Reading

‘Reading is the gateway for children that makes all other learning possible.’

Barack Obama

Intent

At Chivenor Primary School- we are readers. We believe reading is a fundamental skill which enables children to access all areas of learning, ensuring they can make progress and succeed. We believe reading is an essential life skill and we are committed to fostering a love of texts enabling our children to become lifelong readers. Our provision aims to immerse children in a literacy rich environment, high quality texts and inspiring learning opportunities. As reading opens doors to a more aspirational canvas we have high expectations and encourage children to challenge themselves, persevere and pursue success, always reaching for the stars.

We endeavour for all our children to be fluent readers and, as we believe a good understanding of phonics underlies fluency in reading, we prioritise the teaching of systematic phonics throughout the Foundation stage and Key Stage 1.

We want our children to understand the power that words can yield and confidently use them to better their future and the future of society. Therefore we endeavour to build a wide vocabulary for all learners through complex texts and speaking and listening opportunities.

Implementation

The Reading Curriculum is led by a KS1 and KS2 reading lead, who regularly evaluates and reviews teaching and learning, celebrates success and shares good practice. Reading also falls under the remit of the communications hub who moderate and evaluate the coverage and key skills taught within this area.

Reading in KS1 is a rapid journey through phonics delivered daily in small dynamic groupings. In KS2, reading lessons are delivered daily to ensure key skills are revisited and consolidated. These lessons are structured, responsive and adapted to the needs of the pupils. Opportunities for Key Stage 2 pupils are provided to enhance their current phonics skills to enable them to make accelerated progress.

All children throughout Chivenor School are exposed to a wide range of genres to fuel their love of reading and promote the use of everyday language and subject specific vocabulary. This occurs within reading lessons, weekly poems shared online, within the wider curriculum and through regular ‘reading for pleasure’ sessions within classrooms.

A love of reading is also promoted throughout the year with a number of rewards, events, challenges and competitions such as World Book Day, The Reading Millionaires club and the book vending machine.

Impact

In KS1 children will have developed their reading accuracy and fluency as well as their knowledge and understanding of word meanings and vocabulary. This will set them on a path to develop a love of reading, showing excitement and interest.

By the end of LKS2 we expect our children to have secure decoding skills and a developing vocabulary. They will be independent, fluent and enthusiastic readers who read widely and frequently; developing their understanding and enjoyment of stories, poetry, plays and non-fiction, and learning to read silently for their own pleasure. They will further develop their knowledge and skills in reading non-fiction about a wide range of subjects and be able to justify their views independently about what they have read.

When our children leave Chivenor Primary School, we expect them to read sufficiently, fluently and effortlessly, with understanding at an age appropriate interest level in readiness for secondary school. We want them to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction, developing knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live. Their vocabulary should be beyond that used in everyday speech and they should understand nuances in vocabulary choice.

We want our children to leave school inspired as lifetime readers, having a love of the written word that feeds the imagination. Above all else, we want them to understand that reading can teach them anything and take them anywhere.

Writing

‘You can make anything by writing

C S Lewis

Intent

At Chivenor Primary School, we are authors. We believe children should be able to confidently communicate their knowledge, ideas and emotions through their writing; it is our intent to provide high quality learning experiences in order to develop pupils’ competence in both transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing). Pupils will learn how to plan, revise and evaluate their writing effectively. They will be able to write down their ideas fluently, spelling words quickly and accurately by knowing the relationship between sounds and letters in words.
The development of pupils’ composition skills will ensure they can form, articulate and communicate ideas and organise them coherently for a reader. They will show an awareness of the audience, purpose and context, and have an increasingly wide knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. We aim to encourage pupils to develop fluent, legible and, eventually, speedy handwriting.
We strive to develop children who are articulate and imaginative communicators and who are well equipped with the basic skills to become lifelong learners. We provide children with key transferable writing skills to build on year-on-year that can be used throughout each phase of their education and beyond. Writing is planned and threaded throughout our curriculum to enable our children to apply and present their ideas across all areas of learning.

Implementation

The English Curriculum is led by the Writing Lead, who regularly evaluates and reviews teaching and learning, celebrates successes and shares good practice. Writing is taught in specific meaningful and effective contexts and is underpinned through the use of high-quality texts from a range of genres. Children are exposed to quality first teaching to practise and consolidate their writing skills and have frequent opportunities to write across the curriculum. Speaking and listening skills encourage the children’s use of adventurous vocabulary and also supports children in articulating their ideas.

In the Foundation Stage emphasis is placed on children practising their fine motor skills which supports them to start making meaningful letter formation. They also practise sequencing and retelling stories. As children progress through the school they are guided through the process of gathering ideas, planning, drafting and editing to build their skills, confidence and independence. Children have opportunities to reflect on, take ownership of, and improve writing through editing with continuous self, peer and teacher assessment providing clear next steps for learning. They are taught to use a neat and consistent style of cursive handwriting and specific time is allocated for the learning of Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar.

To encourage a love of literacy, children are given the opportunity to engage in English challenges including the Griffin Schools Trust 500 word competition and Spelling Bee.

Impact

Children will leave Chivenor School as confident writers who understand how to write for a variety of contexts. They will be equipped with a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar, knowledge of linguistic conventions for writing and a clear, cursive handwriting style. Children will be able to recognise the purpose and audience for a piece of writing and adapt their language and style accordingly. They will be confident at planning their writing using a number of strategies and will naturally edit their work as part of their writing process.

Children will develop a love of writing and will take risks and experiment with their creativity, knowing that their voices and opinions are valued.