Ashcott Primary School

English

At Ashcott Primary School, English and the teaching of English is the foundation of our curriculum. Our main aim is to ensure that every child becomes a reader, a writer and a confident speaker by the time they leave us.

Intent and Implementation

Reading

Our library is in the centre of our school and sums up our approach to reading - it is central to everything we do. We believe that one of the most important jobs we undertake is to teach children to read well. We prioritise reading in our curriculum from the moment they arrive in Reception up until they leave in Year 6. We have carefully selected a range of books which provide pupils with a rich reading experience as they move through school. Alongside our rigorous phonics programme which teaches pupils how to decode the words on a page, we develop pupils’ language comprehension through our sequence of books as set out in our Long-Term Curriculum plan.

Each class fosters a love of reading by having designated reading areas, displays about favourite authors/books and class discussions where children recommend books to each other. Children across the school are encouraged to visit our school library and to use our junior librarian system to choose books to read in school and at home. Right from Reception children are exposed to a variety of class books, which have a focus on patterned language, rich vocabulary and interesting content.

Children have 1:1 reading sessions with staff members, as well as small group and whole class reading sessions. This provides pupils with further opportunities to explore challenging texts, discussing their themes to deepen their understanding.  Children are not only learning comprehension skills but also independence, a love

of wider reading and exposure to rich vocabulary, which is absolute key in all sessions.

We are fortunate to have volunteers from the local community who come in and listen to our children read. Each class has more than 1 reading volunteer. We also have a reading star system where older children in the school (Year 5/6) support younger children with their reading by spending time listening to these children read on a daily basis.

Children are encouraged to read at home. Parents are asked to write comments to create a log of their progress. Children across the school also complete a reading challenge called ‘rainbow reading’ where they work through bookmarks until they’ve completed a rainbow of reading. This accumulates in a special certificate given out in assembly. In Owl Class raffle tickets are used to promote regular reading. 

We have a book week every year, where we take part in many different activities including; fantastic author visits, book cafés, dressing up day, vocabulary parades, various book-linked whole school competitions, GEMs group activities, parent reading sessions and visiting a reading gazebo to name just a few.

Phonics

We use the Twinkl phonics (DFE approved) programme to ensure children develop their phonic skills in a coherent and systematic way. There is direct teaching of phonics using this programme from Early Years upwards. Children who are still developing their phonic knowledge take home a phonically decodable book from the Big Cat scheme which is matched closely to the phonic knowledge they have acquired. It is one of our school priorities to ensure that all children develop confidence in applying their phonic knowledge to enable them to become confident readers and writers. We greatly appreciate parental support in this area and encourage parents to listen to their child reading the phonically decodable books regularly. Children are also introduced to high frequency and common exception words which are sent home to enable them to develop their sight vocabulary. Parents are given information leaflets and are invited to workshops to support early reading development. Children continue to follow the reading scheme until the end of Year 6. We currently use books from Big Cat and Oxford University Press. Children are also encouraged to choose a book from our well-stocked school library.

Poetry

Our library has a dedicated poetry section! All classes are striving to place more emphasis on poetry and include this in their class planning. There is a poetry club that runs for children at lunchtime. Sparrow Class are learning to recite poems each week and perform these to an audience! We hope to share some in assembly! Please follow this link to hear some wonderful poetry read by wonderful authors! https://childrens.poetryarchive.org/ 

Oracy, Speaking & Listening

The National Curriculum for English reflects the importance of spoken language in pupils’ development across the whole curriculum – cognitively, socially and linguistically. Spoken language underpins the development of reading and writing. The quality and variety of language that pupils hear and speak are vital for developing their vocabulary and grammar and their understanding for reading and writing. Teachers therefore ensure the continual development of pupils’ confidence and competence in spoken language and listening skills. Pupils are supported to develop a capacity to explain their understanding of books and other reading, and to prepare their ideas before they write. They are assisted in making their thinking clear to themselves as well as to others and teachers ensure that pupils build secure foundations by using discussion to probe and remedy their misconceptions. Pupils are also taught to understand and use the conventions for discussion and debate. We feel that speaking and listening is a core part of our teaching. Children have many opportunities to listen, respond, ask questions and collaborate in lessons.  Our buddy system enables our children to work with a child in another class on regular occasion to use spoken language to develop understanding, ideas and attention. The use of poetry and performing helps children to speak audibly and fluently. 

Writing

As a school we recognise that reading is fundamental to the writing process, as children write successfully when they have a full understanding of the features of specific genres and a strong vocabulary. Throughout the school, visual stimuli and books are used to inspire children’s imaginations to write, as well as providing children with first hand experiences (trips, visitors, artefacts to handle etc.) which can help inspire writing. In addition, to support the writing process, teachers model examples of effective writing, so children can be successful in their own writing. Children will also often see each other’s work using class visualizers and are encouraged to ‘magpie’ good ideas from each other.

Children are also supported to develop stamina for writing across the curriculum and will often take part in writing that is linked across the curriculum. Children’s writing is rewarded within class following the whole school reward system, as well as with super writer pencils from the headteacher in assemblies. Children across the school are given the opportunity to take part in writing competitions, as well as meeting with their buddies to share written work that they are proud of.

SPAG

Spelling, punctuation and grammar is taught in relation to the texts that the children are studying in class as part of the writing process. Our children are then provided with further opportunities during the wider curriculum to embed their new learning and demonstrate their understanding. In line with the National Curriculum, we ensure that each year group is teaching the grammar, punctuation and spelling objectives required for that age group. 

Spelling and Handwriting

Spellings are progressive across the school. Spelling lessons focus on the spelling strategies that are required for each year group. Therefore, children and parents are actively encouraged to learn the reasons/rules as to why a spelling is the way it is and to then be able to apply this knowledge in a range of different spelling situations. Where it is appropriate that children learn to spell certain words, a look, cover, write, check approach is used and actively promoted.

Children work on their fine motor skills from Reception in daily funky finger sessions which includes handwriting as the year progresses. Children continue handwriting sessions each year and are expected to join their handwriting as they progress through the school. This is an objective we monitor closely when assessing their writing. We consider good presentation to be an important element of writing.

Assessment

All year groups use the same format for assessing writing, which have been produced in line with the end of Key Stage assessment frameworks (as published by the Department for Education) as well as the individual objectives for each year group from the national curriculum appendices. The Phonics screening is carried out which is a statutory requirement in Year 1. The children in Reception are assessed against the Early Learning Goals. Teacher assessments are used in each class. Moderation from county is adhered to when we have been selected.

Impact

The impact on our children is clear: confident children, who are able to read well, enjoy reading, write confidently for a range of purposes, demonstrate a strong voice, and show confidence when speaking to unfamiliar people. We hope that as children move on from us to further their education and learning that their creativity, passion for English and high aspirations travel with them and continue to grow and develop as they do.

Writing Competitions

A link to writing competitions for children. Please make sure you check the details and deadlines carefully. Ashcott School is not linked to any of these sites: https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/competitions-for-children/childrens-writing-competitions/