Reading

 Intent

At Brampton we believe that reading is an essential life skill and is a top priority within our curriculum. We aim to foster a love of reading whilst teaching the children the skills they need to confidently decode words and then progress to become fluent readers who use their knowledge to infer meaning within texts.

 Implementation

At Brampton we follow a synthetic phonics programme called Read, Write Inc where children learn the letter sounds and how to blend them together to read words. This begins in EYFS, continues through KS1, and, where needed, into KS2.

Children are taught daily in small groups where they participate in speaking, listening, spelling and reading activities matched to their current needs.

From Year 2 children progress onto the Read Write Inc Spelling scheme where daily lessons recap phonic knowledge through ‘dot and dash’ activities.

Children in Key Stage 2 take part in whole class, daily reading lessons following our Brampton scheme which focuses on 8 key strategies (background knowledge, predict, visualise, inference, breakdown, repair, VIP, gist) as well as retrieval, deduction and inference questions. Texts are chosen that link to topic, children’s interests and favourite stories – these may be extracts or whole novels. Lessons occur x4 per week, with written answers being done at least once a week.

To foster a love of reading each class has a novel which is read for pleasure, to excite and engage the children, and to expose them to new and varied vocabulary. We also have a school library, reading areas within each classroom and reward systems in place.

Reading at home is encouraged and promoted throughout school. Children working on the Read, Write Inc programme take home a ‘book bag book’ matched directly to their current phonics level; they are also encouraged to choose an additional book to share with their family at home. Following this, children work through our school reading scheme – these are levelled books which match the child’s current reading ability. We expect family members at home to read these books with their child daily and make comments in their child’s reading record. We also run a successful library club where children are encouraged to come and borrow a book of their choice from the excellent range on offer in our newly refurbished library.

 Impact

Through the teaching of synthetic phonics, our aim is for children to become fluent and confident word readers by the end of KS1.

As a Year 6 reader we aspire that children are fluent, confident and able readers, who can access a range of texts for pleasure and enjoyment, as well as using their reading skills to unlock learning and access all areas of the curriculum.

We firmly believe that reading is a key life skill which enables children to enter wide and varied magical worlds as they develop their own interest in books and begin to foster a love of literature.

Have a look at the video links below to find out more about our phonics programme. 

Click here for an overview of Read, Write Inc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjlPILhk7bQ

Click here to learn how to say the pure sounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yln6PpV1G1I 

Writing

Intent

At Brampton we believe that writing is a key skill for life both inside and out of education and that is why it features across all the subjects taught across our school. We want all children to be able to confidently communicate their knowledge, ideas and emotions through their writing and reach their full potential.

The writing curriculum at Brampton encourages children to immerse themselves in different text types, understand the features and impact of these, and realise the importance of them beyond education. We aim to provide the children with varied reasons for writing and believe that this not only produces higher quality writing, but allows our learners to apply their skills to a range of different contexts.

Implementation

In EYFS children begin their writing journey through gross motor activities and the Squiggle Whilst You Wiggle programme which enables them to build and strengthen their fine motor control. In Reception they move on to learning to correctly write letters using the Read, Write Inc handwriting phrases. Continuous provision activities are also available to help children practice these skills. Once children are blending sounds to read words, they begin to practice segmenting to spell and explore writing through their weekly focus text.

Once in Key Stage 1 children practice their writing skills daily in the Get Writing segment of their Read, Write Inc sessions. This allows children to be taught new writing skills and spelling rules at their current reading age.

Key Stage 1 children also receive a 40 minute literacy lesson 4 times a week. Children study different high-quality texts linked to their current topic and teachers model high quality writing within each session. During this process teachers think out loud, edit and demonstrate how and why they have structured their writing the way they have. Children are then given opportunities to participate in shared, supported and finally independent writing.

Key Stage 2 children receive hour long daily literacy lessons. Again, different high-quality texts are studied which often link to topic. Children are given opportunities to deconstruct texts and identify key features of specific genres of writing. Real life examples of writing and WAGGOLs are used in sessions as examples of successful pieces of work. High quality writing is then modelled by teachers to demonstrate the writing process, and children are given time to participate in shared, supported and independent writing.

From Year 2, classes follow the Read, Write Inc spelling scheme which explores spelling patterns and rules. We aim to create confident and proficient spellers using a discrete teaching approach underpinned by phonics. Children are also taught to spell accurately, proof-read their spellings and use dictionaries and thesauruses.

Impact

Through the implementation of our writing process, we aim for pupils to leave Brampton as confident and capable writers who are able to adapt their language and style for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. Children will also be able to effectively apply the spelling rules and patterns they have been taught during writing. Most importantly of all, we aim for our children to have developed a genuine love and appreciation of writing.

Writing monitoring is ongoing through all teaching sequences and teachers assess at key points throughout the school year. This information is shared with children and their parents three times per academic year. Teachers meet termly to moderate writing throughout the school and to ensure that judgements are accurate.