PHONICS
Our Approach to Phonics
As a school, we aim to promote high standards of language and literacy. Throughout our English curriculum, we aim to nurture and develop in the children a love of literature and language as we believe that this is vital in achieving success at school and later in life.
We use Bug Club phonics as our chosen phonics programme. Bug Club Phonics is the dedicated phonics strand of Bug Club, a core reading programme that can be used for independent and guided reading from Reception to Year 6. Together, Bug Club Phonics and Bug Club provide a complete solution to teaching children to read in Reception and Key Stage 1.
INTENT
At North Frodingham Primary School we aim to promote high standards of language and literacy. Throughout our English curriculum, we aim to nurture and develop in the children a love of literature and language as we believe that this is vital in achieving success at school and later in life. In line with the national curriculum 2014, the curriculum at North Frodingham Primary School 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 grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
- appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
- write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
- use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
- are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.
IMPLEMENTATION
English lessons are planned as part of a themed approach and stand-alone sessions.
To promote the importance of reading within the school we have a book banded reading scheme that includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry titles and have a fantastic and varied library. A ‘Reading Spine’ for each class has been introduced which includes a range of high quality classic and modern stories for children to read. Children are encouraged to read independently and regularly to develop and encourage their enjoyment in reading. Reading is taught through Guided Reading sessions and Whole Class Reading sessions where reading comprehension skills are practised and consolidated.
Children have a wide range of opportunities to develop their writing skills from Reception to Key Stage 2. Children are taught the mechanics of writing within the English lesson using a range of fiction and non-fiction books, newspapers, poems and other examples to help develop their writing styles linked to a class text or theme. They are provided with weekly opportunities to practise and develop their skills in a range of writing tasks. Children are given the chance to edit and improve their writing just like a real author by choosing better vocabulary, correcting grammatical errors and improving sentence structure or length.
As a school we want our children to leave school with a broad and enhanced vocabulary. Vocabulary is taught in discrete sessions and within the English lessons where it is explored as part of the class text through the eyes of the reader or writer. Children are also encouraged to question what words mean when they come across a word that is unfamiliar during reading, class work or any other area. Key vocabulary is introduced at the start of a lesson or topic to ensure pupils understand the meaning of these words.
We have developed a range of extra activities which are used to promote English within the school including Roald Dahl Day, World Book Day, Shakespeare Week, recommended reads and author and poet visits.
IMPACT
Through our curriculum our children are challenged to become engaged, enthusiastic, and confident about English.
We measure our impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- Teacher assessment
- A Single Word Spelling test which provides children with a spelling age at the beginning of the year.
- A termly reading assessment using NTS tests, which enable school to track progress, predict future performance and benchmark against national averages.
- Moderation of writing across our federation and within our clusters.
- Pupil discussions about their learning.
