English at Stanley Road
TEACHING ENGLISH IN SCHOOL
At Stanley Road Primary School our English curriculum is the vehicle that drives teaching and learning across all subjects. In all lessons, and through a wide range of learning opportunities, children are given the chance to embed and extend their fluency and application of the strands that make up the English Curriculum.
English contributes to the social, emotional, and educational development of each child. Children need to be able to communicate effectively through speaking and writing and be able to read confidently, fluently, and accurately: with understanding and enjoyment. Communication through written and spoken language should show understanding of audience and purpose and demonstrate both imagination and technical accuracy in the use of spelling, punctuation, grammar, and choice of vocabulary.
Our curriculum is designed to enable each pupil to:
- Achieve the best possible standards, whatever their starting point or ability.
- Develop communication skills for life.
- Access a broad and balanced English curriculum that develops oracy, writing and reading skills in all lessons and learning opportunities across the curriculum
- Make rapid and sustained progress in diminishing the vocabulary gap
Talk for Writing
Talk for Writing enables children to imitate the key language they need for a particular topic orally before they try reading and analysing it. Through fun activities that help them rehearse the tune of the language they need, followed by shared writing to show them how to craft their writing, children are helped to write in the same style. The structure of our writing units is:
- Cold task – (completed at least one week prior to the start of the unit to ensure that targets can be generated, and planning tailored to meet the children’s specific learning needs).
- Creative Hook – used to excite the children and engage them into the writing journey.
- Model Text introduced with a story/text map to support the learning –which has been tailored in light of the cold task.
- Vocabulary focus – vocabulary is discussed with children at every opportunity, exemplified and put into context. Vocabulary is displayed around the environment.
- Oral retelling and immersion of the text
- Comprehension – reading as a reader to understand the text.
- Identifying the underlying structure of the text (Boxing up)
- Sentence level skills work – short burst writing linked to vocabulary, grammar or text structure highlighted from targets.
- Innovation – pupils make changes to the text. They learn, rehearse, and write a new version of the text.
- Independent application – Pupils must have the opportunity to independently apply the skills they have learnt in English and whenever possible be given the opportunity to apply these skills across the curriculum.
- Publishing and celebrating: Children are encouraged to show case their work through different publishing and presenting opportunities. We have regular corridor displays of children’s writing.
Little Wandle Phonics
At Stanley Road Primary School, we believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers. This is why we teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme. We start teaching phonics in Nursery when the children are ready and in Reception from the beginning and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.
As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read. At Stanley Road Primary School, we also model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.
This programme of Systematic Synthetic Phonics allows us to implement seven key features which have been identified as characterising highly effective phonics teaching.
These are:
- direct teaching in frequent, short bursts
- consistency of approach
- secure, systematic progression in phonics learning
- maintaining pace of learning
- providing repeated practice
- application of phonics using matched decodable books
- early identification of children at risk of falling behind, linked to the provision of effective keep-up support.
Handwriting - Kinetic Letters
Handwriting is a physical activity that involves movement and recognition skills that need to be learnt and become part of the automatic cognitive skill set of the pupil. To achieve this, Stanley Road has chosen the Kinetic Letters handwriting programme.
Handwriting is of fundamental importance to educating our pupils because pupils who do not learn to read and write fluently and confidently are, in every sense, disenfranchised. The mastery of automaticity in handwriting is therefore one of the key priorities of the School.
The key principles of the programme are:
- Building physical strength underpins handwriting and concentration. This knowledge informs the working positions that children use for writing and the strengthening targets they work on.
- Pupils are not expected to do anything before they are developmentally ready for it.
- The different components of writing are mastered individually before being used in combination.
- Letters are learnt as movements, not as visual shapes, and movement remains central to developing automaticity in letter formation, flow and fluency.
- Posture is important in developing the correct position for handwriting and so children are taught how to organise their working position and paper position to enable comfortable and fluent writing from the start.
- Correct pencil hold is taught from the start (ie as soon as a tri-pod grip is developmentally appropriate).
Reading and writing are reciprocal processes; strengthening handwriting skills will support reading and writing development.
Reading in school
Our ambitious English curriculum is designed so that children will gain the skills they need to become fluent readers, enabling them to be both ambitious and courageous in their text choices. Our children will learn to listen to one another respectfully when sharing thoughts and opinions on books they’ve read and take care of our library, books, reading records and any other equipment by treating them with respect.
All children will be provided with a wide and varied selection of high-quality texts. We aim to provide an environment for language development and written work, which is stimulating and is characterised by high expectations of success so that the fullest potential of each individual child may be realised. As competent, confident writers, Stanley Road pupils will have the power to make their own voices heard, to influence others and to develop the lifelong love of learning in others.
Our intent is that every pupil at Stanley Road will develop a real passion and love of reading. We recognise that reading is essential to attainment and success across all subjects. At Stanley Road Primary School, we believe that all children are born readers, and that is it our job to find the inner reader in every child, regardless of their ability, background, and opportunities outside of school. The aim of our school is to teach every pupil to read fluently, for meaning and for pleasure.
We know that the ability to read is fundamental to pupils’ development as independent learners, during their time at school and beyond. We understand that reading successfully and with enjoyment is critical to children’s long term life chances. It is central to our ability to understand, interpret and communicate with each other and the world around us. Therefore, reading is given high priority at our school, enabling children to become enthusiastic, independent and reflective readers across a wide range and types of literature, including different text types and genres, books, leaflets, comics and newspapers.
Home Readers
Your child will be sent home with a reading book within the first weeks at School. These initially will start as pictures books before moving on to books with words in. We have a range of books on offer to our children and we encourage them to start to change their book regularly and independently as they move from Reception into Key Stage 1.
Home reading books are sent home to be shared together and at an appropriate and comfortable reading level. We encourage children, with the support of their parents, to record what they have read in their home reading record. Children will be heard read within school at least once a week individually.
We have books from the Big Cats Scheme for children to take home. Alongside these, children are encouraged to select books from their classroom bookcase and the library to read for pleasure.
Spelling
Children learn spelling throughout the school. Spellings will be sent home each week to practice. Children can also use Emile to practice their weekly spellings.
WHY IS ENGLISH IMPORTANT TO OUR CHILDREN?
Chester - Year 1
We get lots of chances to write and to work on skills. When they are on our washing line, I can use them to help me with my own work.
Gabriella - Year 2
I am really proud of my work now because I use my Kinetic Letters so when I write it is really neat and I can read it. I couldn’t read my work last year.
Ruby - Year 4
I love being able to write in all my lessons, Talk for Writing lets me write in lots of different and interesting ways.
Kyran - Year 5
I have read 100 different books this year, I have read Around the World and school have bought me 2 books.
HOW YOU CAN HELP YOUR CHILD WITH EARLY READING
Support for Early Years parents
Little Wandle - Letters and Sounds
At Stanley Road Primary School, our children’s reading journey commences through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds. We start this journey in Nursery, where children start to explore intial sounds. In Reception, children start the programme and we aim for children to complete phonics by the end of Year 1.
Support for Phonics
Little Wandle for parents
Click here
Supporting your child with reading
Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home.
Your child will bring their reading practice book home to read with you, this will be at the correct phonic stage for your child.