Subject Vision and Aims

At Haselworth we aim to raise the literacy achievement of all children by putting quality children’s texts at the heart of all learning. We want to improve the life chances of children by ensuring that every child has engaging, purposeful literary experiences and that all teachers have the knowledge to support children become confident, happy and enthusiastic readers and writers.

The ability to read, write and speak has a profound influence upon the course of a child’s whole life, and at Haselworth we believe every child deserves to be given the opportunity to achieve their potential during their time with us and beyond.  Every child will leave this school being able to read and write although every child’s journey will look different depending upon their initial starting points.

We will provide excellent learning opportunities to inspire our pupils and enable them to both enjoy, and become confident users of language (both oral and written).We strive for our children to become enthusiastic, independent and reflective readers and passionate, creative writers.  We believe that by providing an exciting, relevant and creative curriculum, we can prepare our pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life.

The Early Years Foundation Stage

English in Early Years is based upon the Statutory Framework for the Early Years and Foundation Stage; specifically, the prime area of Communication and Language and the specific area of Literacy. 

Communication and Language

The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children's language effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, story-telling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures.

Literacy

It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the recognition of familiar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).

Key Stage One and Two

The teaching English in Key Stages 1 and 2 is based upon the National Curriculum for England. Due to having mixed age classes, the school has a two-year rolling programme (Cycle A and Cycle B) so that all national curriculum requirements are fully covered without children repeating the same texts.

The curriculum map outlines the text drivers, the outcomes, the common exception word spelling expectations and the pen portrait (objectives that need to be covered each term) and in which cycle it is taught. This all forms the basis of the learning journey.  

The learning journey details previous assessment outcomes, learning objectives, the learning tasks, key vocabulary, resources and assessment information. The learning journeys are adapted and refined according to a teacher's assessment so that the planning is responsive to the needs of all learners. We ensure that children of all abilities have the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding in this way, so that children are increasingly challenged as they move through school.

 

At Key Stage One (Years 1 and 2): Children should learn to speak confidently and listen to what others have to say. They should begin to read and write independently and with enthusiasm. They should use language to explore their own experiences and imaginary worlds. Children will have the opportunity to explore non-fiction and fiction texts.

 

At Key Stage Two (Years 3-6): Children should learn to change the way they speak and write to suit different situations, purposes and audiences. They should read a range of texts and respond to different layers of meaning in them. They should explore the use of language in literary and non-literary texts and learn how the structure of language works.

Spoken Language

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 should therefore ensure the continual development of pupils’ confidence and competence in spoken language and listening skills. Pupils should develop a capacity to explain their understanding of books and other reading materials, and to prepare their ideas before they write. They will be assisted in making their thinking clear to themselves as well as to others. Teachers should ensure that pupils build secure foundations by using discussion and drama to address their misconceptions.

Pupils at Haselworth are taught to understand and use the conventions for discussion and debate through philosophical thinking and our P4C curriculum supports pupils to be able to think critically about a range of themes and ideas across the curriculum.

Reading Intent

Reading is central to our ability to understand, interpret and communicate with each other and the world around us.  Success in reading has a direct effect upon progress in all areas of the curriculum; therefore, reading is given a high priority at Haselworth Primary School, enabling children to become enthusiastic, independent and reflective readers across a wide range and types of literature.

Reading Implementation

Reading at Haselworth Primary School is taught and celebrated in a range of ways.  Some of these are generic across the whole school, whilst others are specific to key stages. 

Phonics

Daily phonics lessons are taught from Year R to Year 2 (if they have not yet passed the phonics screening check) based on the Essential Letters and Sounds programme.

Guided Reading

Guided Reading is taught in Year 2 and KS2 using a variety of quality texts and extracts alongside comprehension activities based on practising VIPERS reading skills (Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explain, Retrieval and Summarise).

In addition to phonics and guided reading, the school follows the Fluent in Five programme.  Supported by the teacher, children read specifically chosen quality texts aloud through choral reading, echo reading and paired reading.  Children are taught how to annotate texts to help them read with pace and expression, and in turn, with meaning.

Reading for Pleasure

Daily story time using a diverse range of new and classic quality texts for children happens across all school phases. Additionally, there are timetabled opportunities for children to read for pleasure, visit and self-select from the library and discuss and talk about what they are reading. Classrooms reflect the importance of social reading environments, where children can share, recommend and discuss books of all genres in specially curated areas which the children themselves take ownership for.

During the school year, events and activities also run to raise the profile of reading for all children, linked to different themes. These could include parent shared reading, reading cafés, sponsored reads, World Book Day and author or library visits.

Role of Parents and Carers and reading at home

Parents and carers are strongly encouraged to be actively involved in their children’s reading at all ages, by listening to them read, reading to their children, and by promoting a home environment in which books are valued. 

Writing Intent:

At Haselworth we strive to enable our children to become increasingly confident and accurate in communicating their thoughts, opinions and ideas in appropriate written forms. To do this we:

• Use quality text drivers to inspire pupil’s planning and writing outcomes  
• Teach pupils to write in the style of a wide range of genres; understanding and being able to employ the features of each genre with confidence by providing excellent models of writing
• Ensure pupils are aware of the purpose of the text and its intended audience and to ensure pupils have sufficient command of language in order to engage and sustain the interest of that audience.
• Ensure grammar skills are embedded within English lessons as well as taught discreetly where appropriate.
• Ensure pupils develop an increasingly more complex vocabulary through in-depth analysis of vocabulary in context, constant use of classroom resources (working wall, displays, dictionaries, thesaurus) and to encourage using this vocabulary in written work.
• Promote confidence in accurate spelling (encouraging children to self and peer edit) as well as exploring word origins, structure and meanings of words.
• The school uses Spelling Shed from Year 2 to 6. A bespoke spelling programme is used in Year 1, written by the English Lead.  
• Use the Kinetic Letters handwriting programme from EYFS to Year 6.

Writing Implementation

KS1:

• Pupils develop their writing skills using the Essential Letters and Sounds Scheme. The books break down the skills of writing into dictation, word building and writing sentences using finger spaces, phonics sounds and spellings.
• Pupils develop their writing skills through learning journeys based on high-quality text drivers that stimulate different writing opportunities and outcomes.
• Writing skills are modelled clearly by teaching staff, so that children can see what they need to include in their work. Pupils learn how to edit their writing as an integral part of a successful writing process.

KS2:

• Pupils have weekly SPaG sessions, adapted to the children’s needs. They have time to practice harder to read spelling patterns through at least two additional sessions every week and as part of their homework. 
• Spellings and grammatical techniques are incorporated into their writing when appropriate to embed further alongside additional spelling lists relevant to their English text drivers.
• Pupils develop their writing skills through learning journeys based on high-quality text drivers that stimulate different writing opportunities and outcomes.
• Pupils explore language and writing skills in different styles of writing for different purposes, including letters, stories, play scripts, diaries and reports
• Writing skills are modelled clearly by teaching staff, so that children can see what they need to include in their work. Pupils learn how to edit their writing as an integral part of a successful writing process.

Inclusion including SEND / Pupil Premium / Higher Attainers

Through high quality initial teaching, we provide learning opportunities that enable all pupils to make progress. We do this through appropriate task design which meets each child’s individual needs. Teachers will also take into account the targets set for individual children in their Individual Education Plans and Individual Behaviour Plans as appropriate. We recognise that learners have differing needs and provide suitable learning opportunities for all by matching the challenge of the activities to the ability of the child. We achieve this through a range of strategies:

• setting common learning activities that are open-ended and can have a variety of results;
• setting learning of increasing difficulty where not all children complete all tasks;
• setting specific learning according to individual needs and targets
• grouping children by ability and setting different tasks for each group;
• mixed ability grouping which facilitates peer support and discussion
• providing a range of challenges through the provision of different resources and scaffolds;
• using additional adults to support the work of individual children or small groups.

Equality

All teaching and learning of English will ensure that every child has the right to be included and supported as far as possible in the knowledge that there is equality in terms of opportunity, social background, race, gender and disability. The religious beliefs of pupils and their families will be respected at all times.

Assessment and Record Keeping

At Haselworth Primary School, we ensure that a formative assessment is pivotal in each lesson and forms the basis for the next steps of learning. We adopt a wide range of formative assessment strategies and techniques as listed below:

• Learning objectives are always shared at the beginning of each lesson with the children to ensure that they know the expectation and the outcome that they should have secured.
• Marking and feedback
• Questioning
• Oral feedback is used alongside written feedback.
• Self-assessment and peer-assessment
• Teachers and children set targets for further development.

Summative Assessment takes various formats:

• Individual records on the school’s digital platform.
• KS1 children are assessed against the Essential Letters and Sounds phases and gaps in learning are identified;
• 1:1 reading tracking sheets using the colour-coded book bands
• Yearly Phonics Screening Check at the end of Year 1, which is then repeated at the end of Year 2 for those children who didn’t meet the threshold mark;
• Optional SATs Reading Test at the end of Key Stage One (Y2)
• Termly NFER assessment from Year 3-5 to track comprehension skills.
• SATs and the teacher assessment for writing in Year 6

Pupil progress meetings, between each class teacher and the head teacher, take place each term, in which children’s progress, achievements and areas for development are identified and steps put into place to close any gaps.

 Impact

The monitoring of the standards of children’s work and of the quality of teaching in English is the responsibility of the subject leader. They are also the SLT member the Language and Culture Curriculum Team. The work of the subject leader also involves supporting colleagues in the teaching of English being informed about current developments in the subject and providing a strategic lead and direction for the subject in the school.

The following information outlines how subject leaders monitor, evaluate and review their subject.

• Subject Leaders use self-evaluation and write clear action plans and ensure that they are understood by all those involved in putting the plans into practice, including staff who are new to the school. These are reviewed termly and contribute to the monitoring, review and evaluation of the school development plan.
• Subject Leaders develop a cycle of monitoring throughout the school for the academic year, ensuring that they are able to make judgements about the standards within their subject. This includes learning walks, planning and books looks, pupil conferencing, internal/external moderation and working with LA advisors to monitor standards.
• Subject leaders report their impact to Governors
• Subject Leaders ensure that teachers are clear about the teaching objectives in lessons, understand the sequence of teaching and learning in the subject, and communicate such information to pupils.
• Subject Leaders ensure curriculum coverage, continuity and progression of skills in their subject for all pupils, including those of high achievers and those with special educational or linguistic needs;
• Subject Leaders establish a clear, shared understanding of the importance and role of the subject in contributing to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social, cultural, mental and physical development, and in preparing pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.
• Subject Leaders use data effectively to identify pupils who are underachieving in the subject and, where necessary, create and implement effective plans of action to support those pupils;
• Subject Leaders create a climate which enables other staff to develop and maintain positive attitudes towards the subject and confidence in teaching it.