St Augustine's Catholic 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/Reception 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.  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.

Daily phonics lessons in Reception and Year 1

• We teach phonics for 30 minutes a day. In Reception, we build from 10-minute lessons, with additional daily oral blending games, to the full-length lesson as quickly as possible. Each Friday, we review the week’s teaching to help children become fluent readers.
• Children make a strong start in Reception: teaching begins in Week 2 of the Autumn term.
• We follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised expectations of progress:
  • Children in Reception are taught to read and spell words using Phase 2 and 3 GPCs, and words with adjacent consonants (Phase 4) with fluency and accuracy.
  • Children in Year 1 review Phase 3 and 4 and are taught to read and spell words using Phase 5 GPCs with fluency and accuracy.

Daily Keep-up lessons ensure every child learns to read

• Any child who needs additional practice has daily Keep-up support, taught by a fully trained adult. Keep-up lessons match the structure of class teaching, and use the same procedures, resources and mantras, but in smaller steps with more repetition, so that every child secures their learning.
• We timetable daily phonics lessons for any child in Year 2 or 3 who is not fully fluent at reading or has not passed the Phonics screening check. These children urgently need to catch up, so the gap between themselves and their peers does not widen. We use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised assessments to identify the gaps in their phonic knowledge and teach to these using the Keep-up resources – at pace. 
• If any child in Year 3 to 6 has gaps in their phonic knowledge when reading or writing, we plan phonics ‘catch-up’ lessons to address specific reading/writing gaps. These short, sharp lessons last 10 minutes and take place at least three times a week.

We believe that writing is strengthened by instilling a love of reading within our children.  We value the importance of reading to supplement writing, providing a purpose and a context to writing.  Each English unit is taught by studying a high quality text from which a range of writing opportunities are derived.  The children first develop an understanding of the text – exploring the key themes, events and plot.  Children are encouraged to orally rehearse and use drama techniques to further embed their understanding. They are provided with the opportunity to capture content and analyse the vocabulary and grammar used by the author.  Such features are then taught to correspond with the genres being written as part of the writing process.  Children are supported in the application of the skills taught in identifying features of a high quality modelled text, before progressing to plan, write and re-draft a written piece which is fit for purpose and audience.

Discrete spelling sessions are taught from Y1-Y6 in line with the ‘No Nonsense’ Spelling scheme.  The Spelling Shed App is then used a minimum of 3 times a week as an engaging strategy to allow children to rehearse the spelling rule taught culminating in a weekly ‘Hive’ spelling test which allows progress to be tracked.  Spelling displays are also evident in every classroom to further reinforce the spelling rules taught and spelling homework is set weekly.  Children in KS2 also keep a spelling journal and all teachers maintain a high expectation of spelling across all written work.

English in EYFS

English in EYFS is delivered in line with the Development Matters document.  English forms part of both the prime and more specific areas of learning.  Communication and Language is a prime area of learning that develops in response to relationships and experiences and runs through and supports learning in all other areas.  The fundamentals of this are; Listening and Attention, Understanding and Speaking.  Consequently, development of such skills is prioritised and evident across all learning areas.  Below are examples of what this learning looks like in practise…..

Further to this are the specific areas of learning which include essential skills and knowledge. They grow out of the prime areas, and provide important contexts for learning.  Literacy is one such specific area and develops skills in both reading and writing.  At this early stage children are exposed to a vocabulary rich environment and afforded opportunities to orally rehearse before learning about putting meaning to marks and developing letter formation.  Below are examples of some of this fantastic work……..

Books are drawn upon to provide an engaging context for learning and children regularly hear stories either on a 1-1, group or whole class basis.  Children learn to listen and understand key concepts as well as develop a growing knowledge of GPCs.  Phonics lessons are also delivered discretely on a daily basis to support the application of these.  Look at some of our reading experiences…….

English in KS1

In KS1 we build on the foundation established in EYFS.  We continue to recognise the importance of a vocabulary rich environment and prioritise opportunities for oral rehearsal.  In line with the national curriculum, we first focus on the principles of sentence construction and application of phonics before building up the stamina to write for a range of purposes.  English lessons are taught daily and each is given context through the use of an engaging age appropriate text. To see which texts are used in each year group and the writing opportunities they afford please visit the 'Important Documents' section of the page and look for the document entitled Reading into Writing. 

Further to this, the children have the opportunity to practise handwriting daily as they aim to develop a cursive style as well as practise the spelling patterns outlined in the national curriculum using the Spelling Shed App.

Just look at some of our fantatstic writing.....

In KS1 we continue to develop reading skills through daily reading practise sessions.  These provide an opportunity to apply knowledge of GPCs and develop increasing fluency.  As the children move through KS1 an increasing emphasis is placed on their ability to apply skills of deduction and inference to an increasing range of texts.  Children are challenged through a range of question stems which link to each reading domain, specific comprhension tasks called Question Maps and a weekly whole class comprehension lesson delieverd in line with the Cracking Comprehension scheme.  Examples of these can be found in the 'Important Documents' section of the page. 

Just look at some of our fantastic work.....

In KS2 the children have daily guided reading sessions.  Emphasis is very much on the children's development of comprehension skills at this stage.  Children are challenged through the question stems outlined for each year group to ensure progression and in addition to completing the Question Map activies they are familiar with from their time in KS1 they also complete a CLIMB activity.   Examples of each can be found in the Important Documents section of the page.  Children also continue to have a whole class comprehension lesson following the Cracking Comprehension scheme.

Here are some examples of our fantastic work.....

All children from EYFS to Y6 have a dedicated time slot on their timetable for story time.  This is a time where we can all enjoy a book together and further fuel our passion for books.  Take a look at some of the books we have been reading.......

Please find below documents pertaining to the implementation of English at St Augustine's.  If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Guided reading sessions comprise of small group activities directed by the teacher.  Some activities are completed independently and some with direct teacher support.  Teacher supported sessions are planned on either the KS1 or KS2 guided reading record and focus on developing key comprehension skills in line with the content domains and national curriculum which are highlighted on the record.  Please find a KS1 and KS2 reading record below.  Independent activities include completion of Question Maps and CLIMB activies.  Please find examples of both the Question Map and CLIMB activities used in guided reading sessions below.......