Writing

The teaching of writing forms a major part of the English Curriculum, at St John's we aim to promote high standards of writing, through clear progressive planning and effective teaching.  We aim to promote self-confidence, so that pupils feel able to communicate their ideas effectively in writing, whilst gaining skills and confidence in the use of spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG). We aim to show our own enthusiasm for books with the children to inspire them and help them to develop a love of writing.

Teaching Methods

Foundation Stage

Children will:

• Experience English through play and teaching, according to the Development Matters bands and Early Learning Goals
• Learn to form letters correctly in-line with the Handwriting Policy
• Learn to write their name correctly
• Develop their knowledge of sentence structure through discussion and formal teaching
• Learn how to write lists, captions and labels
• Be encouraged to develop their own emergent writing
• Begin to use their phonic knowledge and simple known words in their own writing.

In Key Stage One

Each Teacher Will:

• Ensure the correct pitch and expectation is given, according to pupils’ starting points, in daily teaching
• Model each genre of writing during Shared Writing times in English lessons
• Use appropriate resources to support, consolidate and develop grammatical skills
• Use end of year expectations to inform planning, teaching & learning
• Use Key Stage 1 Pedagogy stamps to inform children of their ‘next steps’
• Teach 'Letters and Sounds' programme
• Adopt a novel based approach to writing, to immerse the children into a setting, story and characters to stimulate ideas, discussion and enthusiasm

Children Will:

• Take part in shared, and guided writing weekly to look more closely at style and content of their written work
• Complete at least two pieces of written work a week
• Use ICT to enhance their writing skills
• Consolidate and practise their writing skills through cross curricular opportunities
• Use teacher feedback to improve own writing

Key Stage Two

Each teacher will:

• Ensure the correct pitch and expectation is given, according to pupils’ starting points, in daily teaching
• Model each genre of writing during Shared Writing times in English lessons
• Ensure children are completing at least two pieces of written work a week
• Use appropriate resources to support, consolidate and develop grammatical skills
• Use end of year expectations to inform planning, teaching & learning
• Use written/verbal feedback to inform the children of their next steps
• Use ICT Texts, class books and whole texts to support teaching and learning
• Use recommended internet sites for activities
• Adopt a novel based approach to writing, to immerse the children into a setting, story and characters to stimulate ideas, discussion and enthusiasm

Children Will:

• Take part in shared writing fortnightly
• Children will complete at least two pieces of written work a week
• Take part in a guided writing sessions at least every two weeks to look at the style and content of their work and work with the teacher to develop particular skills
• Consolidate and practise their writing skills through cross-curricular opportunities
• Use ICT to enhance their writing skills
• Use the teacher’s written and verbal feedback to improve their writing.

Reading Policy

The teaching of reading in our English Curriculum aims to promote high standards of reading through clear progressive planning and effective teaching. We will share our own enthusiasm for books with the children to inspire them and help them to develop their own love of reading.

Our Aims: Why do we teach reading?

• To enable pupils to become enthusiastic and critical readers
• To enable pupils to read fluently, confidently and with understanding
• To develop the children’s stamina when reading.
• To ensure that the life skill of reading is secure, in order to access all other curriculum area.

In Key Stage One children will:

• share texts to develop their understanding of different types of text
• continue to develop their phonic knowledge and word recognition through word activities from Letters & Sounds
• participate in some guided reading sessions.
• take part in ‘Reading Journal’ sessions at least twice a week.
• have an appropriately levelled reading book which is changed regularly.
• be introduced to reading comprehension exercises
• hear good quality stories, poems or a class novel everyday
• have the opportunity to read books for enjoyment from the class or school library and also from a wider range of ICT texts
• read independently to a teaching assistant or parent helper once a week
• visit the local library to hear stories and borrow books.

In Key Stage Two children will:

• continue to develop their understanding of different types of text
• continue to develop their phonetic knowledge and grammatical understanding through daily English lessons and through targeted support for phonics.
• participate in some guided reading and shared reading sessions using a variety of novels as the stimulus
• have an appropriately challenging colour banded reading book, which all readers will change independently, choosing any book from the appropriate colour band
• be heard reading their independent reading book regularly, comments and next step targets should be noted in the individual reading records
• take their reading books home daily and have their reading record signed by an adult after reading move up to the next colour band after being assessed by the class teacher
• hear good quality stories, poems or a class novel everyday
• be taught English through a novel based approach.
• have the opportunity to read books for enjoyment from the class, school library or their own books from home and also from a wider range of ICT texts
• be provided with appropriate ‘real life’ texts e.g. leaflets, news reports etc.
• borrow books from the school and local library regularly.
• hear from authors, promoting the love of reading and books.
• take part in ‘Reading Journal’ sessions at least twice a week.