English

While children are in our school, we want to develop a love of reading and books along with an ability to read and write effectively. By the time they leave we aim to develop word attack skills (starting with phonics and then developing other skills as they get older) so that they can independently read a range of age appropriate texts. Alongside this we will help them to develop comprehension skills so that they can explore the meaning of what they are reading.

Children need to be able to communicate their thoughts and feelings in both the spoken and written word - as they develop we will give them the skills to communicate effectively in both of these ways. They will explore writing stories, non-fiction texts, poems along with notes, lists and everyday writing. These skills will be developed both within English lessons and also across the curriculum.

Reading

Reading is a skill for life. We endeavour to promote both a love of reading and a good understanding of a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts.

All of our reading books are organised according to their phonic phases and we have invested in a new base reading scheme (Pearson Phonics Bug) and supplemented this with Collins Big Cat Letters and Sounds books along with books from sets we already have in school. 

Children are given a reading book when they have started on Letters and Sounds Phase 2  and are given books that are phonically decodable using the letters and sounds they already know.. They read to an adult as often as possible in EYFS (at least 3 times a week) and are encouraged to read daily at home. From Year 1 the children also have Guided Reading when they share a book in a group situation and focus on understanding what they have read.

The children will remain on phonically decodable books throughout EYFS and Year 1 until they are secure on all Phase 5 sounds and ready to move onto Phase 6. From that point they will move across onto the colour coded book scheme that runs through Year 2 and KS2.