Intent
At Chalk Ridge Primary School, we believe that reading, writing and spoken language are key in enabling pupils to realise their full potential and in allowing them to participate in wider society. We have created an environment that instils a love of reading so that pupils are able to fully engage with our text rich curriculum. By using inspiring texts to drive our English curriculum, pupils can build their cultural capital and be motivated to develop their reading and writing skills. All of our staff are committed towards creating and maintaining an environment of high expectations, where all pupils are able to make progress. We understand and prioritise fluency and accuracy in transcription, reading and oracy. At Chalk Ridge Primary, we believe that English should be an enjoyable subject that opens the door to new knowledge and experiences.
Implementation
Reading
In EYFS and year 1, we teach daily phonics sessions using Little Wandle, where children learn the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language and the letters or groups of the written language. For further information about this, please see our Phonics and Early Reading policy. Additional support is provided for the lowest 20% of readers in the school including regular one-to-one reading and catch-up-phonics teaching. We also teach reading through:
EYFS
KS1
KS2
Writing
Our writing curriculum is driven through high-quality texts which have been selected to inspire rich written outcomes. The writing learning journey has three stages: Stimulate and generate, which hooks the children into a text and allows us to teach reading and spoken language statements; capture, sift, and sort, which focuses on writing skills, punctuation and grammar, as well as knowledge of text structure; create, refine, evaluate, where children create a final, well-crafted piece of writing that they can be proud of. In each phase, writing is taught through:
EYFS
KS1 and KS2
Handwriting
Here at Chalk Ridge, letter formation aligns with our phonics programme, Little Wandle. From year 2 we use the Letter-Join handwriting programme to continue developing handwriting practise. See our Handwriting policy for further information about the progression of handwriting skills and how this is taught.
Spelling
In EYFS and year 1, spelling is supported through the Little Wandle phonics programme. From year 2 onwards, spelling is taught systematically using the No-Nonsense spelling programme. It is taught and practised using a range of different strategies. All children are encouraged to use phonics in order to support their spelling, regardless of age.
In order to support spelling development, pupils are tested on their spellings weekly. At the start of each academic year, children will be provided a home spelling book, where they will be able to take their weekly spellings home to practise. Some children will be provided with bespoke spelling lists, appropriate to their specific needs.
Children are encouraged to become independent in their spelling and are taught how to use dictionaries, word banks and thesauruses to do this.
Spoken Language
We teach the spoken language requirements of the National Curriculum across a range of learning contexts. In reading lessons, children frequently have the opportunities to take turns, justify their thinking and take part in conversations and debates. These opportunities are also provided through the stimulate and generate phase of our writing learning journeys. Furthermore, our pupils are given the opportunity to develop their spoken language skills across a wide range of subjects within the Chalk Ridge curriculum.
Impact