The English curriculum is made up of many strands: reading, writing, spelling, punctuation, grammar, handwriting, speaking & listening. Teachers plan from the National Curriculum, promote a love of reading and deliver high quality input to embed the key skills within English.

At Coton, we understand that the reading and writing of Standard English, alongside proficient language development, is the key to unlocking the rest of the academic curriculum. 85% of the curriculum requires children to be able to read in order to access the learning. With this in mind, we put great emphasis and investment into the teaching of early reading.

By the age of 11, we aim for children to be able to:

• read, write and speak with confidence, fluency and good understanding, drawing upon a range of independent strategies to self-monitor and correct;
• have an interest in a wide range of reading materials and read spontaneously for enjoyment and pleasure;
• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language;
• be familiar with, by understanding the structure and language features of, a range of non-narrative and narrative forms;
• be able to model their own writing on these familiar styles and forms according to the context, purpose of, and audience for, their writing;
• draw upon increasing powers of imagination, inventiveness, initiative and critical thinking in all aspects of their literacy experiences, including being reflective writers (writing with a reader’s eye and reading with a writer’s eye);
• at least meet age related expectations in all aspects of English.
• speak clearly and convey ideas confidently using Standard English;
• develop their understanding through speculating, hypothesising and exploring ideas, enabling them to clarify their thinking as well as organise their ideas for writing;
• read fluently and understand extended prose (both fiction and non-fiction);
• write at length, with accurate spelling, punctuation, and correct use of grammar for a range of purposes and audiences.

Please see our English, Reading and Writing policies for further detail about how this is implemented.

English Policy

Reading:

We are determined that every child will learn to read, regardless of background, needs or abilities. We want our children to be fluent, confident readers. They will be exposed to a wealth of stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction to develop their vocabulary, language comprehension and engender a genuine love of reading and a keen interest in a range of texts. We work to inspire them to become life-long readers who enjoy books and have a desire to read for pleasure.

Pupils read daily and are exposed to books through a variety of ways: Reading Practice (EYFS / KS1), Whole-class reading lessons in KS2 and shared reading within all curriculum areas. Pupils have weekly access to the library and regular story-time is timetabled for all classes.

The teaching of Reading:

Reading input varies across the school, with Foundation Key Stage and KS1 accessing a minimum of 3 ‘Reading Practice’ sessions in addition to their daily phonics session. We follow the Little Wandle programme, which is highly ambitious for all pupils. In these earlier year groups, explicit links are made between the development of the pupils’ phonics knowledge and their ability to decode when reading, with pupils reading phonetically decodable books, in line with their phonics knowledge.

In Year 2, pupils move on to the Fluency stage of the Little Wandle programme.

Once pupils move into Year 3, they engage in whole class reading sessions during the week, which now focuses more on comprehensions skills, exploring the 5 main question types.

Pupils are taught how to tackle these questions, enabling them to dig deeper into a text and show deeper understanding within their responses. The question types and their associated symbol are referred to regularly:

The 5 Question Types:

1. Look back and find easy answers.
2. Read and think more deeply like a detective.
3. Connect important words, phrases and ideas to build meaning.
4. Know what’s in a writer’s toolkit and explain what the tools do.
5. Notice an author’s use of language and explain how it makes reader think.

Reading for Pleasure:

As a school, one of the things we value is our drive around reading for enjoyment and promoting a real love of reading. In recent times, we have implemented several strategies aimed at widening pupils’ exposure to high quality texts and opportunities for pupils to enjoy a book.

Reading for Pleasure

In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. Our library provides children with high quality texts for them to enjoy with you at home. Every class has a designated library slot each week. The children are able to loan books from our school library and also visit it with a home adult on a designated night every week, after school.  All of our library books are catalogued using a system called Libresoft, and the children can log on at home and see which titles they wish to loan from the library.

Daily story time sessions are led by staff. The books that children are read by adults during their time in school form our Reading Spine. These are carefully selected to include classics, up to date award winning authors and books that link to the learning taking place across the curriculum.

Reading Spine

Modelling Reading

We believe that everybody loves to be ‘read to’ from time to time, and having adults read aloud to our children is very important -whether they are in Key Stage 1 or  whether they are about to embark on Key Stage 3!  Children learn vital reading skills such as: fluency, expression and how the punctuation affects meaning when listen to others read to them.  It’s also really relaxing too – to switch off and let your imagination run wild!  Take a look at the videos of our teachers reading an extract of their favourite books, below.

https://www.facebook.com/2008483929364987/videos/1848735661957135

https://www.facebook.com/2008483929364987/videos/362130508131801

https://www.facebook.com/2008483929364987/videos/2187289144738371

https://www.facebook.com/2008483929364987/videos/546734066247268

Individual Reading Books

Pupils move through the ‘Reading Bands’ as they become more proficient at reading fluently. A library of reading books that follow on from our Little Wandle Early Reading scheme is developing. These books provide us with fidelity to the Collins Big Cat publisher. These are high quality texts that ensure a smooth transition between the ‘bands’.

READING WITH AN ADULT

We strive to listen to children read on a regular basis and this includes the class teacher, a designated teaching assistant deployed to listen readers, and with the help of ‘volunteer readers.’  All ‘volunteer readers’ are given an induction by the school’s English leader and they are trained in what to look for and how to support the development of reading in our school. Every child is heard at least once per week but those children who require more support with either their decoding, or their comprehension and understanding are heard more frequently.

Voluntary Readers Training

SUPPORTING PARENTS

The English Leader gives all parents a chance to meet with her regularly when she holds a range of workshops to share how we teach reading, and how they, as parents, can support a child at home with reading.  Phonics workshops are held early in the autumn term for Reception and Year 1 parents, which shares how we teach phonics and information about the National Phonics Screening Check in KS1

Book Awards:

Each year group has a reading list of well-known and highly acclaimed authors to read throughout the year. Pupils are rewarded with stickers, a certificate upon completion and are entered into a prize draw for a special book-related prize if they complete the full reading list.

Writing:

Through the teaching of writing, we aim to develop independent writers who make the link between reading and writing, applying language, structures and styles identified through the reading of high-quality texts to their writing.

At Coton, we teach writing through the use of high quality texts as models for written outcomes using Pie Corbett’s Talk for Writing approach.

Pupils start by learning the text – developing vital oracy skills and understanding of story language and key text features.

Children are supported to read as a writer and write as a reader through analysis of texts, identification of authorial tools and evaluation of the impact of a piece of written work. Through structured delivery, pupils are able to talk confidently about a number of texts, develop a sound understanding of text structures and as a result create well-structured, engaging pieces of writing with the reader in mind.

As a consequence of the writing input delivered, pupils are able to demonstrate varying skills and attributes:

• An understanding of how authors use language to create mood,
• The use of language to communicate effectively through a range of genres to varying audiences,
• The accurate use of phonic principles and spelling patterns,
• A neat and efficient handwriting style that is appropriate to the purpose,
• An understanding of grammatical terms and correct grammar within spoken and written forms,
• An enjoyment of writing as a form of communication.

Handwriting:

All children are taught handwriting using ‘Collins Happy Handwriting’ scheme. This font allows children to learn to form letters using four main joins:

1. to letters without ascenders (um ig)
2. to letters with ascenders (for example ch ol)
3. horizontal joins (for example od ve)
4. horizontal joins to letters with ascenders (wl of)

The scheme starts from reception and develops year on year to Year 6, where children learn to write with fluency. All children have 2 to 3 taught handwriting sessions to support them in learning these formations, allowing time for focused practice of handwriting across subjects. From Year 3, pupils with a neat script are awarded a pen licence enabling them to write in pen. Across the writing and handwriting delivery, children recognise that writing evolves and must go through the editing process (using a purple pen to edit) before a polished piece of work can be produced.

SPAG

SPaG stands for Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar. SPAG is taught both within and in addition to the daily English lessons. Often SPAG starters are used to remind pupils of prior learning or introduce a new concept ahead of a focused lesson and input takes a variety of forms including quizzes, activities and videos.

As a school, we follow the Grammarsaurus scheme to deliver our SPAG curriculum and, as part of this programme of learning, weekly spelling words are set. Each word set within this weekly list will also have a definition to support their understanding and development of vocabulary. In addition to a weekly spelling test, children undertake a half-termly Grammarsaurus SPaG test to assess their attainment and progress.

If you wish to support your child with their spelling, punctuation and grammar, here are some websites you can use at home:

Grammar, punctuation and spelling – KS2 English – BBC Bitesize

Spelling and Grammar, English Games for 7-11 Years – Topmarks

Free Primary SPaG Online 10-Minute Tests – Years 1 to 5 | CGP Books

Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary: Definitions & Meanings

The Spelling overviews can also be found on the website under the ‘Pupils’ tab. This will allow you to see your child’s spellings for the whole half term.