“Reading is a passport to countless adventures!” Mary Pope Osborne

Intent 

At Instow Community Primary and Pre-School, our aim is that every child will learn to read, regardless of their background, needs or abilities; also that all pupils, including the weakest readers, make sufficient progress to meet or exceed age-related expectations – this is illustrated by one of our curriculum drivers – Everyone a Reader. We support all children to develop a love of reading through stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction; in doing so, they develop their understanding of the world around them, developing a rich vocabulary whilst widening their knowledge. We believe that all children are readers, and we teach this using our main curriculum drivers alongside a progressive reading curriculum that uses a range of approaches to engage, inspire and challenge our pupils.

Implementation

The reading curriculum is taught through a number of pathways. These start with the phonics programme that is aligned with the expectations of the Early Learning Goals and the National Curriculum. The school follows the FFT Success for All Phonics programme. The sequence of reading books in our classes shows cumulative progress in phonics knowledge that is closely matched with the phonics programme. It also includes books to support the wide range of skills that children will call upon as they become fluent readers. We have a number of pathways to develop reading skills. Key approaches include:

- Reading for pleasure;

- Reading aloud to children;

- Independent reading;

- Home/school reading;

- Guided reading, reading instruction and whole class reading;

- Shared reading within the teaching sequence;

- Core reading texts.

Progression: Reading is a complex art that requires a number of skills and strategies – this progression of skills and strategies is further outlined in our reading progression statements. Instow has clear expectations of pupils’ phonics progress term by term, from Reception to Year 1. Children’s progress will be closely monitored with regular reading sessions to ensure that children are reading books at an appropriate level. Where children are not making expected progress, targeted support will be provided. As children move through school, the progression of reading material is structured to support their developing level of reading skills. We follow a pathway approach of book levels, then a selection of core texts and reading resources as recommended by a number of organisations, including the Devon English team. Schools Library Service, Somerset Literacy Network, and Pie Corbett’s reading spine.

Resources: Each class has a wide collection of age- appropriate reading books – fiction and non-fiction. From Class 1 there are a range of phonically decodable books to support our phonics programme; children progress through a sequential pathway of books; they also have access to a range of other texts – fiction and non-fiction. Each class has a ‘book nook’ with a wide selection of books – our book stock is regularly replenished through our subscription to the Schools Library Service. We also encourage children to access audiobooks such as Oxford Owls and other apps provided by the local library. As a school, we participate in the annual Appledore Book Festival – hosting well-known authors who inspire children with talks and workshops about their books. These events introduce children to a range of authors and genres in a funny and memorable manner. We are fortunate to have a group of supportive local volunteers who read with children on a weekly basis – this one-to-one time provides great opportunities for children to develop their skills and discuss their books. We also have a group of Year 5 children who are ‘Reading Mentors’ for children in Key Stage 1.

Home – School Reading Diaries. We use reading diaries to record children’s progress; these are designed to inform school and home adults of progress made, next steps and any support required. The diaries provide strategies and resources to support adults at home as they read with their children.

Impact

Assessment: The purpose of assessment in reading is to monitor the learner’s understanding of the range of skills required to become a fluent reader, from phonemic awareness, phonic skills and the development of fluency, to the comprehension skills required at sentence and text level for the reader to understand the text. Teachers need accurate information about what the children know so that they can support them in their progression. In the Foundation Stage, we use the ELGs to determine what needs to be assessed. Assessments are ongoing throughout the year. Phonics screening assessments are undertaken three/four times throughout the year in the lead up to the PSC for Year 1. Assessment is based upon a wide range of evidence, which includes regular formative assessment in the class where children receive verbal feedback on how to progress. As they are developing their early reading skills, children will read regularly with an adult to ensure that the text they are reading is at an appropriate level to support and develop their skills. We use the National Curriculum to determine what needs to be assessed in reading for children meeting or exceeding age-related expectations. The KS1 Teacher Assessment framework is applied when making teacher judgements. We use the National Curriculum to determine what needs to be assessed in reading for children meeting or exceeding age-related expectations. Children are assessed formally three times per year (once per term) using an NTS (Yr 3 and above) reading assessment paper appropriate for their age. Gaps analysis of these tests helps to inform future planning and interventions. We use a range of strategies and resources to support children to progress through the reading pathways – for example, TRUGs, Dandelion readers, priority readers.

Outcomes: Children will have a positive attitude towards reading, seeing themselves as readers; their journey through our reading curriculum will see them develop as fluent, confident readers who enjoy reading. They will have gained the skills they need to access learning and enjoyment through a range of texts. They see how reading can open up many opportunities for wider learning and enjoyment.

"You can make anything by writing." C S Lewis

Intent

At Instow Community Primary and Preschool, we believe that speaking , listening, reading and writing are fundamental life skills which enable children to communicate effectively in all areas and equip them for the challenges they will face in the wider world.

We endeavour to create a love for English. We want every child to leave Instow with the skills of a good writer. We are determined that children at Instow will have the ability to write with fluency and that each will have an author's voice. We ensure that children are writers, and we teach this using our main curriculum drivers alongside a progressive writing curriculum that uses a range of approaches to engage, inspire and challenge our pupils.

Implementation

The writing curriculum is taught through a number of pathways. We use high-quality text models to immerse children in rich examples of language and enable them to develop proficiency in writing in a range of genres.

We endeavour to ensure that they have a sophisticated bank of vocabulary and an excellent knowledge of writing techniques to extend details or description. We aim to provide opportunities for writing purposefully in English lessons and throughout the other areas of the curriculum. Teachers ensure that short and long writing opportunities are regularly provided in a range of curriculum subjects modelled, shared, guided and independent writing contexts frequently featured in the English curriculum. Children are provided with clear expectations and outcomes when writing; spelling, punctuation, grammar and phonics are taught explicitly and applied to their text. High-quality texts are used as models for children's own writing. Teachers use a four-stage model when teaching writing familiarisation, practising writing, writing, proofreading and editing.

Progression

Writing is a complex process that requires a number of skills and strategies. Each class follows a rolling programme that outlines six high-quality texts to be covered across the year. These text choices are selected from recommendations from Devon English Team and they cover a wide range of genres. Teaching sequences are created for each text and elicitation or cold tasks starts this sequence. This allows teachers to adapt their planning to ensure that the sequence supports and extends the children's learning.

Resources

Our writing curriculum is largely based on a series of high-quality texts that are chosen to inspire and engage children. We utilise the teaching sequences from the Devon English Team to enable high-quality planning. We also support the development of children's literacy with visual clips from Literacy Shed and similar sources.

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