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;
• 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.

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.

Implementation:

Our school follows the letters and sounds program from EYFS into Key Stage 1 and continues as a recap in Key Stage 2.  When pupils complete the phonics program learning, embedding all the phases sounds, they move onto the No Nonsense Spelling program that then runs through Key Stage 2.

All children have a baseline assessment in phonics and are then grouped accordingly.  Phonics is timetabled each day and lasts for 20 minutes each day.  Children move to different classrooms and learning areas for phonics and all staff including assistant teachers are responsible for a group.

As part of their PPA teachers are required to plan a teaching cycle for phonics including the review, teach, practise and apply model.  There are resources in school to support teachers with this planning.  Where an assistant teacher leads a group, a designated teacher will be responsible for the overseeing of the planning, preparation and assessment of that group.

Regular assessments are carried out and the groups are changed accordingly.  Phonics teachers delivering the spelling program are also required to complete end of unit and end of book assessments.

When children first become readers, they have access to our colour book banded system which starts with pink books right the way through to white books. This is assessed using benchmarking. Once children have completed white books then they move onto free readers.  Our in-house librarian assistant KS2 children to select a suitable book and also check comprehension each afternoon.

A Star Test is completed as a baseline and then repeated every 6 weeks.  In KS2 after lunch, planned reading takes place each day for quiet reading.  Guided reading sessions take place each day throughout school.  These are carefully planned to develop a whole range of reading skills and comprehension.

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.

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 assessment;
• Phonics screening results;
• Book band colour – assessed using Benchmarking;
• Star test.
• Summative assessments each term;
• End of Key stage SATs results.

The implementation of the letters and sounds phonics had a huge impact on our phonics screening results.  Our success rates each year is very high.  The teaching of phonics in our school is systematic and all staff are regularly updated with any changes.  Children are reading more for pleasure and on a more regular basis.

 

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.

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.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum is divided into prime and specific areas of learning and development.  'Communication and Language' is one of three prime areas that are fundamental to supporting their language development.  'Communication and Language' is made up of the following aspects: listening and attention, understanding and speaking. ‘English' is one of four specific areas which include the development of essential skills and knowledge and is made up of the two aspects: reading and writing.  Pupil provision is related to attainment, not age.  Children learn through play, speaking and listening activities, teacher modelling, group work and self-direction.

At Longton we teach specific Grammar sessions 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 ICT 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 learning is completed termly.  Children complete independent writing pieces within a unit of work, which are assessed against our 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.

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

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. During Parents' Evenings curricular targets are shared and a written report is completed annually in the Summer Term. Homework in Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Lower Key Stage 2 is provided on a weekly basis. In Upper Key Stage 2 homework reinforces class work or curricular target work and aims to promote enjoyment in the subject.