Phonics is taught daily in EYFS, Year 1 and 2. After recognising the words, the children practice spelling them. At St. Elizabeth’s, we use ‘Read, Write Inc’ as our approach to teaching Phonics. We equip children with the skills to be able to read real and ‘nonsense’ words which is a requirement for the Phonics Screening testing, normally carried out in June, in Year One. If a child doesn’t pass the test in Year 1, they get the opportunity to retake the test the following year.
Phonics is assessed termly and tracked in KS1 and into KS2 when needed. Some Key Stage 2 children may receive extra phonics intervention work, or a repetitive spelling programme intervention, with a teaching assistant.
At St. Elizabeth’s, the children in EYFS and KS1 are read to and with daily. The Read, Write Inc. literacy programme is used to teach reading. This programme integrates phonics with comprehension, writing, grammar, spelling and handwriting.
From Year 3 onwards, the children engage in both daily small group reading carousels (which incorporates Accelerated Reader) and 5x ‘Talk for Reading’ sessions per week. Children read with the teacher or TA 1:1 at least once a week and are also read too at allocated opportunities through the week.
Talk for Reading (Pi Corbett)
The Key Stage 2 reading curriculum is carefully planned so that all aspects of reading are specifically taught each week. The children experience a variety of carefully selected high-quality texts, based upon the dialogic Talk for Reading whole-class reading scheme. As discussed by Pie Corbett, we define ‘high-quality’ texts to be “Books that are beautifully written and so deeply imagined that they stay with the reader forever, altering how we see the world and what we understand about the human condition”. The high-quality texts on our reading spine and those interwoven into our curriculum are meaningfully chosen by staff, aiming to reflect the diversity and inclusivity of our modern world, making explicit links between our texts and Catholic Social Teaching and our personal development ‘Keys to Success’. In KS2, we aim for children to study at least one fiction, non-fiction, poem and set of song lyrics every term across the reading curriculum.
The foci for whole class reading sessions each week are as follows:
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- Vocabulary: Children study the vocabulary and context of a new model text in explicit detail.
- Fluency: Using the principles of the Herts for Learning fluency project, fluency is explicitly modelled through methods such as choral reading and echo reading.
- Model Answers: Through carefully crafted and engaging activities, teachers explicitly model answers regarding the content and context of the text studied, and the children are taught how to apply these concepts with increasing independence.
- Independent application: The children independently answer a series of questions, building upon the knowledge acquired throughout the week.
- Independent application (marking): In the final session, whole-class marking and discussion of answers is undertaken, providing children with the opportunity to uplevel their answers with their purple (editing) pen.
Throughout these lessons, children develop their use of tier 2 and 3 language, enhancing their understanding of texts across the curriculum. Each T4R week also contains a ‘big question’ focus, which explores the purpose, themes and effect of a text and author. This encourages the children to actively engage with the text in an appreciative and critical manner incorporating all domains.
Guided Reading Carousel
As well as the T4R whole class reading lesson, KS2 children also have a daily, guided group reading session. During this time, the children partake in one of the following, alternating throughout the week: reading 1:1 with a TA, reading for pleasure, reading an extended text and answering related comprehension questions, whole class marking of said comprehension questions, quizzing on Accelerated Reader, or recording and researching words on their vocabulary bookmark.
Due to MyBookBlog’s recent collapse, starting from September 2024, we now use Accelerated Reader for our home reading scheme. Similar to MyBookBlog, this means the children have a dedicated home reading book which they have chosen from our collection in school. The books the children can access are based upon their optimal Zone of Proximal Development, as assessed by their progress on Accelerated Reader. This ensures that the books they choose are accessible to their reading level, but also promote challenge! Once they have read the book, they are to complete an Accelerated Reader quiz online, based on the events they have read. To support this, the children also have a reading ‘scrapbook’, in which they can take notes and draw images in to help aid their retention of the book. The children are free to change their book as soon as they have read and ‘quizzed’ it. Please see the Accelerated Reader Introductory Parent Letter (below) for further information.
Please ensure that your child continues to bring in their home reading book on their allocated day so that we can assess their progress regularly. Please also ensure that the children take care of these books at home; we politely ask for a like for like replacement to be purchased for any lost or damaged books.
Children are expected to read at home for at least 10 minutes every day and the more often they read the better! This includes reading to an adult. In lieu of home-reading diaries, driven by feedback from parents, we also provide the children with a ‘bookmark’ to help monitor their reading progress. On this card bookmark, the children are to write down any words they are unfamiliar with or have struggled to decode when reading their book. They then have the opportunity to look up the meaning and context of these words with the TA and during the relevant guided reading session. Both parents and children are encouraged to add words to bookmarks!
As a school, we follow the Talk 4 Writing scheme of English, created by Pi Corbett. We have been working alongside T4W expert Dean Thompson to consolidate our teaching of this fantastic scheme, which enables children of all ages and abilities to learn to write with confidence and creativity. The scheme embodies a three-stage pedagogy: Imitation, Innovation and Invention, put simply: I do, We do, You do. Through its multi-sensory and interactive approach, the scheme aims to improve writing ability by giving pupils a secure understanding of the structure and elements of written language. This involves working with model texts and toolkits, which the children commit to memory to aide the structure and content of their writing. Throughout this scheme, grammar is also interwoven. Where possible, the teaching of grammar rules are applied to the context of the lesson, using texts learnt for consolidation. Children also partake in short ‘SPaG flashbacks’ at the beginning of each lesson, to revisit SPaG skills discretely.
Imitation
Each topic begins with a ‘hook’, (a wow activity!) which fires up the children’s creativity and imagination before they immerse themselves in the model text. Teachers start each new genre with a ‘Cold Task’ – where children write in the style of the new genre, to show what they can already do, informed by prior learning. This is their ‘starting point’ and allows the teacher to assess the children’s initial strengths and weaknesses and plan meaningful lessons, informed by our ‘cold write grids’.
Next, during this phase the children learn a model text using actions and story maps. The key to success for the children is that they internalise the text type through repetition and rehearsal. They explore the structure of the narrative and investigate the different characters, settings and events. They also begin to look closely at the language used and the effect this has on the reader. We call this process ‘reading as a writer’. The classroom becomes a dynamic, interactive resource filled with word ideas, sentence types and language tools collected by the children to use in their stories later. During these two weeks, we do plenty of short-burst writing activities so that the children begin to understand the construction of sentences and why we use certain sentences and language features for certain purposes.
Innovation
During this phase, the teacher and the children begin to change aspects of the model text using their own ideas. They explore the text using different characters, settings or events and new ideas for descriptive language whilst sticking closely to the underlying structure. It is during this phase that the children work using their toolkits learned in the imitation phase. The toolkits, based on the features and ingredients of the model text, remind children of the different strategies they could use in their stories and helps them to see the progress they are making.
Invention
In this stage, the children plan and write their own text based upon the text type they have been learning. This is their opportunity to experiment with different ideas and begin to explore their own style of writing using sentence types from the model text. We also prioritise editing their work, as a key skill in writing. In KS2, this is done using a purple pen. During independent work, expectations are differentiated for each group, and children are assessed against an assessment criteria that is suitable for their level of learning. This is marked using a ‘hot write grid’, their progress analysed in comparison to their prior ‘cold write grid’.
Starting in the 2023/24 academic year, in KS2, we adopted a new spelling scheme, Read Write Inc. spelling. This follows on from our KS1 phonics scheme to allow for cohesive and consistent progression and development. The scheme teaches children methods for working out how to spell any words which have regular patterns. There is also a focus on irregular spelling patterns which need to be memorised.
We follow set RWI spelling sessions each week, running for 15 minutes, 3x per week. All units follow the same format of fun activities, together with tips explaining when each spelling pattern is likely to be used. Assessment throughout a unit is ongoing and children will be logging spellings that they find difficult in their ‘Spelling Logs’. These words will be personalised to each child, as the children choose the words they wish to ‘log’, based on which words they have found difficult throughout the week. There will be 6 words to practise each week, with a focus primarily upon the spelling rule they follow. These words are then tested in partners (in a low-stakes manner) at the start of the following unit. You can help support your child by practising the words in your child’s spelling log each night at home, and by revisiting words learnt in previous weeks.
We also provide the children with 1 set session a week to utilise the Mastery Zone on SpellingShed, an AI powered tool that helps students focus on the words and spelling patterns they need to learn, individualised to them! This is also encouraged as a vital practice hub for the children at home. We encourage the children to practice spellings daily. The spellings set each week on SpellingShed have been lined up with the spelling rules present in the RWI scheme, allowing children to continue practicing on SpellingShed.
In light of the OFSTED ‘Stronger Foundations’ report, which examines how schools secure the foundational knowledge and skills that every child needs by the end of key stage 1, we have recently invigorated our approach to handwriting.
Each day, children undertake daily handwriting practice as they re-enter the classroom after lunchtime. Following a handwriting progression document, tailored to fit our RWI letter families, teachers model the formation of a letter/group of letters using an online handwriting repeater, the style of which matches our specific handwriting lined books, used across the curriculum.
Alongside this daily, dedicated practice, we also
We also strive to use a specific font when presenting children with typed copies of work, which follows our taught letter formation.
Particularly in the Early Years, we recognise that children’s bones develop at different rates and some children find handwriting a challenge. EYFS develop gross and fine motor skills through fun methods such as Dough Disco and Squiggle Whilst You Wiggle. A focus on these gross and fine motor skills will extend into Year 1 and Year 2, and informed by each child’s personalised transcription profile, which follows them through from EYFS to Year 2, interventions can be undertaken to address this. These range from Bubble Handwriting and the scaffolding symbols of sunshine, boat or deep sea letters, to Fizzy Hands fine motor skills intervention and weekly, coach-led gross motor skills physical literacy.
