English at Comberton

The overarching aim for English as outlined in the ‘National curriculum in England: English programmes of study’ (2014) is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

• 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
• write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
• 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.

At Comberton Primary, pupils will be given opportunities to develop their use, knowledge and understanding of spoken and written English within a broad and balanced curriculum, with opportunities to consolidate and reinforce taught literacy skills.

Curriculum Organisation

EYFS: Pupils in the early years are taught through cross-curricular leading themes and key texts linked to the seasons, celebrations and children’s interests. A text is introduced at the start of each week. Following this, each lesson has a whole-class input linked to the text and a specific literacy skill. Pupils then access activities linked to the text that have been planned based on their needs and ongoing formative assessment. In addition, the Read Write Inc programme is used as a basis for phonics teaching in the EYFS, with 30 minute sessions four times per week.

Years 1-6: Units of work for years 1 to 6 are planned from a mixture of starting points including: leading texts; specific genres of writing; Oxford University Press ‘Literacy and Language’ units or links with cross-curricular areas. To ensure a broad and balanced coverage of skills and genres, teachers complete yearly overviews outlining lead texts/genres, writing outcomes and key skills to be taught. Using these yearly overviews, teachers plan individual units of work which outline writing outcomes and key skills to be covered. Individual lessons are planned based on the requirements of the writing outcome; i.e. ‘What do pupils need to be able to do to complete the writing outcome?’ Reading into writing tasks, skills-based activities and shorter writing tasks are then planned to build up towards the end writing point.

Reading

In the early years and key stage one, emphasis is placed on development of pupils’ quick sounding and blending of unfamiliar words using a good knowledge of grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) and recognition of common exception words, as outlined in the National Curriculum. The Read Write Inc. programme (delivered to all children in the EYFS and year 1), along with carefully matched individual reading books that are consistent with pupils’ developing phonic knowledge, ensures children have opportunities to learn and practise these skills.

Alongside teaching that develops fluency and decoding skills when word reading, the teaching of reading across all year groups at Comberton facilitates development of pupils’ comprehension skills. Teachers model thought processes when reading and teach pupils to use what they know about a text when forming responses. In the EYFS and key stage 1, this comes in the form of ‘thinking out loud’ when discussing texts as a class, and careful questioning during one to one and guided reading activities. As pupils develop this skill through years 1 and 2, more formal, written responses to questions are introduced as a way of demonstrating comprehension in preparation for the reading SATs test at the end of year 2. In key stage 2, reading is taught through a mixture of guided reading activities using ‘stand-alone’ texts and comprehension papers, and reading activities that are linked to whole-class lead texts in order to make a clear link between reading and writing.

Each pupil at Comberton receives an individual reading book. We encourage pupils to read a mixture of Oxford Reading Tree or Treetops scheme texts, or a text from the school or classroom libraries. The teacher or teaching assistant ensures that children access books that are appropriate for their level of ability, and of a suitable range of author and genre.

To further encourage a love of reading, every pupil at Comberton has access to an electronic school library system, allowing them to take home additional books for their own enjoyment. Family members are also encouraged to borrow books, thus promoting reading outside of school. Whole school events and incentives are planned to further highlight and maintain the reading ethos across the school, and pupils attend a weekly reading assembly where reading behaviours, events and texts are shared.

Home Reading 
Practising reading regularly with your child at home is extremely valuable to their progress. In addition to this please, where possible, read to your child at bedtime or other times of the day as this helps to encourage a love of reading and also develops the children’s vocabulary.

At Comberton, pupils are taught to draw upon vocabulary, grammar and punctuation skills taught to compose sentences to form a whole text. Teachers make use of a number of methods when doing this. Modelled, shared and guided writing allows teachers to ‘think out loud’ to model thought processes for writing. WAGOLLs (‘what a good one looks like’) are used to evaluate and exemplify the different skills taught.

Pupils are also taught to make use of resources at the point of writing to independently select skills and use them effectively in their work. Each classroom has a working wall which is adapted for each unit of work, exemplifying selected spelling, vocabulary, punctuation and grammar skills taught and serving as a visual reminder of the writing process. Table top resources such as word lists and ALF checklists are also used at teachers’ discretion. These are differentiated for groups or individuals to alow pupils to select the skills most pertinent to them.

Drafting, editing and proof reading are also taught as key skills in pupils’ composition of writing. This begins as children develop their word and sentence writing in the EYFS and are taught to ‘hold a sentence’. The Read, Write Inc technique of self-marking each letter/grapheme after spelling a word, and self-marking basic punctuation when writing a sentence, lays the foundation for proof reading. Throughout KS1 children are taught to read sentences back when writing at length to check for ALF skills such as key spellings and basic punctuation, and to make use of resources around them to ensure accuracy. ALF checklists also encourage children to apply grammar skills they have been taught. As pupils move through key stage 2, editing and corrections are made with blue pen. Pupils are also encouraged to make revisions to their work to improve it for the reader, as well as check for accuracy of spelling, punctuation and grammar.