The National Curriculum for English divides the work into these areas:
The aims of the curriculum are 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.
Our approach to reading
At Murrow Primary Academy, we highly value reading as a key life skill, therefore teaching a child to read with confidence is vital and we are dedicated to enabling our pupils to become lifelong readers. We believe reading is essential for academic success and therefore implement the following strategies. We also aim to promote reading for pleasure and hope to instil this love of reading in all children through the culture of our school. Teachers read a variety of high-quality texts to the children on a regular basis.
Through the systematic teaching of phonics in Reception and Year 1, using the Twinkl Phonics scheme, we aim for children to become fluent readers by the end of Key Stage 1. Children can then focus on developing fluency and comprehension throughout the school. Reading outcomes are assessed at the end of Key Stage 1 and 2, through statutory assessments, however we firmly believe that reading should be encouraged as something children choose to do for pleasure. In order to inspire children to read for pleasure, we have introduced the Murrow Reading Railway. This collection of texts creates a reading spine for the school illustrating texts which children should read, or have read to them, along their journey through primary school.
Mrs Wordsmith
In a bid to improve the language and vocabulary development of our children, we are taking part in the Powerful Words project. The aim of this project is to reduce word poverty for the disadvantaged pupils in Cambridgeshire. This project uses Mrs Wordsmith resources to support accelerated progress in reading and writing for KS2 pupils, by extending their vocabulary. All children are exposed to a word a week and have access to dictionaries to expand their vocabulary further. The approach used is a simple and intuitive way to learn new words which will foster word consciousness and a lifelong love of words.
Mrs Wordsmith resources are exciting and visually stunning, created by the award-winning artist behind the films Madagascar and Hotel Transylvania.
Our approach to writing
At Murrow Primary Academy, we incorporate the Jane Considine model into the teaching of writing from Year 1 through to Year 6. Children are taught writing skills through studying a range of fiction and non-fiction texts, including the use of teacher-produced models for writing. In EYFS and Key Stage 1, children are encouraged to see the plot points of the texts, explore the grammar and vocabulary before applying more independent changes to the model until they can write freely with confidence. This helps them to understand the key language and layout features of different text types. In Key Stage 1 and 2, picture books are also used as a visual stimulus to develop vocabulary choices and composition. Children write as part of their work outside of English. Power of Reading is also used to ensure high-quality texts and shared models form the basis of our planned writing units.
Our approach to phonics teaching
We follow Twinkl Phonics throughout Reception and Key Stage 1. All Key Stage 1 staff have been trained to deliver the scheme with annual refresher training for all staff. All children in Reception and Year 1 have a daily 30-minute phonics session following the teaching sequence of revisit & review, teach, practice and apply. In Year 2, children access a balance of phonics and spelling, punctuation and grammar lessons based on their individual needs. Children are taught either as a whole class or in groups, based on regular assessments, so that learning and provision can be correctly matched to the children’s needs. Small phonics intervention groups and individual phonics teaching is delivered by teaching assistants, overseen by the class teachers, to provide additional teaching.
Sessions aim to be lively, fast-paced, fun and interactive. Children are taught phonemes/digraphs/trigraphs, high frequency words and/or tricky words and these are consolidated through reading and writing.
At the end of Year 1, children will take the national Phonic Screening Test which tests children’s phonic knowledge. They are required to read real and alien words, applying the skills they have learnt.