At Sebright, we believe outstanding teaching and learning of excellent literacy skills, at an appropriate level for each child, is one of the most important and fundamental aspects of our duties as a school.

We are committed to high standards across all the strands of Literacy: oracy, reading and writing. In order to maximise opportunities to develop literacy skills, we make cross-curricular links and ensure these are covered across the curriculum.

If you would like to know more about this area of the curriculum, please talk to:

    

Roona Chowdhury and Laurion Burrow.

Reading

All children at Sebright experience reading using a wide and varied selection of fiction and non-fiction genres, appropriate to their age and ability. We have a range of approaches to develop children’s reading skills, reading stamina, independence and love of reading. This includes:

Daily Supported reading: Pupils experience shared, guided and independent reading through a Daily Supported Reading (DSR) model. Pupils are assessed using PM Benchmarking and given a reading level which informs their reading group. Pupils are taught in small groups (4-6 pupils) with a lead adult.

Daily Supported Reading is a programme that ensures children in KS1 develop reading fluency by reading authentic natural language stories every day. Daily Supported Reading is implemented in addition to a school’s synthetic phonics programme.

Children read in small groups led by a trained adult. Adults use a lesson guide to structure the session, and to support independent engagement with, and independent enjoyment of, a range of story books. Adults receive ongoing weekly professional development training across the year. They also receive regular coaching support while working with their reading groups each day. The stories that children read in DSR are matched to their independent reading levels and children are promoted to higher level texts weekly.

Whole class reading: In Key Stage 2 the teaching of reading moves to a whole class text approach. High quality texts are chosen which can challenge and stretch all readers within the class. Where possible, they link directly to the pupil’s history and geography topics to form a cross-curricular approach to learning. The aim of this method is to expand pupils' vocabulary and deepen their understanding of the texts they are reading. By reading a text in its entirety (vs. stand-alone extracts each week) allows pupils to experience a full reading journey which includes development of characters, plot structure and themes, comparisons within the text and literary devices used. Each lesson is built up of four stages; teacher model, pupil shared reading, partner reading and comprehension tasks. Each week there is a chosen focus chosen from the reading domains linked to the National Curriculum.

Content domain reference

2a	give / explain the meaning of words in context
2b	retrieve and record information / identify key details from fiction and non-fiction
2c	summarise main ideas from more than one paragraph
2d	make inferences from the text / explain and justify inferences with evidence from the text
2e	predict what might happen from details stated and implied
2f	identify / explain how information / narrative content is related and contributes to meaning as a whole
2g	identify / explain how meaning is enhanced through choice of words and phrases
2h	make comparisons within the text

Shared reading: Opportunities are provided through whole class reading, book fortnight, class reader and texts related to genres.

Reading assembly: Children in key stage one and EYFS will have an opportunity to listen to a story (and join in) that is read on a weekly basis, in order to develop oracy and a range of vocabulary.

Home Reading

Reading regularly at home with your child makes a huge difference to your child’s reading ability and helps to develop an enthusiasm for reading. We expect children in EYFS/KS1 to be spending at least 10 minutes a day reading at home with an adult with comments recorded into their reading journals. Research shows that this is the single most important thing parents can do to help their child’s education. With their growing independence and autonomy children in KS2 can begin to choose whether to complete their reading record independently or with adult support. It is still recommended that you listen to your child read often and engage in conversation about the books they are reading.

Reading Records are given to all pupils within the school. There are three designs, linked directly to the key stage the pupil is in. Pupils are to bring the reading record into school each morning and take it home each evening. The reading record should also come with a selection of books depending on the pupil’s age and reading level. Reading journals are checked weekly by an adult. Conversations take place with students and parents if and when necessary.

Oracy

Oracy permeates the entire curriculum. Interactive teaching strategies are used to engage all pupils in pupil talk and discussion throughout lessons. Students are encouraged to develop effective communication skills in readiness for later life which further develops their reading and writing skills.

Approaches to Speaking and Listening:

• Talk partners
• Whole class discussion
• Circle time
• Sharing assembly
• Drama and roleplay
• Talk for writing
• Vocabulary focus
• Words of the Week
• CLPE programme (EYFS)
• Show and Tell

English in the EYFS

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 both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).

Early learning goals that link to English:

EYFS Communication and language development

ELG Listening, attention and understanding

• Listen attentively and respond to what they hear with relevant questions, comments and actions when being read to and during whole class discussions and small group interactions
• Make comments about what they have heard and ask questions to clarify their understanding
• Hold conversation when engaged in back-and-forth exchanges with their teacher and peers

ELG Speaking

• Participate in small group, class and one-to-one discussions, offering their own ideas, using recently introduced vocabulary.
• Offer explanations for why things might happen, making use of recently introduced vocabulary from stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems when appropriate
• Express their ideas and feelings about their experiences using full sentences, including use of past, present and future tenses and making use of conjunctions, with modelling and support from their teacher.

EYFS Literacy

ELG Comprehension

• Demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary.
• Anticipate (where appropriate) key events in stories.
• Use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems and during role play.

ELG Word reading

• Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs
• Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending.
• Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words.

EYFS Expressive arts and design (this links to re-telling and adapting familiar stories – talk for writing)

ELG Being imaginative

Invent, adapt and recount narratives and stories with peers and their teacher

Writing in EYFS

Context for Learning: Writing is approached through a variety of structured activities and opportunities to talk, play and make.

The Learning Environment: The foundation stage provides easily accessible, varied writing materials- both indoors and outdoors- that children know are available if they wish to use them.

The Learning Structure: Early writing skills focus primarily on the oral aspect of reading and writing. This enables children to become confident readers and speakers through drama, storytelling, phonics and other key literacy skills. Colourful semantics is a very supportive tool within the early years in aiding children in developing, structuring and verbalising sentences. Independent writing is supported with the use of word banks, story maps, writing frames and visual clues.

Promotion of Learning:

• The Nursery and Reception planning incorporates many exciting writing opportunities to entice even the most reluctant ‘emergent writers’ to try their hand.  These include imaginative, functional and personal writing opportunities. There are a number of opportunities given through purposeful activities and role play e.g. making shopping lists, writing cards, letters etc.
• The process of mark making enables children to give meaning to marks and are beginning to use recognisable letters and then using letter sounds
• A wide variety of writing implements are provided and are always accessible, for example crayons, chalk, felt pens and pencils
• Within the learning environment the teacher and other adults are constantly modelling writing through the effective use of colourful semantics.  The children therefore interpret writing as a desirable thing to do.  They also see the way words are constructed, the formation of sentences and use of punctuation.

EYFS Physical development (this links to the mechanics of writing/pencil control)

ELG Fine motor skills

• Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – using the tripod grip in almost all cases

ELG Writing

• Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.
• Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters.
• Write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others.

Phonics

At Blossom Federation we have devised our own phonics programme based upon the principles of Letters and Sounds to provide concentrated and systematic teaching of daily phonics. We use a range of resources and strategies to tailor the phonics provision to meet the needs of our pupils. It forms the foundation for early reading and aims to build children's speaking and listening skills as well as preparing them for learning to read by developing their phonic knowledge and decoding skills.

Find out more about phonics…

Writing in Key Stage 1 and 2

At Sebright, we plan a range of lessons based on our whole school yearly mapping of the genre and skills document. Each year group follows a progression of skills and genres and relates them to their science and CC topics. Expectations for the end of the year are clear and teachers can see year group expectations from the previous and following years to support planning and assessment.

Spelling

In Year 3 - 6 spelling is taught following National Curriculum Guidelines. It is taught as a stand-alone session each week yet is also integrated into literacy and cross-curricular sessions. Spelling is a focus and key vocabulary can be found on LI grids, support sheets, children’s reading journals and displays to help.

The following document states the rules for spelling and includes example words that pupils from each year group must learn:

Assessment

At Sebright, teachers make regular, on-going assessments of the children’s reading and writing. Through immediate, verbal feedback and marking, teachers formatively assess and give guidance for progress. Throughout the year, pupils complete summative reading, spelling and grammar assessments (frequency may change depending on year groups). At this time, teachers also look at students’ writing (across subjects) in order to make judgments on particular writing skills. These all feed into teacher planning and assessment (supported by the new assessment RWM tracking), which allow us to ensure coverage of the National Curriculum.

Every term, the whole school takes part in a writing moderation, whereby each year group writes a familiar narrative. Writing moderation pieces can be used by teachers to assess, make judgements and set targets for individual children. These targets are then reassessed with a genre of choice at the end of the half term. Progression can be seen throughout the year for that individual but also across year groups.