English
Meryfield English
Intent:
At Meryfield, we are passionate in our aim to help the children become articulate and imaginative communicators, who are well-equipped with the basic skills they need to become life-long learners. We believe that the key to this lies in our teaching of English.
We want our children to become fluent and competent readers who read for pleasure and develop the stamina to comprehend longer and more challenging texts as they move through the school. In writing, it is our aim that the children write with confidence and accuracy for a variety of purposes and audiences. We want them to develop their own individual flair whilst maintaining rigour in terms of grammatical accuracy, spelling and presentation. As a core life- skill, we want our children to be able to speak clearly and confidently and to work collaboratively with peers to express and share thoughts.
Reading
Our Reading Culture
Reading and the teaching of reading forms an integral part of learning throughout the curriculum. Children are expected to read daily and reading journals are annotated by parents or pupils depending on their age. In addition, teachers read quality texts to their class every day; in Early Years and Year 1 they read a minimum of three stories a day. Opportunities for echo reading to improve fluency as well as individual “performance” reading from the board is encouraged across all lessons.
The “celebration” of reading can be seen throughout the school. World Book Day and other key reading events, including travelling book fairs, are marked throughout the school year. We are fortunate to have a well-stocked bespoke library which has a cosy and welcoming ambiance. Our school librarian has an excellent knowledge of children’s literature as well as a passion for reading herself and she is constantly researching new titles to keep the books we offer up-to-date. We have had a recent focus on non-fiction texts and invested in a large selection of new titles. All children from Nursery to Year 6 have weekly library slots to select a book. For younger children, this acts as a supplement to the phonics-matched book that has been selected from them in class and is intended to ensure that reading for pleasure is always our focus.
In KS2, we encourage “peer recommendations” in the form of an ever-changing display board which children can visit to read reviews of recent books that have been enjoyed by others.
Children who find reading challenging or may not have support at home are given a reading buddy. Almost every adult on site is involved in this initiative as well as some Year 6 children. A ten-minute slot is put aside each week for a special reading session with those children. In addition, we ask parents (and sometimes members of staff) to be mystery readers who pop in on a Friday afternoon to read to the class. These visits generate much suspense and excitement and are a very effective way of involving parents with reading.
Implementation
Phonics
Read Write Inc.
Phonics is the gateway to reading and writing; life-long skills that pave the way to success both in school and beyond. It is through phonics that our children learn to decode written letters and spoken sounds. At Meryfield Primary School, we teach phonics using a scheme called 'Read Write Inc.'
Read Write Inc. is a whole-school phonics programme designed and developed by Ruth Miskin, one of the country’s leading authorities on teaching children to read. The programme aims to help all children learn to read fluently and at speed, so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling.
When a child joins Meryfield, their reading and phonetic ability is assessed within the first few weeks. If the child has gaps in their knowledge of phonics or is struggling to read fluently, these gaps will be taught through either whole class sessions or through individual or group interventions.
We are investing in the training of teachers and teaching assistants to carry out the programme effectively with small groups of children. These groups are organised according to their specific needs, and the specific sounds and letters are taught in fun and engaging ways.
As children progress through the levels, they are assessed every half term to ensure they are placed in groups most appropriate for them.
Key sounds taught
Sounds are taught in 3 sets in 'Read Write Inc'.
Set 1 Speed Sounds:
Set 1 Speed Sounds are the first group of sounds, which contain sounds written with one letter:
m a s d t i n p g o c k u b f e l h r j v y w z x
and sounds written with two letters (your child will call these ‘special friends’):
sh th ch qu ng nk
Your child will learn to blend these sounds into words, e.g.
m–a–t mat,
f–i–sh fish,
s–p–r–i–ng spring.
Set 1 Special Friends
sh th ch qu ng nk
Set 2 Speed Sounds:
Once your child has mastered reading Set 1 Speed Sounds, they will then begin to learn Set 2 Speed Sounds. The following are Set 2 Speed Sounds:
ay ee igh ow oo (zoo) oo (look) ar or air ir ou oy
Set 3 Speed Sounds:
The final set of speed sounds that your child will learn are the Set 3 Speed Sounds. These are:
ea oi a-e i-e o-e u-e aw are ur er ow ai oa ew ire ear ure tion tious/cious
additional sounds
ue au e-e kn wh ph
Our youngest children in Nursery develop a love of books through continued sharing of rhymes and stories throughout the day. Through this they develop early sounds (Read Write Inc Set 1).
In reception, through our daily Read Write Inc phonics lessons, children make rapid progress. To continue their reading journey outside of school, they take home a folder with a book linked to phonics as well as an “interest” book that can be shared with an adult.
Read Write Inc continues in Year 1 and children begin to experience guided reading in small groups. From Year 2, our guided reading lessons comprise a mixture of whole class sessions and group work that enable the children to have maximum adult support tailored to their needs. To ensure continuity and progression, the school follows the Twinkl Reading Dogs scheme that cover the core reading skills of vocabulary, retrieval, sequencing, summarising, inferring and predicting.
Writing
Early years writing begin writing through oral story telling using traditional tales and also describing a simple picture as well as using the Ditties in RWI.
In KS1 and 2, we use a combination of The Write Stuff and Herts for Learning approaches for our writing lessons which give the children, through high quality texts, an exposure to clear modelling and a rich vocabulary base from which to build their own writing, as well as exemplifying the standards required for spelling, grammar and punctuation. Children are encouraged to “have a go” and not be constrained by getting everything correct in a first draft. They understand that planning, editing and revising is part of the writing process. The teaching of grammar and punctuation knowledge and skills is woven throughout the English curriculum with opportunities for additional practice and revision given in lesson starters and bespoke sessions.
Following on from the teaching of phonics using Read Write Inc in Early Years and Year 1 from Year 2, we use the Essential spelling scheme. This scheme aims to focuses on the teaching of spelling rather than spelling lists and testing, so that children understand how to apply patterns, strategies and knowledge to all words.
To ensure that children do not just see the need for quality writing within the English lessons, we place equal importance on good sentence structure and rigour in spelling and punctuation across the curriculum.
Our marking in English is designed to make immediate impact. Marking codes,that progress through the year groups, are used that encourage children to seek the errors for themselves thus creating a less passive correcting culture. There is a strong focus on verbal feedback and exchange, in order for the children to have a really clear understanding of their next steps in writing.
Speaking and Listening
The children are given opportunities throughout the school day to explore their thoughts and ideas through talk. They are encouraged to confidently speak in complete sentences using Standard English and have an understanding of the appropriate register to adopt. Speaking frames are used throughout the curriculum to help them to structure their talk. Speaking and listening opportunities include:
- Listening to class readers
- Speech Cup
- Oral rehearsal for writing
- Talk partners
- Debating sessions within lessons
- Pupil conferencing
- Assemblies
- School council
- Pupil voice activities
- Pupil/parent workshops
- Head teacher’s tea parties
Impact
Reading
Children demonstrate a love of reading across a wide range of genres and authors and develop a list of favourite reads.
Children can talk confidently and enthusiastically about what they are reading/have read in pupil voice sessions.
Children demonstrate a good level of reading comprehension in their guided reading lessons, NFER in-house test papers and final outcomes in KS2 SATs.
Writing
Children’s books demonstrate a clear progression of writing for a range of purposes and audiences.
Rigour employed in grammar, punctuation, spelling and presentation demonstrate skills of editing and improving and is evidence that children take a pride in their work.
Children talk with enthusiasm about their writing
Speaking and listening
Children speak with greater clarity and confidence using Standard English.
They become attentive listeners and learn to value the opinions of others when working collaboratively.
They become familiar with and more proficient at oral rehearsal before writing that will impact on the quality of their work.