English

Reading at Cam Woodfield Junior School

Intent:

 At Cam Woodfield Junior School, we value reading as a key life skill, and are dedicated to enabling our pupils to become lifelong readers. We believe reading is key for academic success and so to ensure we have a holistic approach to the teaching of reading, we implement the following.

• Children take part in daily Reading lessons, where children are exposed to a range of different texts and can demonstrate their understanding and thinking behind these.
• During these reading lessons, children are taught a range of reading skills to apply to a range of text types.
• We are very lucky to have a wide range of reading books in our school. All children choose a reading book based on their current reading ability to take home. Children will move up a band when the teacher feels they are secure in their current band.

Implementation

In order to ensure that children are provided with effective reading teaching, teachers plan the following:

• A cycle of Reading lessons, using a wide range of different texts;
• Question stems which are used to inform questions based on the class text;  
• Vocabulary lessons (as part of the reading lessons) which appear in the class text.
• Teachers will assess the children’s reading skills after teaching each session using our assessment programme, Insight.
• Teachers will carry out a formal assessment 3 times per year using reading test papers to assess the children’s ability.

Impact

By teaching reading this way, children can focus on developing their fluency and comprehension as they move through the school. Attainment in reading is measured using the statutory assessments for the end of each year group. These results are measured against the reading attainment of children nationally. However, we firmly believe that reading is the key to all learning and so the impact of our reading curriculum goes beyond the results of the statutory assessments. We give all children the opportunity to enter the magical worlds that books open up to them. We promote reading for pleasure as part of our reading curriculum. Children are encouraged to develop their own love of genres and authors and to review their books objectively. This enhances a deep love of literature across a range of genres, cultures and styles.

Writing at Cam Woodfield Junior School

Intent:

At Cam Woodfield  Junior School, we endeavor to create a love for English. We want every child to leave Cam Woodfield Junior School with the skills of an excellent writer who: Has the ability to write for a variety of audiences and purposes as well as writers who:

• Thinks about the impact they want their writing to have on the reader and knows how they will achieve this;
• Has a sophisticated bank of vocabulary and an excellent knowledge of writing techniques to extend details or description;
• Can structure and organise their writing to suit the genre they are writing and include a variety of sentence structures;
• Displays excellent transcription skills that ensure their writing is well presented, punctuated, spelled correctly and neat;
• Re-reads, edits and improves their writing so every piece of writing they produce is to the best of their ability and better than the last.

Throughout their time at Cam Woodfield Junior School, children develop their skills by exploring a whole range of different genres, with a focus on exploring a range of models of excellence and using these to guide the drafting and editing process. It is important to note that we not only develop a real enjoyment of writing in English lessons but we also embed writing throughout all aspects of our theme. We expect the highest standards of writing every time a child writes in any subject.

Implementation:

In order to provide children with effective writing lessons, teachers plan the following:

• Plan a well thought out writing cycle based on a single text genre which links to the theme for that class.
• Provide children with experiences based on the writing task.
• Spelling rules to be taught in spelling lessons and implemented into writing.  
• Opportunities for children to become over familiar with the text type.
• An effective example text (WAGOLL) for the children to use as inspiration for their own writing.

Impact:

In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes
• Children can understand and apply the fundamental principles of spelling grammar and punctuation in their writing
• Children can evaluate, improve and redraft their writing
• Children are responsible, competent, confident and creative writers