English

Literacy Vision
Curriculum Statement

Our aim is for Literacy to be enjoyable and creative and for the love of this area to open doors to new experiences and opportunities during their time at school and throughout their future.

We want children to become fluent and confident communicators, readers and writers through a broad, balanced and progressive curriculum of tasks, designed to support all differing needs and expertise. Topics have been purposefully chosen to enthuse and stimulate children’s creativity, promote speaking and listening skills and challenge their technical writing abilities. We feel it is important for children to make the links between speaking, reading and writing and we encourage this through a reflective, metacognitive and enquiring mind, enabling them to participate and begin to challenge what they hear, read and write in the ever growing increasing media of the wider world.

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Intent

Our Literacy curriculum is a high quality, well-balanced and thought out cycle of linked lessons, carefully chosen to ensure coverage, progression and depth of thoughts, experiences, challenges and skills through the year groups, as well as through the terms. Texts are chosen specifically to be inclusive and appeal to all learners at all levels and allow children to make progress and apply skills at a level they can enjoy.

Good quality, well stocked resources enhance and support children’s experiences and opportunities.

We provide a selection of hooks, trips and visits including outside experts, with a variety of subjects and appeal, aimed to enthuse all of our learners and stimulate creativity through real life contexts.

We plan a variety of speaking and listening activities which are embedded in the curriculum to build fluency and communication skills.

Proactive subject leaders who are always looking for ways to find & meet children’s needs, enthuse and inspire often in collaboration with both children and parent voice and through frequent CPD and support for staff.

Good communication with the junior school allows for feedback and reflection of planning, skills and events to ensure children receive the broadest, most balanced opportunities and experiences possible throughout their school life.

Implementation

• A learning journey in books for each term which demonstrates progression across the school
• Teachers are monitored and observed and share expertise in order to provide good quality lessons across reading and writing and speaking.
• Writing tasks are differentiated, modelled by the teacher and supported by a variety of resources, mats and display working walls including phonics, vocabulary, learning journeys and role play areas in EYFS.
• The use of RWI as a systematic and rigorous approach to the teaching of phonics children need with a wealthy bank of resources including decodable matched books for home. This includes planned adaptations to this system where the children show the need for extra focus on comprehension and spelling.
• A cyclical guided reading system, which combines both a whole class approach and individual learning at a book banded colour level allowing children to learn skills and apply these at a level suitable to their progression, skills and learning. This includes a series of colour-coded lessons that ensure coverage of the national curriculum at each level. Reading journals record and show progress through the skills. A rigorous banded colour system with ample choices of topics and styles for home reading books which links to the guided reading.
• A clear and simple whole-school assessment of RWI and Reading Book Band assessment takes place at bespoke times for each child not at set intervals. Children are not limited on how quickly they can progress through the RWI or reading colour bands.
• Regular analysis by the Reading Lead, discussed with Year leader & teachers and actions planned.
• Regular monitoring of writing with the subject Lead against standards and planned outcomes.
• Regular opportunity is provided to recap, revise and apply prior learning as well as build new learning and a built in metacognitive approach which enables children to be creative, reflective, question and critique theirs and others work and information.
• A well-stocked library accessible by all, with numerous newly released books from a variety of authors and styles to appeal to and support children’s love of reading and a free choice of books for all.
• Regular reading events, awards, challenges, book fairs, book swap and assemblies to help to inspire the children’s love of reading and writing and future learning.
• Teachers moderate their assessments in cluster and outside CPD to ensure they make accurate reading and writing assessments.

Impact

The impact of our curriculum is:

• High quality inclusive texts ensure children feel a sense of belonging and personalisation, which ensures pupils are ready to learn and can feel ownership of their learning.
• High quality leadership, teaching and subject knowledge ensures that children can make good progress against standards and skills progress across the school building and linking on prior skills and themes.
• Pupils are adventurous and keen to have a go at new skills, vocabulary, resources and can develop their use of initiative to support more independent learning.
• Good assessment and tracking means that children who are not making progress are identified and supported in a variety of ways, according to their needs.
• Interventions enable a greater number of children to meet expectations, targets and ARE by the end of the year.
• Learning experiences are enhanced by the hooks and trips and this increases involvement, fun and motivation to learn.
• Pupils discuss and are excited about their reading and writing experiences. They can see and are proud of their progress and effort.
• Flexible groupings and frequent assessment opportunities allow children to make progress at their own speed and levels and they are not limited on how quickly they can progress.
• There is positive reading and writing culture throughout the school where reading and writing are both enjoyed and celebrated. Events, challenges and assemblies ensure that reading and writing are shown as a high priority within the school.
• Rigorous phonics and matched decodable learning books for home support, as well as books for pleasure allow children maximum reading opportunities.
• Team and pupil progress meetings, discussing assessments and analysis ensure next steps, future actions and adaptations can be planned for both groups and individuals.
• SLT, Subject leaders conduct learning walks, observations, pupil conferencing and book monitoring throughout the year to monitor progress and inform next steps.
• ELGs, phonics screening checks and KS1 standards are in line with local and national averages.
• Literacy is monitored by the Governors and termly reports are presented to the Governors to discuss new initiatives and discuss impact.