English
Intent
At Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School, our English curriculum is designed to develop children’s love of learning. We want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and can use discussion to communicate and further their learning. We believe that English is a fundamental life skill enabling children to develop their speaking, listening, reading and writing for a wide range of purposes. Our aim at Blessed Sacrament is to be a reading school full of enthusiastic readers, who care about books and understand that they are a gateway to knowledge.
Implementation
We provide children with a literacy-rich environment, high quality texts and inspiring learning opportunities such as author visits and exciting whole school writing days.
These aims are embedded across our English lessons and the wider curriculum. We have created a well organised English curriculum, which provides opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. Each high-quality text is specifically chosen to further immerse the children in the topic they are studying in the wider curriculum.
In EYFS, we provide a variety of activities through continuous provision and small group teaching to inspire the children from an early age. From Years 1 to 6, we study a key text for 6 weeks, which allows the children to enhance their knowledge around a particular subject. Alongside this, we use additional high-quality texts to ensure all children have access to fiction, non-fiction and poetry. For children who are working below the age-related expectation, targeted support is provided through RWI Get Writing and Fresh Start sessions to provide them with opportunities to develop key skills in reading and writing – narrowing the gap between them and their peers.
Impact
The impact on our children is clear: progress, sustained learning and transferable skills. Reading and writing is well established and taught thoroughly in both key stages, where children become more confident readers and writers. Most genres have been taught to the children by the time they are in upper Key Stage 2 meaning the children are confident in the style of writing. Therefore, teaching can focus on creativity, writer’s craft, sustained writing and manipulation of grammar and punctuation skills.
Phonics and Spellings
Daily phonics lessons using Read, Write Inc, take place in EYFS, Year 1, Year 2 and KS2 as required. This is a lively and vigorous teaching of synthetic phonics. Children learn the 44 sounds in the English language and how to sound-blend words for reading (decoding) at the same time as developing handwriting skills and spellings (encoding). From Year 2 - Year 6, children also have a daily spelling lesson, which follows our spelling overview using inspired practices from RWI. In Key Stage 1, children are assessed at the end of Year 1 using a Government Statutory Assessment Tool known as the Phonics Screening Check. This screening check confirms whether the child has learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard and will identify sounds needing further consolidation in Year 2.
Purpose for Writing
There are many purposes for writing. At Blessed Sacrament, we write to inform, to entertain, to persuade and to discuss: this allows us to express feelings, explore ideas, evaluate, problem solve and argue for or against an idea.
Teaching Sequence
EYFS – Daily phonics session and English opportunities during continuous provision. In KS1 and KS2 children are taught English daily, these sessions are mostly taught in the mornings. Within these lessons we use a wide range of techniques including text marking, drama, Learning to Learn, Talk Less, group work, editing and publishing. There are four key elements to our English lessons; Speaking and Listening, GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling), Transcription and Reading. These elements form the backbone of each genre studied.
Where possible, we make links to the current wider curriculum topics and encourage children to write for a real purpose.
Grammar and Punctuation
Specific grammar and punctuation lessons are taught in all classes from year 1- 6. In every room in our school we display this useful grammar information for all children, staff and visitors to read. Our Pathways to Grammar Success is therefore reinforced throughout the school and children are expected to follow this in relation to their year group, for age related expectations.
Writing Expectations
If your child is working at their Age Related Expectation by the end of their current year group, then they will be confidently evidencing these standards across the curriculum.
Writing Standards
Skills and genre overview
Reading
We strive at Blessed Sacrament to embed a life-long love of reading into our children. Each classroom has a dedicated reading area and we celebrate reading throughout the year. Each Year Group has access to a range of books that can be used in conjunction with the wider curriculum.
In EYFS and KS1, to provide further opportunities to practise and embed phonic knowledge and reading fluency, we provide the children with a fully decodable Read Write Inc. book at their current phonic level. In Nursery, the children take home an Oxford Reading Tree Story Sparks book and a book to read for pleasure with their parents - ensuring they have access to a range of authors and genres.
In KS2, we use the Oxford Reading Tree scheme to support home reading. These books provide the children with not only an opportunity to improve, challenge and practise their reading skills at the correct level, but also enables the children to access a range of genres including literary classics. A selection of Big Cat, Bug Club and Rigby Navigator books are also available to access to further support the Oxford reading levels.
In Y5 and Y6, the children also have access to a KS2 reading programme called ‘Reading Plus’. Reading Plus is an online reading programme with engaging texts for pupils to explore and enjoy. It teaches silent reading fluency, comprehension and vocabulary at each pupil's individual reading level.Your child will be able to access their online file and read interactive books. Every child has been assigned a username and password, which have been sent home in order to access their home session. Alongside this, in class, your child will access Reading Plus in a dedicated session weekly.
At Blessed Sacrament, we deliver whole class reading sessions , initially from Y3 to Y6; until KS1 transitions to whole class reading from guided reading. In these lessons we focus on fluency and comprehension to further equip your child with the skills necessary to become fluent, confident readers.
Reading Standards
Reading Fluency
Reading fluency is the ability to read with pace and accuracy. To allow children to understand what they are reading they must be able to read fluently, both aloud and silent. Fluency is a crucial cornerstone of reading, and educators have acknowledged the importance of supporting and developing a child’s ability to read fluently. Whilst reading aloud children will read in phases and use correct intonation if they are fluent. Children will sound awkward when reading aloud if they struggle with reading. Developing fluency is crucial to allow students to cope with the increase in the length and complexity of texts as they progress through the national curriculum.
Reading Vipers
At Blessed Sacrament, in order to create strong, confident readers, we support children in developing their reading comprehension skills through the use of Reading Vipers. All children will work on VIPERS during class reading sessions, whether it is whole class reading, guided reading in Y1 or reading one-to-one with an adult.
Reading Programmes of Study
Reading Spine
We understand the importance of ensuring all our pupils are exposed to a range of quality texts, which the children can immerse themselves in to support their knowledge and understanding of the wider curriculum and further foster a love of reading.
The aim of the reading spine is to share with you the extensive list of books, which staff use as whole class reads and quality texts for writing. The intended outcome for the selection of texts is to provide the children with exposure to a wide, rich vocabulary and broader knowledge of the world around them and, as a result, enables them to access more complex texts expected of them - in turn, creating lifelong readers.
Suggested Reading
Handwriting
Children in EFYS and year 1 learn to form letters using the RWI handwriting scheme. Once children enter Year 2 the children learn a cursive print using our very own handwriting script.
Please view our handwriting script and encourage your child to use this at home as often as possible.