English Curriculum

Reading, writing and oracy underpin all of the key aspects of our curriculum offer and it is essential therefore that all children can read and write skilfully and thoughtfully as early as possible. Language provides our children with the tools for thinking and reasoning and enables them, over time, to become critical thinkers who can view all aspects of the curriculum in a reflective, analytical and evaluative way. Our English curriculum empowers children through the acquisition of a shared understanding of the knowledge of events, skills, people, values and ideas. The English curriculum includes a canon of literature and specific knowledge content that is purposely taught and learnt and then critically analysed by the children. Our children are encouraged to learn facts through the use of knowledge organisers and to manipulate those facts using learning tools adapted from Lane Clarke’s ‘Thinking Toolkit’. The building blocks of our narrative or ‘Storyline’ approach are started in our EYFS and continue to develop and deepen throughout KS1 and KS2. The discipline of independent project work begins in EYFS and the specific reading, writing, oracy and analysis skills needed for planning and delivering a ‘Design’ topic are underpinned by the work in the English curriculum. The skills learned in the English curriculum directly impact a child’s progress in all other subject areas, however, we ensure that our notions of what equates to ‘Deep Learning’ and ‘Mastery’ in history for example, is not simply the product of ‘Greater Depth’ in English and we continue to clearly identify the differences.

Phonics

At Rimrose Hope we use the Read Write Inc (RWI) programme to get children off to a flying start with their literacy. RWI is a method of learning centred round letter sounds and phonics, and we use it to aid children in
their reading and writing. Reading opens the door to learning. A child who reads a lot will become a good reader. A good reader will be able to read more challenging material. A child who reads challenging material is a child who will learn. The more a child learns, the more he or she will want to find out. Using RWI, the children learn to read effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into comprehending what they read. It also allows them to spell effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into composing what they
write.

When using RWI to read the children will:

 learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple
picture prompts
 learn to read words using Fred Talk
 read lively stories featuring words they have learned to sound out
 show that they comprehend the stories by answering questions.
When using RWI to write the children will:
 learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent 44 sounds.
 learn to write words by saying the sounds in Fred Talk
 write simple sentences
 compose stories based on picture strips
 compose a range of stories based on writing frames.

How Phonics works

 Phonics focuses on sounds rather than, for example, having children try to recognise whole words.
 In analytic phonics, words are broken down into their beginning and
end parts, such as 'str-' and 'eet', with an emphasis on 'seeing' the
words and analogy with other words.
 In synthetic phonics, children start by sequencing the individual sounds in words – for example, 's-t-r-ee-t', with an emphasis on blending them together.
 Once they have learned all these, they progress to reading books.
 The 'synthetic' part comes from the word 'synthesise', meaning to assemble or blend together.
 Children who learn using synthetic phonics are able to have a go at new words working from sound alone, whereas those using analytic phonics are more dependent on having prior knowledge of families of words.
 

Read Write Inc. Phonemes Pronunciation Guide DVD

This video from Ruth Miskin shows you how to pronounce sounds in a pure way.

Find out more about Read Write Inc:
http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/resources/sound-pronunciation-guide/

Children from Nursery to Year 2 take part in small group sessions daily. These sessions are vertically streamed so that the needs of all children are addressed. When the children are secure with all of the sounds a spelling scheme is introduced (Spelling Mastery). The scheme focuses on spelling rules and patterns and meets the requirements of the KS1 curriculum for spelling.

Reading

The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

• read easily, fluently and with good understanding
• develop the habit of reading widely and often for both pleasure and information
• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of linguistic conventions” Primary National Curriculum 2014

We believe that it is essential for children to be given the opportunity to develop a love of reading, so we firmly place it at the core of our English curriculum at Rimrose Hope CE Primary School. It is the cornerstone of our teaching, each half term carefully chosen texts or authors are identified for all classes and consequently all reading and writing experiences stem from these books. All of our children are exposed to a wide range of high quality fiction and non-fiction texts that excite and challenge them.

Opportunities for shared reading, exploration and response to the text, development of comprehension skills and identification of language/genre features are carefully planned for. We also use the book to capture ideas for writing opportunities and explore grammar in context. We firmly believe that the right choice of text encourages children to become enthusiastic readers who enjoy reading for pleasure.

Home Reading

We feel that a child’s 'reading journey' can be enhanced through regular reading at home. Reading to and with a child every evening for at least ten minutes can make a dramatic difference to a child's achievement within school. A report from the Oxford University Press highlighted the importance of parents reading with their children. 'Children who read outside of class are 13 times more likely to read above the expected level for their age'. We use the Oxford Reading Tree Scheme to support reading at home. This scheme covers a wide range of genres and supports early readers with a series of phonetically decodable books. This scheme is supplemented with short chapter books (Reading Ladders) for developing readers and a wide range of library books for fluent readers.

Children are given a reading diary so that there is an opportunity for a conversation to take place between school and home regarding reading. If you have any concerns or questions regarding home reading, please speak to your child’s class teacher or alternative contact Miss McMinn.

Reading Expectations at Home

Guided Reading

EYFS

Children are placed in ability groups and have at least one guided reading session per week. The focus of these sessions is to improve reading fluency and comprehension skills. We use Project X guided reading scheme in conjunction with Read, Write, inc.

KS1 and KS2

All children have at least two guided reading sessions per week. One session will focus on reading fluency and the other session will focus on improving children's comprehension skills. We use Project X guided reading scheme to improve reading fluency and a range of engaging, high-quality texts that focus on developing children's comprehension skills. These sessions ensure coverage of the content domains for reading and give the opportunity to further address the speaking, listening, language and grammar content of the programmes of study.

Writing

The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences

A high quality text is always at the heart of our planning. This emphasis on a text allows us to engage children and provide the setting for them to articulate their ideas and structure them in their writing. We provide opportunities for children to study and produce a wide variety of short and long pieces in response to the text. These writing opportunities include shared writing, modelled writing, supported composition, guided writing and independent writing. The long-term plan for English ensures a wide variety of genres are covered throughout the school. We ensure that the knowledge and understanding of vocabulary, punctuation and grammar is addressed and children have the opportunity to practise these skills through writing. Time is allocated for children to draft, revise and edit their work as and when required. All children in KS1 and KS2 have specific writing targets and these are displayed at the top of every piece of writing. Children refer to these targets and self assess their work at the end of every writing session against the targets they have been set. 

Example Writing Targets - 'Target Pencil'

Teachers will 'tickle pink' writing targets that have been achieved within a piece of writing. Children will self assess their own writing and underline examples of where they have achieved their targets using a blue pencil crayon. For further information please refer to the school's marking policy or contact Miss McMinn at the school office.

Shakespeare ‘A play in a day’ 

The children in year 5 learnt and performed Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. The children focussed on the use of language, plot and characters. Following the introductory play in a day, the children developed a deeper understanding of the plot and characters. 

Poetry Parade

The children in EYFS and KS1 enjoyed a performance poetry workshop entitled: Poetry Parade.

The Actors created a dynamic display of immersive physical theatre, celebrating all kinds of poetry, and showing our young audiences just how much fun poetry can be.

Engaging Children in Literature Through Drama

The children in KS2 were thoroughly entertained through drama, exploring the Myths of Ancient Greece. 

Early Writing

The children in EYFS have been working really hard to develop their writing skills.

Poetry with Levi Tafari 

The children in KS2 enjoyed a morning with Liverpool born poet Levi Tafari. The children enjoyed a performance by Levi, followed by a question and answer session regarding writing poetry about cultures and life. The children then went on to complete a workshop, where with the support of Levi, wrote poems about their life experiences whilst focusing on the use of personification and rhyme. 

Shakespeare Workshop

The children in year 5 and 6 took part in a Shakespeare workshop- A Play in a Day. The children learnt the script for A Midsummer Night's Dream, were given parts and performed the play to a whole school audience.