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Delce Academy

Reading and Phonics

It is our intent at Delce Academy to provide pupils with a high-quality education in English that will teach pupils to speak, read and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others effectively.

With regards to Reading, phonics be emphasised in Year 3 to ensure the early teaching of reading is embedded for all when they start Key Stage 2 with us.

We intend to encourage all pupils to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, to gain knowledge across the curriculum and develop their comprehension skills. It is our intention to ensure that, by the end of their primary education, all pupils are able to read fluently, and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education.

The intent of our Reading curriculum is to deliver a curriculum which is accessible to all and that will maximise the outcomes for every child so that they know more, remember more and understand more

Intent

  • To build an English curriculum which develops learning and results in the acquisition of knowledge and skills so that all pupils know more, remember more and understand more.
    To design a curriculum with appropriate subject knowledge, skills and understanding in Speech and Language, Reading and Writing as set out in the National Curriculum so that children can know more, remember more and understand more to help them reach and exceed their potential at Delce Academy and beyond. 
     
  • To build a curriculum which develops a love of reading to help pupils know more, remember more and understand more. 
    To design a curriculum which has reading at its core across all curriculum areas. Through choosing quality texts, we intend to develop a love of reading and allow children to recognise the pleasure they can get from their reading, as well as an understanding that reading allows them to discover new knowledge, revisit prior knowledge and understand more about what they learn, fuelling their imagination for ideas to use in their own work. 

 

  • To provide opportunities across all curricular areas for the development and application of Speaking, Listening and Writing skills to help all pupils know more, remember more and understand more.
    To design a wider curriculum that provides regular opportunities for pupils to use and apply the writing and spoken language skills they have acquired from the English Curriculum. 

 

Implementation

National Curriculum Programmes of Study and Scheme of Work 

  • English is planned for, following the KS2 school curriculum. 
  • English is planned for following the scheme of work (as suggested by The Power of Reading but supplemented by high-quality selected texts which also form units of work). 
  • Whilst the National Curriculum forms the foundation of our curriculum, we make sure that children learn additional skills, knowledge and understanding and enhance our curriculum as and when necessary. 

 

Phonics 

The systematic teaching of phonics has a high priority throughout Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 in our feeder infant schools. Phonics is taught daily to all children in Foundation Stage, Year 1 and those in Year 2 who have not passed phonics screening in Year 1. 

  • Staff systematically teach learners the relationship between sounds and the written spelling patterns, or graphemes, which represent them. 
  • Intervention is planned for those children who are working below expected levels. 
  • Little Wandle is used as the spine for delivery of the phonics sessions. Little Wandle is visual, audial and kinaesthetic, thus increasing the likelihood of rapid progress. 
  • Pupils will be given reading books which closely match the phase of phonics that they are currently working within. 

 

Reading 

Reading forms the core of our curriculum. All children read and are read to so that they develop a love of Reading. Books are selected by teachers with the knowledge of how they link to other areas of the curriculum. 

  • Reading Scheme – school uses different reading schemes to provide a wide variety of appropriate quality texts for children to read, covering all genres. The schemes incorporated into our reading provision include: Little Wandle and The Power of Reading. All books are Book Banded in order to ensure progression and challenge for all children. 
  • Classic Texts – all children will have classic texts read to them in all year groups. This may include traditional fairy tales and rhymes to established classic novels.
  • All children from Year 3 complete regular phonic, reading age and speed reading screens to ensure they read appropriately challenging books. This is regularly checked termly and Reading book bands are changed accordingly. 
  • Individual Reading – all children read individually to a trained adult each weekday. All children read daily in whole class reading lessons. Throughout school, a minority of children will read 1 to 1 with an adult as a form of intervention. 
  • Home Reading – all children are expected to read at home and take home ‘home’ reading books. Children who did not pass Phonics Screening in Year 2 take home 2 reading books, a familiar read and a new read. 
  • Reading lessons – all children take part in Reading lessons. Whole class reading lessons, which run x5 sessions per week, are planned by all teachers to teach a range of skills and techniques which enable children to comprehend the meaning of what they read and develop their understanding of the vocabulary used by authors. 
  • Reading Areas - All classrooms have class reading areas with subject specific books and other age-appropriate reading for pleasure books. All classrooms have access to themed mental well-being books outside the classroom. 
  • Library - All children visit the school library each week and choose a book to read at home for pleasure. 

 

Language 

  • The promotion of a language rich curriculum is essential to the successful acquisition across the curriculum. 
  • The development of speech and language is identified as one of the most important parts of our school’s curriculum. 
  • The promotion and use of an accurate and rich cross-curricular vocabulary throughout school is planned in all subjects. This is evident in all learning areas and is a key part of knowledge organisers. 
  • The promotion and implementation of tiered language across the curriculum provides the tools for children to make links across the subjects so that they know more, remember more and understand more. 
  • Pupils are given a wide range of opportunities to use and develop their Speaking and Listening skills to help them with the writing process across all areas of the curriculum. Appropriate Talk for Writing strategies are also used across school, where they will aid and benefit the writing process. 

 

Access to a global curriculum based on a core text approach, where topics are taught through high quality books with relatable themes and protagonists that excite and motivate them.

  • Dedicated time each day when an adult will read aloud to them from a carefully selected Reading Canon, aimed to build on their cultural capital.
  • Daily opportunities to read to an adult and other children in the classroom. These sessions are prioritised to the first lesson of the day.
  • Daily opportunities to engage in quality book talk.
  • An engaging, clearly labelled, tidy reading area in their classroom with a range of high-quality fiction and non-fiction texts.
  • An author focuses on a box in their book corner – to develop a growing taste and preference for certain styles.
  • Some children have the opportunity to participate in a book club, based in our library spaces – time dedicated to enjoying books and engaging in book talk.   
  • Participation in World Book Week dress up and enrichment events such as author visits and storytelling.

Impact

  • Children will make at least good progress in Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening from their last point of statutory assessment.
  • Children will use their English knowledge and skills, in all curriculum areas, to enable them to know more, remember more and understand more. 
  • Children will have a love of reading and make at least good progress in reading from their last point of statutory assessment.
  • Children will use their Reading skills as a key tool in helping them to learn, and as a result, know more, remember more and understand more. 
  • Children will be able to produce written work in all areas of the curriculum of a similar standard which evidence good progress from their last point of statutory assessment point.