Subject Policy
English Reading Policy
How do we teach Reading?
Intent:
At Longton Primary School our aim is for every child to become a fluent reader. We want children to become fluent readers in order for them to reach age related expectations or make accelerated progress from their starting point. As well as this we want children to develop a love for reading and read for pleasure on a regular basis.
Our curriculum is designed around the needs of the pupils in our school and there are a variety of approaches to enable the pupils to make good progress.
The aims of teaching reading in our school are to develop pupils who:
Show high levels of achievement and exhibit very positive attitudes towards reading.
Rapidly acquire a secure knowledge of letters and sounds and make sustained progress in learning to read fluently.
Read easily and fluently with good understanding across both fiction and non-fiction.
Acquire a wider vocabulary.
Participate in the teaching of phonics knowledge, skills and understanding in a systematic and enjoyable way.
Develop their reading in all subjects to support their acquisition of knowledge.
Develop a love of reading and the ability to talk and write about what has been read confidently.
Read for pleasure both at home and school on a regular basis.
Through their reading develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially, and spiritually.
Develop good comprehension drawing from their linguistic knowledge.
Have access to books that they can read and enjoy.
Receive teaching of reading, using synthetic phonics, is given priority throughout EYFS and Key Stage 1 using Animaphonics.
Special Educational Needs Disability (SEND) / Pupil Premium / Higher Attainers
All children will have Quality First Teaching. Any child with identified SEND or in receipt of pupil premium funding may have work additional to and different from their peers in order to access the curriculum dependent upon their needs. As well as this, our school offers a demanding and varied curriculum, providing children with a range of opportunities in order for them to reach their full potential and consistently achieve highly from their starting points.
Early Years Foundation Stage
Literacy It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words.
How we support the needs of Longton children through teaching reading
Experiential learning- Children will be read to by adults daily. They will be exposed to a wide range of written texts daily such as picture books, fiction, poetry and curriculum linked non-fiction.
Social skills- Children will learn how to talk about what they have read, to make links between texts and to express opinions, likes and dislikes.
Self-esteem- The children identified as making the slowest progress will be supported with extra reading practice through tutor time and reading to adults in school. They will be assessed more regularly. All of the children at Longton are taught that all opinions are valid and that every voice matters.
Resilience- All of our children will be taught effective reading strategies, what to do when they are stuck, ensure daily practice in order to build reading stamina. Children will have access to books well matched to their phonics phase in EYFS and KS1 and to their reading ability in KS2 in order to experience success.
Cultural understanding- Adults in school will instil a love of literature using stories, poems and non- fiction books from other cultures. Every classroom has a range of books focusing on diversity and inclusion in their reading areas.
General knowledge- In school we will use books, digital texts and carefully chosen guided reading texts to expose our children to a wealth of information relating to our curriculum and the wider world.
Oracy- Storytelling, story mapping and discussion will be used to teach children to listen to and build on the ideas of others.
Implementation:
Reading is at the heart of our curriculum. In EYFS and KS1 time is given over to the teaching of systematic phonics using Animaphonics, a validated scheme, which ensures whole-class direct teaching, guided sessions, and a wide variety of spoken written and play activities. We are well resourced with a wide range of fully decodable class sets reading books to use in class. Children in these classes take home a reading book matched to their phonic phase and a second book to read for pleasure.
As the children progress through KS1 teacher assessment and termly check-up assessments inform carefully planned sessions of whole class direct teaching, guided reading groups, and tutor time sessions using Animaphonic intervention sessions to close the gaps.
In KS2, teachers assess the specific reading needs of the children when planning lessons. Animaphonics is used with some children to close identified gaps in phonics awareness. All children take part in guided reading sessions and have a reading response book in which to record activities. Teachers prepare questions from the National Curriculum reading domains and use VIPERS to ensure that all key comprehension skills are taught.
V ocabulary
I nference
P redict
E xplain
R etrieve
S ummarise or sequence
VIPERS tips withing reading response books and images are used to prompt questioning from teachers, assistant teachers, parents and other adults who read with our children. In Years 5 and 6 children become skilled in extending their inference skills using PEE (make a point, provide evidence from the text, and explain further).
Teacher assessment data and question level analysis from termly check up tests are used to target areas of weakness in reading skills e.g. inference or sequence. These skills are then taught via planned tasks, teacher modelled written answers and direct questioning.
Impact:
Reading in our school is progressive and planned to meet the needs of all children. Assessments are carried out regularly to ensure children are accessing books of the right level and are being challenged in their reading. At the same time, we provide books to ensure that children read for pleasure and learn to love reading. Books are taken home to encourage reading for pleasure and each classroom has a well stocked reading area.
If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making expected or more than expected progress. In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
Phonics assessments at the end of each phase using Animaphonics
Phonics screening results
Book band colour – children are expected to move 3 book bands in an academic year
Summative assessments each term using Rising Stars Pira tests and past SATs papers in Year 6.
End of Key stage Animaphonics has had a huge impact on our phonics screening results. Our success rates each year is high. The teaching of phonics in our school is systematic and all staff are regularly updated with any changes.
English -Writing Policy
How do we teach Writing?
Intent
Longton Primary School believes that English skills are vital to the development of children, so they are prepared for their future life. A broad and balanced English programme using objectives from the National Curriculum 2014, determines the skills that each year group and Key Stage must cover. A range of genres studied and promoted. A variety of resources are used to promote a reading and writing culture. Children are given a range of writing opportunities including the use of paired, group and independent writing tasks. A culture of learning from each other is promoted through use of co-operative learning structures. This is developed across both key stages, so that the children learn to respond appropriately and supportively to each other regardless of gender, age, cultural or ethnic background.
The aims of teaching writing in our school are to develop pupils who:
show high levels of achievement and exhibit very positive attitudes towards writing.
use and understand language as speakers, readers and writers.
are competent, confident and independent in the use of language in their writing.
have an awareness of different audiences and purposes for writing.
apply their grammatical knowledge in their writing.
apply their phonetical and spelling knowledge in their writing.
apply the English language in all areas of the curriculum.
Special Educational Needs Disability (SEND) / Pupil Premium / Higher Attainers
All children will have Quality First Teaching. Any children with identified SEND or in receipt of pupil premium funding may have work additional to and different from their peers in order to access the curriculum dependent upon their needs. As well as this, our school offers a demanding and varied curriculum, providing children with a range of opportunities in order for them to reach their full potential and consistently achieve highly from their starting points.
Early Years Foundation Stage
Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).
Implementation
Our school provides daily English lessons that are progressive and support skill development. The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum is followed to ensure continuity and progression from entering Reception Class & then through to the National Curriculum in KS1 & KS2.
At Longton we teach specific Grammar sessions during our English lessons which are then applied in children’s writing. As part of our enriched curriculum, English opportunities are planned through a variety of ways including through our author and via other subjects.
In English lessons across both Key Stages, teachers plan a sequence of lessons that explore quality texts and give pupils the opportunity to practice writing and reading skills through the use of co-operative learning structures. Teachers model these skills on regular basis and planning, editing, publishing and IT based tasks can be planned in as part of the teaching sequence. Children use a writing book to present the final draft of a piece of work and are used throughout their school life.
Handwriting sessions are taught regularly to the children and follow a cursive programme. The children have separate handwriting books and are expected to apply this cursive script into their daily writing.
Impact
Assessment for learning strategies are used on a daily basis. These will allow a picture to be built up of the pupils’ progress, any areas of strength or weakness which can then be addressed in teachers’ planning.
Assessment of writing is completed termly. Children complete independent writing pieces within a unit of work, which are assessed against our bespoke writing criteria. Analysis of the data impacts upon teachers planning so pupils’ needs can be addressed. Moderation of teacher assessment is also completed termly in order to ensure that judgements are accurate. Children are formally checked using Longton’s data document to ensure that they are making at least expected progress if not more than expected progress, this document is then monitored by subject leaders and SLT. Children who are not on track are identified for intervention/target teaching known as Tutor time.
As a school we use ‘No more marking’ this is a National Moderation Process. A child will have once piece of writing moderated in this way each year and attainment and progress are tracked year on year using an in- school tracking system.
At the end of KS1 and KS2 teachers use the Teacher Assessment Framework to report Teacher assessment.
Leadership and Management
The subject leader's role is to empower colleagues to teach Writing to a high standard and support staff in the following ways:
By keeping up to date on current issues; disseminating relevant information and providing training for staff members (either directly or through other professionals).
Leading by example by modelling lessons or styles of teaching.
Having a knowledge of the quality of writing provision across the school and using this to provide a coaching and mentoring role.
Identifying and acting on development needs of staff members.
Monitoring expectations, provision and attainment across the school and providing feedback to develop practice further in order to raise standards.
Monitoring and Evaluation of English
The quality of teaching and learning is monitored as part of the appraisal process through lesson observations and through the progress and attainment documents. In addition, continuity and progression across the school is monitored by the subject leader as is the implementation and impact of Assessment for Learning. The subject action plan and external advisors identify actions intended to raise standards.
The English Subject Leader will also provide an annual summary report to the Headteacher in which s/he evaluates the strengths and weaknesses in writing and indicates areas for further improvement.
A named member of the governing body is briefed to oversee the teaching and learning of English. The link governor meets, at least termly, with the subject leader to review progress.
Partnerships with parents
In September parents are invited to attend a meet the teacher meeting where they are informed of school priorities and year group overviews. Also parents are informed on how they can help child at home by attending English and Mathematics workshops. Parents are kept informed of topics that are being covered through a knowledge organiser sent half-termly. Homework in Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 is provided on a weekly basis. This homework includes daily reading, weekly grammar and comprehension tasks in Year 3 to 6. In Year 1ammar and comprehension alternate.