always be taught through a high-quality text, be it fiction, non-fiction or poetry, and that these texts should be varied, culturally diverse and matched to the needs of individual classes of children. We teach writing skills in the context of these texts in order to teach children how the choices they make as writers impact on readers in varying ways.

Writing is purposeful and always with a clear outcome to work towards. Children are involved in collaborative discussions in deciding what an effective piece of writing looks like and these discussions shape the teaching sequence. Writing skills are then taught rigorously and with secure subject knowledge.

Vocabulary is high profile across the curriculum and is taught both explicitly and implicitly; pupils are excited to learn new words. As a result, children demonstrate a broad and balanced vocabulary, they speak articulately and are confident to share their ideas and opinions in a range of contexts.

Our writing curriculum

To reflect our focus on teaching skills within context and for a purpose, we have organised our curriculum into two strands: those objectives which help our children to write with clarity and accuracy and those which enable them to control their writing for a particular purpose. This supports our focus on collaborative classroom discussion, rooted in high-quality texts, around what makes an effective piece of writing.

Our curriculum document outlines expectations for children by the end of every year group or phase across the school and presents these alongside National Curriculum objectives. Our curriculum progression maps ensure that skills build in complexity and rigour within and between year groups. These maps also ensure breadth and progression within text choices. Teachers are encouraged to be flexible with the texts they choose to teach through to account for pupil interest, academic need and the continual release of new children’s literature to bookshelves and libraries. Staff use high quality book lists in order to be sure that texts have been recommended for use in the classroom. Changes to the texts chosen are made alongside leaders to ensure they fit within the whole school progression and enrich children’s learning.

Various interventions sit alongside our writing curriculum. They aim to ensure that all pupils are able to learn the skills they need to become writers. Interventions vary across the breadth of the school but all aim to narrow attainment gaps between groups of children, giving all pupils the opportunity to be successful.

Writing sequences

Across the school, writing sequences follow a similar pattern:

• Immersion in a key text. This phase of teaching includes the application of reading skills, such as summary, prediction, making links and justifying responses, as well as a focus on high quality discussion around how writing choices affect readers. Children are involved in collaborative discussions in deciding what an effective piece of writing looks like and these discussions shape the teaching sequence. Rectangle planners are used to record discussions and give a context and purpose to skills teaching which follows. These are displayed on the working wall and are referred to throughout the sequence, as well as being used to structure feedback.

• Skills teaching and practice. Based on pupil need, as well as whole class discussions about what an effective piece of writing looks like in the immersion phase, skills teaching is delivered within the context of the key text. Pupils understand how they can use particular writing skills to make an impact on their reader and they are given ample opportunity to practise. Feedback is given to pupils both verbally and orally and lessons are responsive to progress and need. Teachers use modelled and shared writing to practise skills that need revisiting, to include the use of new skills and to model thought processes around writing.

• Application. Pupils apply their skills to an extended piece of writing. They have been aware of working towards this final piece throughout the sequence and are ready to write by this point, drawing on immersion and skills teaching to support them. Pupils are taught a range of editing and proofreading skills to ensure their writing is the best it can be. They discuss their writing choices with each other and with the teacher. Feedback is given to pupils in line with the collaborative rectangle planners which have shaped the sequence as a whole.

Cross-curricular writing

Cross-curricular writing opportunities give pupils the opportunity to write for a different purpose and to polish the language structures they have been rehearsing in English lessons. They also give pupils a chance to work more independently on their writing, thus providing a helpful tool for staff in assessing pupil confidence levels. Staff ensure that cross-curricular writing opportunities are high quality by planning outcomes in advance. This ensures that writing across the curriculum enhances work already done in English lessons. Rectangle planners are used for all writing to help pupils make links between writing completed in different subjects.

Punctuation and grammar

Punctuation and grammar are predominantly taught within writing sessions and in the context of key texts. In this way, discussion can be had around the point of each grammatical skill and how it enriches writing and impacts the reader in different ways. This fosters a deeper understanding of grammar and gives pupils opportunities to express their writerly choices with precision and accuracy. Our curriculum document is clear about which grammar must be covered in each year group.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is high profile within classrooms and across the school. It is taught both explicitly and implicitly, creating a culture of ambition with language both orally and in writing. At the start of writing sequences, key challenging vocabulary is selected from the text to teach to pupils directly. These become core words and pupils are encouraged to keep practising them and to use them deliberately in their writing. These words are displayed on working walls on a traffic light system which indicates confidence levels with particular words. Vocabulary is also addressed in reading lessons, ensuring that pupils are taught skills to enable them to work out the meaning of unfamiliar language in context.

Spelling

In order that writing is accurate, clear and able to be understood, pupils are expected to demonstrate correct spelling in their writing. All staff use clear, well-developed strategies for spelling that are consistent throughout the school.

There are 3 main strategies for spelling:

1. At the point of writing (have a go)
2. After the point of writing (proofreading)
3. Strategies for learning spellings (No Nonsense Spelling, assessment, spelling journals, Spelling Frame)

Strategies AT THE POINT of writing:

‘If I’m stuck with a word while I’m writing, what can I do?’

Have a go:

Strategies for having a go - a classroom toolkit:

• Segment words into phonemes and select the correct graphemes (refer to sound mats (EY and KS1) and GPC charts  (into KS2)- what are the options I could try?)
• Ask yourself whether it looks right? ‘Have you seen it looking like this in a book?’
• Build words from other words with similar patterns and meanings
• Apply knowledge of spelling rules and exceptions
   

(Child-speak version used with children)

The ‘have a go’ process:

1. Using a ‘have a go’ sheet or a spelling journal, children make a first attempt at spelling the word.
2. They then ask themselves: ‘Does it look right? Have I seen it look like this in a book?’
3. They then have a second go if not convinced that the spelling looks right. Encourage children to use the classroom toolkit of strategies (as above) to make a further attempt at the correct spelling.
4. They then ask again ‘Does it look right? Have I seen it look like this in a book?’

(No more than 2 attempts should be used as we don’t want to slow the writing process down at this point - we’ll address how to ensure spelling accuracy when we consider proofreading)

5. Children then choose the one they think is right and use it in their writing. If they remain unconvinced that they’ve found the correct spelling, they should underline it with a wiggly line to signal that the word needs attention later in the writing process (KS2). 

NB – ‘have a go’ attempts are recorded on a sheet inside English books, collaboratively on display within the classroom or in a spelling journal.

Strategies AFTER THE POINT of writing

‘How can I make the spelling in my writing as accurate as it can be?’

Proofreading

Key principles of proofreading for spelling:

• We proofread for spellings we should be secure with
• We limit the number of words to be looked at more closely
• We are moving from dependence to independence

The proof-reading for spelling process:

1. Identify the word that needs checking
2. Underline the part of the word that is wrong/looks wrong if possible
3. Try out alternative spellings
4. Ask yourself whether it looks right
5. Check from another reliable source (resources on the wall, spelling journal, dictionary)
6. Write the correct spelling
7. Add the correct spelling to a spelling journal

We aim to move children from dependence on us in this proof-reading process to independence. As children become more confident with their spelling as they move through the school, we begin to remove structures supporting this process:

NB: We never mark more than 5 spellings (KS2) or 3 spellings (KS1) as incorrect in a piece of writing. Teachers choose words that link to previous learning where possible to plug gaps.

Strategies for LEARNING SPELLINGS

‘How can I make sure I’m being really successful at learning spellings?’

Children need to learn:

• Common exception words/statutory word lists
• Homophones
• Words linked to patterns taught
• Personal words

Teaching spelling:

Spelling is taught following Little Wandle Letter and Sounds and the No Nonsense spelling programme.

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds

In order that all pupils benefit from a systematic, synthetic approach to the teaching of phonics from entry to school, we use Little Wandle Letters and Sounds to structure and deliver our teaching of phonics. At the end of each phonics lesson, three spellings are taught: two of the words can be segmented and the other is a tricky word. During writing sessions in phonics and in English lessons, spellings are constantly reinforced.

No Nonsense Spelling

Children in Years 2 - 6 follow the teaching outlined in the No Nonsense Spelling programme which provides children with a range of strategies for learning how to spell new words. They can then vary the way they choose to practice their words (p9-11 of No Nonsense Spelling outlines these strategies). It also ensures that spelling is taught progressively throughout the school.

Where children require additional support in plugging their individual gaps, teachers run intervention groups to meet needs. These could include daily accelerated learning groups or Little Wandle 'catch-up' groups.

Assessing spelling:

Teachers assess children’s spelling through:

• Day to day assessment (‘apply’ sessions)
• Spelling tests as teachers see fit
• Marking independent writing
• Reviewing have a go sheets
• Using a more detailed error analysis of writing

Children have the opportunity to regularly practise spellings – patterns they have been taught and independent misspelt words. In KS2 this happens in a spelling journal. In KS1 misspelt words are corrected and practised at the bottom of the piece of writing.

Spelling Frame is used from Year 2 as an online platform for practising spellings both in school and at home. All children have their own logins and teacher use this platform to support in-class teaching and assessment.
 

Handwriting

All teachers follow a clear progression for teaching handwriting from EYFS to Year 6, in order that all children develop their own style of fast, fluent, legible and sustainable handwriting, as well as other styles of writing for specific purposes. We share the aspirations that children’s handwriting should be ‘sufficiently fluent and effortless for them to manage the general demands of the curriculum’ and that ‘problems with forming letters do not get in the way of their writing down what they want to say’.
 

Since handwriting is a taught skill that develops at different rates for different children, all of the teachers in the school put a priority on teaching handwriting and have high expectations for handwriting across the curriculum. Our school uses Penpals for Handwriting to ensure that:

• The importance of handwriting is recognised and given appropriate time.
• The progression of handwriting is consistent across the school.
• Handwriting is acknowledged to be a whole body activity and emphasis is placed on correct posture and pencil grip for handwriting.
• Expectations of left-handed children are equal to those of right-handed children, and appropriate advice and resources are available to ensure that they learn to write with a comfortable, straight wrist.
• Handwriting is linked into grammar, punctuation and spelling in order to practice and contextualise all of the transcriptional and stylistic skills for writing.
• Children learn to self-assess their own writing and develop understanding and responsibility for improving it.
• Children learn to write in different styles for different purposes such as print for labelling a diagram, illustrated capitals letters for creating a poster, swift jottings for writing notes, making a ‘best copy’ for presentation and fast, fluent and legible writing across the curriculum.

Progression of skills:

Handwriting is taught consistently and with a clear progression through the school.

• First, children experience the foundation of handwriting through multi-sensory activities (EYFS).
• Correct letter formation is taught, practised, applied and consolidated (EYFS/Y1).
• Joining is introduced only after correct letter formation is used automatically (Y1/Y2/Y3).
• Joins are introduced systematically and cumulatively (Y2–Y6).
• As children practice joining, they pay attention to the size, proportion and spacing of their letters and words (Y3–Y6).
• Once the joins are secure, a slope is introduced as an option in order to support increased speed and fluency (Y4/5).
• Children are introduced to different ways of joining in order that they can develop their own preferred personal style (Y6).

Handwriting tools:

Throughout their time in school, children use a range of tools for different purposes and styles of handwriting including:

• A wide range of tools and media for mark-making in the EYFS.
• Whiteboard pens throughout the school.
• Art supplies including coloured pens, pencils and chalk for posters, displays and artwork.
• Sharp pencils for most writing.
• A handwriting pen for when they sustain a good level of presentation (Children in Year 3 and 4 will complete handwriting practice in pen but all other writing will be completed in pencil. By the Spring term of Year 5, pupils will be using a handwriting pen for all writing tasks, except for maths and scientific drawing).

Handwriting is introduced and practised using lined paper so that children quickly learn about letter orientation including ascenders and descenders. As children’s fine motor skills improve and their letter formation or joining becomes increasingly accurate, the width between the lines they write on gradually decreases.

Our implementation of this policy will have the following impacts:

• Writing is accurate and purposeful and pupils work towards a clear outcome. Children are involved in collaborative discussions in deciding what an effective piece of writing looks like and these ‘effects’ shape the teaching sequence.
• Children have a broad and balanced vocabulary, they speak articulately and are confident to share their ideas and opinions in a range of forums.
• There is a cycle of teach, practise, assess and refine, which ensures that teachers identify gaps and plan to meet them with pace and accuracy.
• Expectations of all children are high and appropriate support is planned to help all children make at least good progress.
• Staff are confident in selecting texts to best meet the demands of the class and in planning to meet gaps with pace. Texts are also chosen to inspire and engage all children.
• Writing across the curriculum enriches experiences in writing lessons, giving opportunities for independent practice of key skills.

How will we measure the impact?

Writing assessment takes place routinely as part of writing sequences. Teachers give feedback to pupils in writing and/or orally (see feedback and marking policy) and lessons are adapted as a result of assessed need.

At termly assessment points, teachers complete a more formal assessment of pupils’ writing. Teachers use Evidence Gathering Grids to structure this assessment process and to consider pupils’ writing rigorously against expected standards. Assessment is used to inform next steps. There is no expectation that teachers complete an assessment grid for each individual child, however, all teachers are able to talk with confidence about pupils’ writing, with reference to National Curriculum standards. Teachers in Year 2 and Year 6 keep records for assessing writing in line with moderation standards.

There are regular opportunities for teachers to moderate pupils’ writing. This happens within year groups and phases, across the whole school and more widely across the MAT.

Pupils complete PIRA grammar tests each year which track progress and identify gaps, therefore informing planning. Year 2 and year 6 sit the Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar tests to mark end of key stage attainment. Year 1 pupils undertake the phonic check.

Termly progress meetings within year groups and with members of SLT are used to discuss progress in writing and any concerns are raised and addressed.