Literacy
English Curriculum
Introduction -
St Anne's recognises that the development of English has a profound influence upon the whole course of a child's life. The key aspects of speaking, listening, reading and writing are not only taught through a well structured English Curriculum, but also interwoven into the wider curriculum across the school. Our curriculum follows the aims of the National Curriculum for English (2014) and the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.
Progression of writing -
It is really important to expose children to a range of writing genres, as outlined in the National Curriculum. Below is the progression document that demonstrates what genres are covered and when.
At St Anne's we follow a thee phase approach when teaching writing across the school. The diagram below explains this in more detail -
At the start of a new unit of writing, teachers will introduce a stimulus for the children to explore or to inspire children's creativity. This stimulus will often be a carefully chosen text that the teacher will share with the children. On occasions this is also accompanied by a 'hands on' experience in addition to the text..
Handwriting -
The school has a clear development path to support children in developing their handwriting.
Punctuation and grammar -
Punctuation and grammar are that are taught through a variety of descrete lessons as well as being embedded within literacy lessons Children are taught the correct grammatical terms and these are introduced at different stages throughout a child's time at St Anne's. The knowledge organisers give you an overview of the terms taught within each year group (year 1 to year 6):
Year 1 Knowledge Organiser for Punctuation and grammar - Click here
Year 2 Knowledge Organiser for Punctuation and grammar - Click here
Year 3 Knoweldge Organiser for Punctuation and grammar - Click here
Year 4 Knowledge Organiser for Punctuation and grammar - Click here
Year 5 Knowldge Organiser for Punctuation and grammar - Click here
Year 6 Knowledge Organiser for Punctuation and grammar - Click here
Spelling -
Within the Early Years and the begining of Key Stage 1, the Systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) program called 'Floppy's Phonics' is used to support early reading and writing. For more information on how phonics is taught within the school, please see the separate Phonics page on this website.
From Year 2, elements of No Nonsense spelling program is intergrated into whole class teaching. There are elements where this overlaps with the Floppy's Phonics program and teachers are experienced in being able to adapt teaching so that children gain the correct support in regards to their grasp of spelling.
Progression of Reading -
Early Reading
Each class has developed a reaing area that contains high quality texts both known and unknown to the children to allow them to explore books and engage with a variety of texts and authors. The profile of reading is also raised throughout the school with specific shared spaces that encourage independent and peer reading/ This includes the schools library area. Children are encouraged to use this area through class groups visits, small reading groups and 1:2:1 teaching of reading.
Story time is a key feature in every class where teachers enjoy reading to their classes. Children read with adults every week in school using a decodable book which matches closely to the phonic sounds that they are working on. Parents and school staff communicate with each other via a learning journal In addition to a decodable book, children also bring home high quality ‘sharing books’ to promote reading for pleasure.
Accelerated Reader
We use Accelerated Reader which is an online digital system that helps manage and monitor children's independent reading. Children begin to use Accelerated Reader in either year 2 or 3, when they are ready. Children can log into their account and take quizzes on the books they have read. They earn points from the quizzes which is recognised through certificates for progress. Children also undertake half termly STAR reader assessments in school which enable the system to identify a suitable range of books to read.