Reading
Purpose of study
Reading is an essential element in the broad and balanced curriculum we aim to provide at Colerne Church of England Primary School. Our Reading curriculum values:
The aims of the Reading curriculum are:
INTENT
EYFS and KS1 Children have daily ‘Unlocking Letters and Sounds’ phonics sessions. Once secure, Year 2 children move onto the ‘Spelling Shed’ scheme and progress through the spelling patterns towards the end of KS1 and throughout KS2.
In EYFS, children first experience reading by verbally telling stories through picture books. Once children have begun to learn the grapheme-phoneme correspondences in their phonics sessions, they then access phased phonic books so they can apply their knowledge and skills. Books progress as their competence and skill increases. By the end of the year; EYFS children are expected to be fluently blending and segmenting Phase 4 decodable books and Year 1 children are expected to be fluently reading books linked to Phase 5c Mastery. In Year 2, children who have passed their phonics screener then move to colour-banded books. To compliment children’s individual decodable readers, children also have weekly opportunities to select a ‘Read to me’ book from the recommended reads in our KS1 Reading Spine. This is to develop reading for pleasure and encourages parents to share a wider range of books with their child.
In KS2, individual reading books are selected to match the reading level of the children. Children move across from colour-banded books to the matched number levels of the PM reading scheme, providing a wider range of genres, then to the final KS2 colour bands before moving on to free reading. Free readers select books from our KS2 Reading Spine, which consists of over 50 recommended reads for each year group. All scheme readers also choose an additional book from their year group Reading Spine, which continues to develop reading for pleasure and offers parents the opportunity to read a wide range of texts with and to their child.
Across the school, children are exposed to a broad and balanced Reading Curriculum, which underpins the writing outcomes for each year group. The 2-year rolling programme of high-quality texts enables the children to continually develop their specific reading skills in a whole class setting using VIPERS (see Implementation below).
IMPLEMENTATION
KS1 children learn through synthetic phonics, the teaching of reading in which phonemes (sounds) associated with particular graphemes (letters) are pronounced in isolation and blended together (synthesised). This promotes word recognition and builds on children’s reading fluency. Children have daily sessions progressing through the phases within the Letters and Sound handbook. In Foundation Stage children cover Phase 2-4, Year 1 covers Phase 4-5 and Year 2 covers Phase 5a spelling recap-5c mastery until Christmas then children move onto the Spelling Shed scheme (see writing information for more detail).
VIPERS (based on our chosen texts) are used to explore a variety of genres in class shared reading lessons. This allows for in-depth study of texts, supporting children to expand their vocabulary and experience a broad range of texts that they may be unable to fully access independently.
This process allows a structured approach to ensure that children gain confidence and familiarity with a text to enable them to examine a wide variety of texts in detail. Texts are thematically linked to work being completed across many different areas of the curriculum, showing that the importance of reading extends far beyond the English curriculum. In addition, comprehensions are used to allow pupils to explore texts with more emphasis on honing children’s skills in a particular aspect such as retrieval or inference. Every child in KS1 has two weekly opportunities to read in a small group with the teacher. In KS2, children take part in Whole Class Reading where they practise the VIPERS skills as well as having the opportunity to read aloud. In upper KS2, children also practise reading skills in reciprocal reading groups. As a school with high mobility, children are assessed on entry regardless of what point in the year they arrive.
IMPACT
In KS1 Phonics assessments are carried out termly and data is analysed and used to tailor interventions ensuring children keep up with their peers. Data is closely monitored to ensure that all children make progress through the ‘Unlocking Letters and Sounds’ scheme.
2022
PIRA assessments are carried out three times a year from Year 2 - Year 6. In Year 1, children who are on track to pass their phonics screener will have their first opportunity at a reading comprehension assessment by completing the Spring and Summer PiRAs. Data is used to inform teachers and subject leaders of strengths and areas for development across the reading strands. Subject leaders can then analyse cohorts and provide constructive feedback to teachers about skills that may need greater emphasis during VIPERS and comprehension sessions.
Subject Leaders’ Learning Walks clearly demonstrated the progression of VIPERS skills across the school. Children were enthusiastic and confident to discuss text genres, make links between books, themes and authors and passionately discuss the selected texts and their broadened reading diet.
The Reading Curriculum Year A 2021-22 is complete and we are now implementing our Year B 2022-23 curriculum.
2022
Writing
Purpose of study
Writing is fundamental to the implementation of the broad and balanced curriculum we provide at Colerne Church of England Primary School. Our Writing curriculum values:
The aims of the Writing curriculum are:
INTENT
The National Curriculum objectives for writing are taught through our thematically linked Reading Curriculum. In EYFS and KS1, the majority of children’s writing outcomes are based on their core texts and link texts are used for short burst writing or to enhance VIPERS skills. In KS2, the core text is the whole class reader and where children explore VIPERS skills and the link texts provide writing outcomes. SPaG objectives are included within the writing outcomes as appropriate to the text type; any remaining objectives for each year group are taught discretely.
IMPLEMENTATION
Phonics and Spelling
EYFS and KS1 Children have daily phonics sessions following the ‘Unlocking Letters and Sounds’ programme. Children learn through synthetic phonics, the teaching of writing in which particular graphemes (letters) and their associated phonemes (sounds) are decoded through segmentation to spell words. Children have daily sessions progressing through the phases within the ‘Unlocking Letters and Sounds’ progression document. In Foundation Stage children cover Phase 2-4, Year 1 covers Phase 4-5 and Year 2 covers Phase 5a spelling recap-5c mastery. Year 2 children follow ‘Unlocking Letters and Sounds’ until Christmas as guidance dictates then they move onto Spelling Shed.
The ‘Spelling Shed’ programme supports the teaching of spelling, embracing knowledge of spelling conventions, etymology, morphology, phonics and definitions of words. The programme is split into weekly spelling patterns, which are organised by year group; it also includes sessions on the common exception words and challenging spellings. The ‘Spelling Shed’ scheme progresses through the spelling patterns set out in the National Curriculum.
Year 2 and KS2 children have weekly spelling tests. Specific spelling interventions such as Precision Spelling are used to practice and embed personal spelling lists.
Handwriting
Progression in teaching handwriting follows the statutory guidance as set out in the National Curriculum.
Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation
In KS1 and KS2, Grammar and Punctuation sessions are incorporated within the writing curriculum outcomes as appropriate to the text type to support the compositional aspects of cohesive writing. Any remaining objectives for each year group are taught discretely.
Writing
The high quality texts which form our Reading Curriculum are used to engage all children in practising and developing their transcription and composition skills which progress through the year according to the National Curriculum requirements. Throughout the school, all writing outcomes are based around our thematically linked texts so children can experience a wide variety of writing opportunities across a range of genres. Our Writing Curriculum has been structured to ensure that the same text types include the grammatical features appropriate to each year group in order to demonstrate clear progression in writing across the school.
The use of different Oracy activities further engages the children, leading to a greater understanding of text types, characters, events and overall structure. This allows children to experiment confidently within their own writing.
IMPACT
In KS1 Phonics assessments are carried out at regular intervals throughout the year and data is analysed and used to tailor provision. Every KS1 child receives daily personalised phonics or spelling sessions, either with a teacher or TA.