English

At Little Sutton, our aim is to help children develop fluency in, and a love for, the English language, through the spoken and written word. We recognise that English is a core subject within the National Curriculum and a pre-requisite for educational progress. We value all languages at Little Sutton, as language is essential for social, personal and emotional progress. Mastery over language empowers children to function effectively in a literate society and to communicate not only at a functional level but also on a creative and imaginative plane. We strive for children to be literate.

By the age of 11, we aim for children to be able to:

• read, write and speak with confidence, fluency and good understanding, drawing upon a range of independent strategies to self-monitor and correct;

• have an interest in a wide range of reading materials and read spontaneously for enjoyment and pleasure;

• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language;

• be familiar with, by understanding the structure and language features of, a range of non-narrative and narrative forms;

• be able to model their own writing on these familiar styles and forms according to the context, purpose of, and audience for, their writing;

• draw upon increasing powers of imagination, inventiveness, initiative and critical thinking in all aspects of their literacy experiences, including being reflective writers (writing with a reader’s eye and reading with a writer’s eye);

• at least meet age related expectations in all aspects of English.

• speak clearly and convey ideas confidently using Standard English;

• develop their understanding through speculating, hypothesising and exploring ideas, enabling them to clarify their thinking as well as organise their ideas for writing;

• read fluently and understand extended prose (both fiction and non-fiction);

• write at length, with accurate spelling, punctuation, and correct use of grammar for a range of purposes and audiences.

Please see our English, Reading and Writing policies for further detail about how this is implemented.

Reading

Little Sutton Primary School is determined that every child will learn to read, regardless of background, needs or abilities. We want our children to be fluent, confident readers. They will be exposed to a wealth of stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction to develop their vocabulary, language comprehension and engender a genuine love of reading and a keen interest in a range of texts. We work to inspire them to become life-long readers who enjoy books and have a desire to read for pleasure.

Our top 100 books voted for by the whole school community

In order for the children to have the will to read, and be able to read to learn, they need to have secure skills in reading so that they can read with fluency and comprehension. Reading is at the heart of our whole curriculum underpinning every subject area. We want every child to read widely, and to gain a rich knowledge across the curriculum. By offering a wide range of texts we aim to broaden their minds and experiences to allow them to empathise with the world in which they live and support the development of their cultural capital. Reading is such an important life skill that it is imperative we enable them to become independent readers who can easily process information, fully engage in all learning and be well prepared for their next stage of their education.

By the end of KS1, children will be fluent at decoding, and by the age of 11, we aim for children to be able to:

• read with confidence, fluency and good understanding, drawing upon a range of independent strategies to self-monitor and correct;

• have an interest in a wide range of reading materials and read spontaneously for enjoyment and pleasure;

• read confidently to acquire information;

• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading;

• meet age related expectations for reading, with the aspiration to exceed them.

For further details about how this is implemented please see our Reading Policy.

Early Reading at Little Sutton Primary School

We teach early reading through the systematic, synthetic phonics programme Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised. Right from the start of Reception children have a daily phonics lesson which follows the progression for Little Wandle Letters and Sounds and this continues in Year One to ensure children become fluent readers.

We teach phonics for 30 minutes a day. In Reception, we build from 10-minute lessons, with additional daily oral blending games, to the full-length lesson as quickly as possible. Each Friday, we review the week’s teaching to help children become fluent readers.

Children make a strong start in Reception: teaching begins in Week 2 of the Autumn term. We follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised expectations of progress (please see below for the progression). Four new phonemes and their corresponding graphemes are taught (GPCs) each week and they are then used in the final lesson of the week to review the week’s learning. Children will also learn tricky words during these sessions.

In the Autumn and Spring term, Reception learn phase 2 and phase 3 GPCs and then will spend the final term learning phase 4.

Year 1 begin the Autumn term with 3 weeks of revision of phases 2, 3 and 4 before learning phase 5, which will be completed by the end of the year. Year 2 children will begin the year by revisiting phase 5 and other previously taught phases to ensure all children are completely confident with applying these GPCs in both their reading and also their writing. (please see the overview here for what this progression looks like). Half termly assessments take place through Reception and Year 1 to help inform future teaching and help identify children who have gaps in their phonic knowledge and need additional practice. Daily assessment of learning also takes place within the classroom so staff can quickly identify any children who are in danger of falling behind and provide the appropriate daily ‘Keep Up’ intervention.

For support with the pronunciation of the phonemes taught, please refer to the videos below.

Reading Practice Sessions

Children in Reception, Year 1 and 2, read fully decodable books with an adult 3 times per week during our ‘Reading Practice’ sessions. These books are then sent home for children to build their reading fluency and showcase their developing skills and phonetic knowledge to their parents/carers. These 3 reading practice sessions each have a different focus; decoding, prosody and comprehension. Our reading books in Reception, Y1 and Y2: Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Big Cat books.

Reading for Pleasure

Reading for Pleasure remains a whole school priority. Reading enjoyment has been reported as more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status (OECD, 2002). We believe that a whole school Reading for Pleasure culture must be planned for and promoted throughout the school in a variety of ways, ensuring that all children have the opportunity to develop that real.

A few class libraries

Every day the teachers read aloud the class book to the children. These texts are chosen carefully so there is a range of high quality, diverse texts to engage the children and appeal to a range of children. When reading aloud, they do not stop unnecessarily to ask clarification/comprehension questions. Instead, they allow the story to weave its own magic, only pausing occasionally where necessary to define any important vocabulary.

Please see the link below for a copy of our Reading Spine.

Children read independently during morning and afternoon registration times. Reading is encouraged at home and parents are supported parents to understand how to read to/with their children. Teachers promote reading for pleasure through making recommendations and informal book talk; this includes promoting the different reading challenges for each year group. Careful recording of what the children’s reading diet includes happens regularly so staff are able to monitor, develop and extend this as and when appropriate. Book corners are well used, inviting spaces with a limited number of high-quality texts that children are able to borrow. Books are also borrowed from the school library each half term to supplement the selection within class libraries.

Our School Library

Writing

At Little Sutton, our aim is to help children develop fluency in, and a love for, the English language, through the written word. As a result, we aim for our children by the age of 11 to be able to:

• write at length with confidence, with accurate spelling, punctuation, and correct use of grammar for a range of purposes and audiences.

• acquire and use a wide range of vocabulary for effect;

• develop an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for writing;

• be familiar with, by understanding the structure and language features of, a range of non-narrative text types and narrative genres;

• be able to model their own writing on these familiar styles and forms according to the context, purpose of, and audience for their writing;

• draw upon increasing powers of imagination, inventiveness, initiative and critical thinking in all aspects of their literacy experiences, including being reflective writers (writing with a reader’s eye and reading with a writer’s eye);

•meet age related expectations for writing.

For further details about how this is implemented please see our Writing Policy.

Grammar and punctuation glossary

Within lessons, children are taught different grammar and punctuation conventions to help them develop more conscious control and choice in our language. Building this knowledge is best achieved through a focus on grammar within the teaching of reading, writing and speaking. Once pupils are familiar with a grammatical concept [for example ‘modal verb’], they are encouraged to apply and explore this concept in the grammar of their own speech and writing and to note where it is used by others. Please see below for a glossary of the terms the children will learn during their time at Little Sutton.

Spelling

At Little Sutton Primary School we want the children to develop effective spelling strategies. Each week the children will have specific lessons which teach the children phonemes, spelling rules and spelling patterns and these are then referred to throughout the week in other lessons where appropriate to enable the children to secure this knowledge. Please find below an overview for each year group, term by term, of these and also the statutory words the children are expected to be able to spell by the end of Year 6.

Supporting your child with reading

Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home.

There are two types of reading book that your child will bring home in Reception and Year 1:

Reading practice book

This book has been carefully matched to your child’s current reading level. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading.

Listen to them read the book. Remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, ask them to decode (sound it out) and blend it. After they have finished, talk about the book together.

Sharing book

In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. The sharing book is a book they have chosen for you to enjoy together.

Please remember that you shouldn’t expect your child to read this alone. Read it to or with them. Discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters, explore the facts in a non-fiction book. In addition, after reading the book you can pick out some words and help them to expand their vocabulary by discussing alternatives for these words. The main thing is though that you have fun!

From Year 2 onwards, children will bring home a reading for pleasure book which they can read independently but can also still share with you too. For support with the pronunciation of the phonemes taught, please refer to the videos below.