English

INTENT

READING:

At Lewis Street Primary School, we aim for children to become independent and confident readers with a lifelong love of reading. We are committed to making sure that every child is a confident and fluent reader so that they can access all areas of the curriculum and embrace and enjoy their future learning opportunities.  

Reading Is the Key to Success:

It has been proven that children who read better, perform better in school and have a more active imagination, leading to a larger world and more possibilities for success. 

Government research tells us that; 

“...there is a positive relationship between reading frequency, reading enjoyment and attainment.” 

Aims:

At Lewis Street, Christ Church and Lark Hill primary schools, we deliver the National Curriculum and strive for all children to be able to: 

●        Read easily, fluently and with good understanding  

●        Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information  

●        Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language  

●        Appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage  

●        Use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas  

●        Are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate. 

We expose our children to a wide range of texts and genres which means that they are able to read for a range of purposes and expand their interests and passions. The skills that our children learn from EYFS to Year 6 are carefully mapped out, to ensure clear progression; these are in line with current National Curriculum expectations.

To view our Long Term Plan for Novels from EYFS - Year 6, please find the download link within the 'Whole School | General Resources' tab below.

WRITING:

Our intent is to provide pupils with a high-quality education in English that will develop pupils' ability to speak, read and write with great fluency, master the mechanics of both reading and writing and develop a love and true interest for English so that they can communicate their thoughts, ideas and emotions effectively. This means that children will have the phonetic knowledge and spelling rules to be able to write. They will have an awareness of the different sentence types and language for effect. Children will know about different genres and text types which will be reflected in their own writing. They will also be clear on the purpose of their writing which is to inform, entertain of persuade.

For our complete Intent, Implement and Impact document, please find the download link within the 'Whole School | General Resources' tab below.

PHONICS - READ WRITE INC

Children are introduced to multi-sensory phonics in Nursery, then moved onto Read Write Inc as soon as they are ready, usually by the Spring term.  This is the main phonics scheme used to teach early reading skills and it is followed with fidelity.  Lessons take place five days a week and last up to an hour each.  Children are introduced to all 44 of the main sounds in English, in isolation, and in words.  They are assessed weekly by staff and once every half term by the Read Write Inc leader.  These assessments are used to stream the children so that they are working in small groups with others of similar ability.  Children continue to access Read Write Inc until they are fluent readers who can recognize all the main sounds in their reading.  ‘Fresh Start’ and ‘Fast Track Phonics’ are used as an integral intervention to embed phonic knowledge, quickly and securely.

Progression in reading books at the early stage of reading is through the phonics scheme and ‘bookbag’ books will match the child’s phonics stage. Children read individually until they are able to read as part of a group and listen to others’ contributions. Children are heard read by staff at least once a week and may benefit from extra reading with a Learning Support Assistant where needed.

The RWI ‘Talk through stories’ are also followed in Year 1, to embed tier 2 vocabulary and the use of higher order thinking techniques, ensuring children’s comprehension skills are deepened

For support or help with Phonics, please visit our Phonics page. 
 

 

 

WRITING:

Writing is linked to our half termly class novel which has been matched to each year group through our recommended reading diet we encourage and develop writing across a range of genres. Using the class novel to guide writing opportunities encourages creativity and sustains interest and enthusiasm for writing. 

Handwriting is developed right from nursery following the ISHA 'Achieving Excellence in Handwriting' programme which promotes excellent handwriting and high quality presentation skills.

To view any additional information, please find the download links within the 'Writing, Spelling & Grammar' tab below.

Talk and P4C:

At Lewis Street, our Talk Project increases discussion between children to enhance reasoning skills as well as helping our pupils become more confident speakers. Our Talk Promises are a guideline to effective pupil talk within the classroom. The talk promises were developed by staff and pupils across the partnership.

Our Talk Promises are:

We show we are listening by looking at the speaker.

We join in because all ideas lead to learning.

We speak in full sentences in a clear voice that can be heard by everyone.

We give each other time to think.

We build on, or challenge with respect, each other’s ideas.

We ask questions if we don’t understand or would like to learn more.

To view any additional information, please find the download links within the 'Talk & P4C' tab below.