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English

What is this curriculum trying to achieve, and how does this relate to our overall aims and ethos?

Fostering a love of learning, a sense of community, and confidence in an English curriculum involves creating a supportive, engaging, and interactive environment. At Lyminster we take pride in our English learning, fostering a love for reading and using writing journeys to practice and embed skills. Students’ efforts and progress are regularly celebrated, focussing on their achievements before guiding them on areas for improvement. All staff offer feedback that is specific, actionable, and encouraging to help students view mistakes as learning opportunities rather than failures. Encouraging a growth mindset and reducing the fear of making mistakes, is vital to enable pupils to take risks and rise to challenges. We endeavour to create avid readers who have a love of reading and are excited to read a wide range of texts. In writing, choice and autonomy over their writing genre and style, allows pupils to explore their preferences and sparks imagination and curiosity. We aim for all pupils to write in a range of styles, with purpose and audience in mind, making their learning more impactful and meaningful, and finding the author within each individual.

How is the curriculum actually implemented - how do we ensure progression, retention, and what does teaching and learning in this subject actually 'look' like?

Reading

Reading is pivotal to all learning, across the curriculum. We have a clear, consistent approach to the teaching of reading. Our intention is that all pupils leave our school being able to read fluently in order to access all areas of the curriculum, so they are prepared for the next stage of their academic journey. It is equally important that they have a love of reading for pleasure as well as learning to read for meaning, and teachers read regularly to their class to introduce engaging texts and help children to visualize stories as they listen. Phonics is taught daily from the start of Reception to Year 2 and beyond: the children begin to learn the relationship between the sounds they speak and the words they read and write through a programme called Read Write Inc. At Lyminster, the children are taught their early reading skills using Read Write Inc.  Phonics. This is taught daily, with the pupils being grouped to support their needs.  Phonics is taught by Ruth Miskin trained reading leaders with the aim being every child using their phonic knowledge with confidence. Pupils are assessed regularly and moved through the scheme at their pace, ensuring that the learning is understood and embedded.

In Key stage 2, children who require additional support with reading take part in daily FreshStart groups- a continuation of phonics learning with texts that appeal to their age. In all classes, guided reading takes place every day, led by the class teacher. Following the reading objectives from the National Curriculum, the children work on a rotation of a variety of reading skills which include close reading, extended reading and group reading. Teachers choose from a range of high-quality texts, to share with the pupils each week. This is then read, discussed and worked on, focussing on retrieval, inference and vocabulary skills. A wide range of texts are read across each week, some of which are topic or wider curriculum related, with at least one being a class ‘reading for pleasure’ book.  

Our school library is the centre of our reading community; children are given the time to choose their own reading books, and it is a quiet space for them to sit and read with others from their class or with their reading partners in different year groups. It is also a popular space for children to recommend books to their peers.

Reading at Home

Reading, being read to, and sharing books in the home helps to build a child’s vocabulary and understanding of the world. Research shows children who start school with good vocabulary and communication skills make friends more easily, have fewer behavioural issues and are more likely to do well academically. A strong, early foundation in language has even been linked to better mental health as children get older. (Tara Parker, Senior Early Years Programme Manager at the National Literacy Trust)

Your child has a reading record to enable you to record their reading at home. Please ensure that these are up to date and that you read regularly. You can read to your child, they can read to you or they can read with or to a sibling. Pupils will receive certificates to celebrate their reading at home achievements – something that they take pride in at Lyminster Primary School. Make reading a part of your daily routine and your child will reap the benefits; learning a wealth of vocabulary and gaining an awareness of the world.

Writing

In key stage one, children follow the LetterJoin handwriting scheme which is encouraged through a multi-sensory approach. This becomes more formalized from the end of year 1 and into year 2. Mark making opportunities are provided throughout the key stage to refine their gross and fine motor skills, enabling them to confidently hold and use a pen or pencil. Oral rehearsal is key to teaching the children how to write sentences, with lots of practice happening daily. The National Curriculum punctuation skills are taught from Reception and the children are encouraged to follow Lyminster’s Everytimes whenever they are writing.  Writing is encouraged across the curriculum with modelling being central to ensuring that the children are not only ready to write but know what to write and how to do it correctly.

Across the school, our writing curriculum has been created to build upon and embed previously taught skills. Within a year group, the skills and writing journeys are mapped out in the writing overview, with teachers teaching a wide range of style and genres. Writing journeys comprise of research, planning, drafting, editing and publishing, allowing the children to learn that writing is a process which is built upon and adapted at many stages. Pupils are given autonomy over how they write a particular piece and how they present it. Poetry, narrative and non-fiction writing is taught every term, linking to a text or a topic being taught in that year group. Pupils can show their creative flair, not only in their daily writing lessons, but also in their Free Writing sessions. This is a chance for the children to write whatever they want – however they want – giving them complete freedom and an opportunity to show off their writing skills. Grammar is developed through the writing journey, providing the children with ample opportunities to learn the skill, practice it and embed it.  

At Lyminster, we believe that quality writing is best developed through:

  • The use of creative approaches that build imagination and give time for oral rehearsal;
  • Exposing children to quality texts, including visual and digital;
  • Reading aloud quality literature, in order to model rich vocabulary and a range of writing styles;
  • Using shared and guided work to model the craft of writing;
  • Embedding the teaching of phonics, grammar and spelling within the writing journey;
  • Providing time for child to plan, edit and share their ideas, and to receive and respond to effective feedback from adults and their peers;
  • Providing meaningful opportunities for children to write for real purposes and audiences;
    The celebration of effort and achievement.

How is the curriculum implemented to meet the needs of different children and groups of children, particularly those with SEND?

Reading

The reading curriculum is scaffolded to support all pupils, providing opportunities for exploration and challenge. In reading, pupils are taught with appropriate texts which are broken down into manageable sections. Group reading – where all children are all reading out loud together in small groups – is used to improve the confidence of pupils. Vocabulary is pre-taught for the pupils to understand what they are reading, and word mats are provided for students to refer to. Reading is modelled regularly, and pupils are read to in an engaging way so as they can practise and learn this vital skill. To ensure that all pupils have the desire to read, we ensure that the choice of text is engaging and of interest to them. Home support is crucial when teaching all groups of children to read and reading records create a home-school link in which reading can be shared.

Writing

In writing, pupils are provided with scaffolds to support their writing journey. These are used to support each stage, from planning to publishing. Resources including vocabulary mats, spelling lists, and visual aids are available to support children, giving them the confidence to write and supporting the process. Writing is modelled and students are shown examples to support them with their writing journey. For pupils with SEND, the process is adapted to their pace allowing them to experience the whole journey and create a successful outcome. 

How is progress against, and retention of, this curriculum assessed? How are any gaps in learning then addressed?


Reading

Reading in key stage one is assessed regularly using phonics, and pupils are moved through the scheme at the pace that is suited to them. To address gaps, recapping and re-teaching is common practice so as the children become familiar with the sounds being taught. This also allows the learning to become embedded and retention of knowledge is more evident. For some pupils, 1:1 tutoring is implemented to support their phonics learning.  In key stage two, some children will continue with phonics teaching in Fresh Start groups, which addresses gaps from their phonics learning in key stage one. Teachers listen to pupils read, daily, enabling them to assess their fluency and comprehension of the text. Termly NFER reading tests are used to assess their reading skills and these outcomes are then used to inform the next terms teaching.

Writing

The children in key stage one are assessed regularly, as part of their learning journey. This incorporates longer pieces of writing which is age appropriate. At the end of each learning journey, the children produce a piece of writing which is assessed by the class teacher and moderated by the school team. Identified gaps are then addressed through class teaching and intervention, where necessary.

In key stage two, the children produce a range of written pieces across each half term, all of which are assessed by their class teacher. Alongside this, NFER grammar testing is used to ensure that this knowledge is being retained. To address any gaps, some pupils attend small intervention groups, focussing on specific skills and re-teaching skills that they are unsure of.

Phonics

Phonics is taught daily from the start of Reception to Year 2 and beyond: the children begin to learn the relationship between the sounds they speak and the words they read and write through a programme called Read Write Inc.

In addition to Read Write Inc. books linked to their phonics lessons, the children also learn to read more fluently using Oxford Reading Tree books. This scheme is ordered into coloured ‘Book Bands’ which are monitored regularly so that the children are exposed to texts that match their reading level. The scheme takes them through early exploration of stories to becoming fluent, confident readers. Once the children can read fluently with good comprehension, they are encouraged to select their own reading material from school or home, discussing and developing their personal preferences for authors, genres or writing styles.

Read Write Inc. Spelling

Once the children finish with Read Write Inc. phonics, they move on to Read Write Inc Spelling, a stand-alone programme for children in Years 2 to Years 6. Here is a link explaining more: 

For correct pronunciation of sounds, please watch this video:

Handwriting at Lyminster Primary School

A consistent, whole school approach to a cursive style of handwriting has been adopted at Lyminster. Handwriting is taught and highlighted through a combination of focused sessions, phonics lessons, English lessons and the wider curriculum. Teachers and support staff model exemplary handwriting across the curriculum where appropriate, although children continue to be exposed to a range of writing styles and fonts when reading texts and around the classroom and the school environment. We aim to make handwriting an automatic process that does not interfere with creative and mental thinking. Children in Reception and Year 1 are taught the correct formation of the cursive style of letters (upper and lower case) and digits (0 – 9) as they become developmentally ready, and are encouraged to write in a pre-cursive style.

We use Letter-join as the basis of our handwriting policy and cover all the requirements of the 2014 National Curriculum. As a catalyst to speedy handwriting, we encourage parents and carers to practice handwriting at home and provide free access to the Home Edition of Letter-join, please click here to view the Letter-join page. Our username and password may be obtained from the school office or from your child’s class teacher.

Children are encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their work. Our aim is to help pupils enjoy learning and developing their handwriting with a sense of achievement and satisfaction. Examples of good practice and progress across all age groups are celebrated weekly as part of our Celebration Assembly and displayed half-termly on our Handwriting Heroes display.

Please see our Handwriting Policy for further information.

Our Community Library & Library Links

Not only do we have a fantastic library at the heart of our school, there is a fantastic community library within walking distance. Pupils, parents and carers are encouraged to visit the Littlehampton Library and register with them, in order to borrow a wide range of books. The library can support with finding information and will recommend reads for all ages. There are also several events that they organise, which all children can enjoy for free. 

Here are two links to the elibrary, one is the library website and one their facebook page:

You might also like the link for Encyclopedia Britannica which can also be accessed from home with a library card. Included is a link for the primary school age but there is a secondary school age and adult one available too.
https://library.eb.co.uk/levels/junior
The elibrary is very easy to set up and use but here is a link to all their help sheets including the elibrary and Encyclopedia Brittanica.
https://arena.westsussex.gov.uk/web/arena/helpsheets

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