English

Reading at Southwark Primary School

READING INTENT

At Southwark, reading is a priority. We strive to teach our children to read as quickly as possible and our vision is for all pupils to leave us as ‘life-long readers’. We know that reading opens up exciting new worlds, and as a school, we have very carefully designed a reading curriculum that not only teaches the wide array of skills needed to move from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn’, but also a curriculum that enables our children to explore a brilliant range of books and authors, developing a wealth of knowledge, vocabulary and comprehension skills, as well as igniting children’s passions and individuality. Our approach to reading is underpinned by Scarborough’s Reading Rope (2001). We understand that language comprehension and word recognition have to work in unison to develop skills reading.

PHONICS

Our children develop one of the reading ropes by learning to read using the ‘Read Write Inc.’ Phonics program. This rigorous and systematic approach, taught daily to all children who accessing phonics that teaches the sounds and words, as well as the blending and segmenting skills, needed to read and write.

Through the expertly designed Read Write Inc. phonics scheme, we teach phonics in a way that ignites curiosity and lays a strong foundation for reading success. The Read Write Inc phonics programme systematically builds children’s understanding of how letters link to sounds, how to blend sounds to read, and how to segment letters to write words. First, we

focus on reading accurately, then we develop children’s fluency (reading words at a glance), and once children can read speedily, we are then able to ask them to comprehend what they have read.

We teach children to link sounds to a picture or a short rhyme to help them remember them. Most children focus on learning set 1 and set 2 sounds in Reception and continue to embed these whilst also learning set 3 sounds in Year 1 & 2.

Our children are taught daily, for 45 minutes in small, targeted groups across Reception and KS1. The Phonics scheme starts at the beginning of Reception and lasts for most children into Year 2. Children in nursery focus on developing their phonological awareness (manipulating the spoken parts of sentences and words) in order to get them ready for phonics. These groups are fluid and are changed regularly in response to the children’s learning. KS2 children, who require extra phonics support, get daily phonics teaching in similar small, targeted groups.

Whilst we know that all children can and will learn to read in our school, we understand that some children need a little more time and support in order to do this. We prioritise support for these children through purposeful interventions.

More information about Read Write Inc Phonics can be found here.

https://www.ruthmiskin.com/parentsandcarers/

We make sure that all pupils accessing phonics, read books that are closely matched to their knowledge of phonics. This way, children experience success and gain confidence in their reading journey. For older children in Year 5&6, we use age appropriate decodable texts. For children who have learned enough sounds to be able to access a decodable book, children

will bring these home every 3 or 5 days. For children who have not yet learned enough sounds to read a book, reading stories to them is the most beneficial way to support them whilst they learn these sounds in school.

There are opportunities throughout the year for parents/carers to attend phonics workshops, observing how phonics is taught and giving you the knowledge required to best support your children with reading and writing at home. Class dojo is regularly used to inform parents and carers about reading expectations, homework and tips and video to support reading at home.

WHOLE CLASS READING

Our passion for reading goes beyond phonics. As well as being able to read the words on a page, we know the importance of being able to understand what they have read, with comprehending the text being a key component of the curriculum. These foundations are laid in Nursery and continue into Reception and Year 1 before formal lessons begin post-phonics. We talk through the very best stories to develop children’s vocabulary, comprehension and to open up new worlds through story books.

Once children are reading accurately and fluently and no longer need to access phonics lessons, usually in year 2, we continue to develop pupil’s comprehension in order to become a skilled reader through our whole class reading sessions. In our whole class reading approach, inspired by the planning tool developed by James Durran, we create an environment where every child can authentically engage with texts just like a real reader does. We use a novel-based approach to these lessons designed to meet the context of our school. Children study one age appropriate novel over a series of weeks, carefully selected to be rich in vocabulary and knowledge, and pitched to challenge and inspire. We incorporate a range of poetry and non-fiction texts in each year group to ensure our pupils read a range of text types and develop a wider love of reading.

READING FOR PLEASURE

At the heart of what we do here at Southwark is fostering children’s love of reading. In every year group, in addition to the reading that takes place during whole class reading sessions, we also have Class Reads, a time to simply relax and enjoy a good book! Carefully chosen class reads, linked to all aspects of the curriculum, take place daily from EYFS and regularly throughout the rest of school. The books are carefully chosen in KS1 through the Talk Through Stories Programme from Read Write Inc and linked to projects, wider reading to support with writing, and significant authors in KS2.

We endeavour to create learning environments throughout school that inspire children to want to read. In EYFS and Year 1, this includes wonderful indoor reading areas, which not only contain stimulating texts for children to share, but also include storytelling props to allow children to bring texts to life and develop children’s language. In Years 2 to 6, each

classroom has a Class Library, which include a range of quality texts to ignite children’s passion for reading. As a school, we have invested in a carefully selected, ever evolving range of books that we hope will not only deeply engage children but also represent different cultures and backgrounds, and explore important modern topics and values.

READING AT HOME

For children to master the complex skill of reading, they need to practise little and often, at school and at home. For children learning to read, this is a combination of:

‘Reading a book’ where children use their Phonics and their reading books, sent home in a meticulous order, which contain only sounds and words they have been taught, and can therefore read independently.

‘Sharing a book’ where children are read to by an able reader with books pitched above their level of word decoding ability, but vital for developing their enjoyment of reading and expanding their vocabulary.

The books our children are sent home with depends on where children are up to with learning to read:

In addition to the Phonics books and other books from class libraries that our children borrow from school, we also have our whole-school library that we encourage families to visit regularly. Our school library is open to families on Mondays and Wednesday from 3:30pm – 3:40pm for you to visit and borrow books.

Reading with and to your child is the most important thing you can do to support your child at school. As a minimum, our whole school rule is that children read at home with an adult 3+ times a week for 5-10 minutes. Please speak to a member of staff if you would like support with listening to your child read and supporting them with this – we are always happy to help!

We hope you value and love reading as much as we do!

Writing at Southwark Primary School

INTENT STATEMENT

At Southwark, writing matters. From teaching our youngest children how to how to hold a pencil correctly to form letters and words that have meaning, to equipping our eldest children with the complex repertoire of skills needed to write effectively for a range of audiences and purposes, as well as inspiring them to find their writer’s voice and flair. We want our intrinsically motivated pupils to fall in love with the beauty and power that words can have.

We know that reading is fundamental to developing a writer’s ability, and we place a real emphasis on children learning and applying their knowledge, understanding and vocabulary, as well as embracing the evolving world of technology in how our children access learning and improve their writing. We endeavour to overcome any barriers in our children’s way so that every pupil can communicate to the very best of their capability, with an understanding of the importance writing holds in improving life chances. Most importantly, we will provide our children with opportunities for their creativity to flourish.

ENGLISH LESSONS

Alongside Phonics lessons, where, as discussed in the Reading section, children are taught the basics of reading and writing, children learn about different genres of writing in English lessons, with a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry being studied. These units are generally 3 weeks in length and follow our long-term plans, in which children are taught specific year group objectives, including carefully considered critical knowledge.

Our writing units are linked to our immersive curriculum projects providing children with an opportunity to showcase their learned knowledge and vocabulary. Each unit centres around a model text, pitched above children’s current writing abilities in order to challenge pupils and enable progress. These model texts not only feature expert examples of year group objectives, but a plethora of rich language, including Tier 2 vocabulary (ambitious words not used every day) and Tier 3 vocabulary (technical terminology linked to projects).

As a school, we are driving improvement in writing this year, shaping a new whole-school approach, which comprises of three stages:

During the 'Explore' stage, children will recite model texts off by heart to help them internalise the vocabulary and language techniques needed to write.

In the 'Practise' stage, children will move from dependence to independence, giving children the opportunity to experiment with the author’s techniques, and discover and play with synonyms to broaden vocabulary.

Finally, the 'Apply' stage is where the children can apply their new skills independently, express their creativity, and draw on all their previous learning.

We have designed an approach that is inclusive for SEND pupils, as well as those for whom English is an Additional Language, who are all central to what we do here at Southwark. By learning model texts off by heart, which includes symbols and actions, texts become more accessible and enjoyable. The structure of the second stage where children change specific words around the frame of the original sentence also supports these groups of pupils. 

SPELLING, PUNCTUATION AND GRAMMAR

Embedded into our English lessons are punctuation and grammar objectives, with children being taught objectives assigned to their year group, as well as revising previously learned objectives in order for these to enter children’s long-term memory:

Spelling is then taught during a separate weekly session once a week. Throughout the week, children are then encouraged to practise the taught spelling objectives at home, completing individually selected assignments set by teachers online, before a short test takes place at the end of the week.  As well as teaching children spelling patterns and rules, children take part in challenge weeks where the National Curriculum’s statutory spellings are taught. We endeavour to immerse the children further by seeing the statutory spellings in their model texts, then apply these spellings in their writing.

As well as teaching children spelling patterns and rules, children take part in challenge weeks where the National Curriculum’s statutory spellings are taught. We endeavour to provide opportunity for children to apply these spellings into their writing by identifying a list of statutory spellings that link into each English unit.

As a school, we use the digital Spelling Shed platform to follow this structure, which is extremely popular and effective with children. For children for whom spelling is a real challenge, assignments are set that children can access and make progress with, either following previous year group objectives.

HANDWRITING

Handwriting is a key component of the curriculum across the whole school. From building the foundations in EYFS with motor coordination and mark making to motivating our Year 6 pupils to fluently produce immaculate handwriting at speed. Went want our pupils to become legible, fluent and fast, and we want our pupils to take a pride in their handwriting.

We know that for this intent to become the norm, and for our pupils’ standards of handwriting to improve throughout school, frequent practise is essential. As a result, in Key Stage 1 and 2, handwriting is taught 4 times a week in short 10-minute sessions to provide children an opportunity to practise the complex skill little and often.

Progression map for handwriting: