English

Writing

Intent

At West Cliff we inspire and engage our learners. Children enjoy expressing themselves creatively through their writing and on stage in regular musical productions. Their love of ambitious vocabulary and knowledge of grammatical concepts is developed in language-rich classrooms, and then applied when writing independently for a range of purposes and audiences.

• We provide a clear sequence of learning, building on children’s prior knowledge and skills, and making meaningful connections with reading.  
• We aim to develop a love for writing with a sense of pride when children present their work.

• We give children the opportunity to write in a range of styles and genres. As children move though school and develop their skills, they begin to make decisions as to how to present their work to their chosen audience.
• We use a consistent approach to teaching spelling.

Implementation

• Our long term English plan shows progression through school and ensures a balanced coverage of styles and genres.
• Writing is linked to carefully chosen, high quality texts that inspire teachers and engage our children.
  • High quality models for writing are used for analysing word, sentence and organisational features. Children ‘magpie’ vocabulary and phrases that they can utilise in their own writing.
  • Teachers model writing, focusing on punctuation and grammar from the National Curriculum.
  • Children draft and redraft. They edit and improve their writing throughout the writing process.
• Teachers provide written and verbal feedback to children.
• The teaching of the statutory spelling rules are implemented through a range of strategies that include phonology (how it sounds), graphology (writing the word), orthography (how it looks), morphology (how your brain remembers it) and etymology (history of the word). 
• In EYFS, well-sequenced phonics teaching supports letter formation and spelling of words. We follow the Little Wandle programme and writing is an important and valued part of each phonics session.  In the early stages of EYFS mark making is valued and writing is implemented in the moment, engaging children in purposeful writing through their play. Adult modelling is key to children segmenting words accurately and forming letters correctly. Environment enhancements always include chances for writing to encourage learning and opportunities to meet individual children’s needs.

Impact

Our children

• are confident and enthusiastic writers
• understand that writing can impact people’s lives.

Professional judgements for writing are recorded each term on our assessment system so impact can be measured.

Reading

Reading enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society; pupils who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently have a huge barrier to success and other aspects of life.

Intent

At West Cliff we put reading at the centre of our curriculum. Children have access to a range of high-quality texts throughout school and through this, we aim to inspire, engage and create a ‘love of reading’.

• We promote a love of reading  
• We ensure that every child has access to a range of books to share at home.
• We ensure that children read to a high standard of fluency and understanding, regardless of their background, needs or prior attainment 
• We aim to close the ‘word gap’ by expanding pupils' vocabulary and deepen their understanding of the texts they are reading 

Implementation

• Our long term English plan shows progression through school and ensures all children have access to a range of high-quality, age-related texts.
• Children have opportunities to read across the curriculum.
• Children read daily individually, in pairs, in groups, as a whole class or to an adult.
• Whole class reading sessions ensure that children are regularly practising skills linked to each of the reading domains throughout each week.
  • In these sessions, teachers model reading for children.
  • These sessions allow all children to access high-quality, age appropriate texts and expose them to a variety of vocabulary. Unpicking this higher level vocabulary will deepen children’s understanding of the text.
• Children in EYFS and KS1 have high-quality ‘Reading for Pleasure’ books which children can take home to share with others.
• Children in KS2 have a library of ‘fantastic books to read in …’ in their classrooms. These provide a broad reading diet with a range of authors, genres and modern and older texts.
• Classes have a daily storytelling session.
• Inspiring reading areas with high-quality texts.
• A reading hut to access books at playtime with an attached garden to enjoy the books in.
• Reading afternoons where we invite parents and governors into school to share books with us.
• In EYFS, reading is a priority. We focus on developing fluency, confidence and enjoyment of reading. Adults will consistently model language, vocabulary and syntax both from books and stories, as well as throughout the day in play through our in the momentapproach to teaching and learning.  EYFS and KS1 have daily 20 minute storytelling time where children explore books, rhymes, songs and create their own narratives. 

Impact

Our children

• are enthusiastic readers who choose to read for pleasure.
• are excited to read frequently, recommend and talk about their favourite books.
• are eager to listen to the next part of the story in our story time or whole class reading sessions.

Professional judgements for reading are recorded on our assessment system so impact can be measured.

Visit our Reading page