English

Intent

At Rookery School we provide a bespoke curriculum that is both broad and balanced. It is inspirational, relevant and meaningful. We believe that ‘everything starts with a book’ so each curriculum theme is matched with an appropriate high quality text.

We are passionate about reading at Rookery School and believe that all children should have the opportunity to develop a love of reading. Our reading curriculum is designed to develop strong readers who are able to read fluently, with confidence and understanding. We place a strong emphasis on the enjoyment of reading and our pupils have access to a wide range of high-quality texts. We also recognise the importance of developing pupils’ comprehension skills and provide opportunities for them to discuss and share their understanding of what they have read.

Our aim is for all children to

• develop pupils’ skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening. By the time that pupils move on from our school, our aim is for them to:
• be fluent readers and writers
• have a positive attitude towards books and reading, reading widely for pleasure and information
• Enjoy writing in different contexts and for different purposes and audiences
• Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting language and style accordingly
• Be curious and creative when it comes to reading and writing, for example by being interested in learning the meaning of new words
• Have a wide vocabulary and understanding of grammar
• Feel confident speaking in class and be able to clearly explain their understanding and ideas
• Listen carefully and sensitively to adults and their peers

Implementation

At Rookery School, reading is at the heart of our curriculum. Our aim is that every pupil will learn to read fluently and confidently, regardless of their background, needs or abilities, by the age of 7. We recognise that being able to read is the single biggest indicator of success in later life, (OECD, 2021). Our reading curriculum enables children to become proficient, fluent readers who develop an enjoyment and appreciation of books, giving them the confidence and skills to succeed and thrive in life.

Phonics and Early Reading

Our school phonics programme is Read Write Inc, which sets out a structured and systematic approach for children to become fluent readers by the end of KS1. The children are assessed regularly and grouped according to their ability, to allow complete participation in lessons. Any child which is not meeting expectations in their reading ability is swiftly supported through additional interventions, which are evaluated regularly.
In Read Write Inc, the children will:

• Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple prompts
• Learn to read words using sound blending (Fred talk)
• Read lively stories and non-fiction books featuring words they have learnt to sound out
• Show that they comprehend the stories by answering ‘Find It’ and ‘Prove It’ discussion questions

See the ‘Phonics’ section of our website for more information.  

In KS1, children who have finished the phonics programme will be taught the following skills:

• Draw on knowledge of vocabulary to understand texts
• Identify and explain key aspects of texts, such as characters, events, titles and information
• Be able to sequence events in texts
• Make inferences from the text (look for clues from which we can make an informed assumption)
• Predict what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far.

In KS2, children will be taught the following skills:

• Retrieve and record information
• Explain the meaning of words in context
• Identify and explain how meaning is enhanced through words and phrases
• Make inferences from the text, and justify these with evidence
• Summarise main ideas from more than one paragraph
• Predict what might happen from what has happened, or what is implied
• Explain how information is related and contributes to meaning
• Make comparisons within and across texts

Our Reading Spine

We have created a progressive Reading Spine at Rookery School of carefully selected books that children will read in each year group. This ensures that by the end of our pupils’ journey at Rookery, they will have read a wealth of high-quality, diverse books. We offer an inspirational, ambitious Reading Spine including classic texts, texts to complement the curriculum and texts to develop children’s culture and understanding of inclusivity. Class books are read aloud daily by the class teacher. We use supplementary texts throughout the wider curriculum to deepen subject knowledge and to continue to develop reading fluency.

• In Early Years and Key Stage One we have a weekly text in addition the reading spine books. Teachers read this book daily. This book is used to encourage oral storytelling, deepening understanding of sequencing and applying new vocabulary.
• See the ‘EYFS’ section of the website for the EYFS Reading Spine.

Reading for Pleasure

• Our aim is to create life-long readers at Rookery and our home-reader offer supports this. From EYFS to Year 3/4, children are provided with home-reader books that closely match their reading ability. Whilst children are on our RWI phonics programme, they receive a weekly RWI Phonics Book Bag Book to correlate with their RWI coloured group. When the RWI programme is completed, we use the Lexile to ensure children have an age related text. Children in Year 4 to 6 will also have a home-reader if they are working below age-related expectations.
• All children across the school have a reading for pleasure book and are encouraged to read regularly at home. Every classroom has a varied selection of books and there are two well stocked libraries in school. They are used to promote a love of books, to explore authors and to develop children’s own reading interests.
• We provide positive reading opportunities throughout the year for our children and families to engaged with, these include phonic workshops and reading events

Writing

At Rookery School, we are committed to ensuring every pupil will gain the knowledge and skills to write independently, creatively and with purpose. This year we have adopted Talk for Writing across school. 

Talk for Writing enables all children to achieve and retain the skills to become proficient story tellers and writers. Texts are internalised throughout oral practice in order to support all learners and scaffold where needed. It also gives opportunities for confident writers to flourish and use their own ideas and imagination often based on their own reading. This approach enables children to read and write for a variety of audiences and purposes, moving from dependence towards independence. The three main stages are outlined below.

The Stages of Talk for Writing

Imitation

The teaching begins with some sort of creative ‘hook’ which engages the pupils, often with a sense of enjoyment, audience and purpose. The model text is pitched well above the pupils’ level and has built into it the underlying, transferable structures and language patterns that students will need when they are writing. This is learned using a ‘text map’ and actions to strengthen memory and help students internalise the text. 

All of this first phase is underpinned by rehearsing key vocabulary and grammatical patterns. Short-burst writing is used to practise key focuses such as description, persuasion or explanation.

Innovation

Once students are familiar with the model text, then the teacher leads them into creating their own versions. With younger pupils, this is based on changing the basic map and retelling new versions. Older students use boxed-up planners and the teacher demonstrates how to create simple plans and orally develop ideas prior to writing. Shared and guided writing is then used concentrating on bringing all the elements together, writing effectively and accurately. Feedback is given during the lessons, utilising iPad, so that students can effectively be taught how to improve their writing and make it more accurate. Teachers will also guide children to edit in pairs and independently, allowing students to contribute to the success of others. 

Independent application  

Students will then move on to the third phase, which is when they apply independently what has been taught and practised. Students are guided through planning, drafting and revising their work independently. With non-fiction, students will apply what they have been taught across the curriculum. 

Within our writing curriculum, we use technology to enhance both the engagement of the pupils and effective teaching through a variety of apps on iPad. 

Handwriting

We expect high levels of presentation across all pieces of work, and as such, we follow the Pen pals handwriting scheme. We progressively teach children to form letters correctly using the following main joins:

• To letters without ascenders
• To letters with ascenders
• Horizontal joins