ENGLISH AND LITERACY POLICY
Cronton C. E. Primary School
English Policy (2007)
The purpose of and changes to the policy
The purpose of this policy is to demonstrate the how, when and what of the teaching of English at Cronton C.E. Primary School.
The review became necessary during the Autumn Term 1999 to incorporate the needs of the National Literacy Strategy. The draft policy was the result of discussion with the staff.
It was accepted by the Governors on
It will be reviewed in 2009, in line with the review of all policy documents according to the School Development Plan.
AIMS
We aim to develop pupils’ abilities within an integrated programme of Speaking & Listening, Reading & Writing. Pupils will be given opportunities to interrelate the requirements of English within a broad and balanced approach to the teaching of English across the curriculum, with opportunities to consolidate and reinforce taught literacy skills.
At Cronton C.E Primary .school we strive for children to be a ‘Primary Literate Pupil’
By the age of eleven we aim for a child to be able to:
• Read and write with confidence, fluency and understanding, orchestrating a range of independent strategies to self-monitor and correct.
• Have an interest in books and read for enjoyment
• Have an interest in words, their meanings; developing a growing vocabulary in spoken and written forms.
• Understand a range of text types and genres – be able to write in a variety of styles and forms appropriate to the situation.
• Be developing the powers of imagination, inventiveness and critical awareness.
• Have a suitable technical vocabulary to articulate their responses.
STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS
Statutory requirements for the teaching and learning of English are laid out in the National Curriculum English Document (2000) and in the Communication, Language and Literacy section of the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (2000).
In the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception) children should be given opportunities to:
• Speak and listen and represent ideas in their activities;
• Use communication, language and literacy in every part of the curriculum;
• Become immersed in an environment rich in print and possibilities for communication.
At Key Stage One (Years 1 and 2), children should learn to speak confidently and listen to what others have to say. They should begin to read and write independently and with enthusiasm. They should use language to explore their own experiences and imaginary worlds.
At Key Stage Two (Years 3-6), children should learn to change the way they speak and write to suit different situations, purposes and audiences. They should read a range of texts and respond to different layers of meaning in them. They should explore the use of language in literary and non-literary texts and learn how the structure of language works.
THE GOVERNORING BODY
Regular reports are made to the governors on the progress of English provision and to our Literacy Governor Angela Jackson.
This policy will be reviewed every three years or in the light of changes to legal requirements.
SUBJECT ORGANISATION
The English Curriculum is delivered using the Primary National Strategy framework. The Early learning Goals are followed to ensure continuity and progression from the Foundation Stage through to the National Curriculum. Pupil provision is related to attainment, not age.
The teaching of literacy is carried out by the class teacher.
Planning
Teachers follow long term plans set out by the Primary National Strategy. Medium unit plans linked to the long term plans are written by the co-ordinator, setting out objectives, phase outcomes and assessment for learning opportunities. Short term planning is then developed by individual class teacher using an agreed format.
Throughout Foundation Stage, planning is linked to Communication Language and Literacy linked to the Early Learning Goals. Reception planning follows the long term plan set out in the Jolly Phonic’s programme. Across the Foundation Stage there is a balance of child and adult led activities. In Reception there is a discreet phonic lesson which takes place on a daily basis. Teaching assistants work to support children alongside the class teachers.
Grouping
Children are generally grouped into three ability groups. Work is clearly differentiated through activity, support or outcome. Children are directed to work in a variety of situations: whole class, groups or individual, and were necessary one to one. Teaching assistants are used to support or extend groups of children or on a one to one basis. Teaching assistants are also used to deliver intervention programmes and to aid the class teacher with assessment tasks.
Timing
From years 1-6, Literacy is taught explicitly on a daily basis for 1 hour lesson. There is also an extended English lesson on a weekly basis in Key Stage Two.
Cross Curricular Literacy Opportunities
Teachers will seek to take advantage of opportunities to make cross-curricular links. They will plan for pupils to practise and apply the skills, knowledge and understanding acquired through literacy lessons to other areas of the curriculum.
APPROACHES TO SPEAKING AND LISTENING
The Four Strands of Speaking and Listening: Speaking; Listening; Group Discussion and Interaction, and Drama permeate the whole curriculum. Interactive teaching strategies are used to engage all pupils in order to raise reading and writing standards. Children are encouraged to develop effective communication skills in readiness for later life. In foundation stage, opportunities are given for children to extend vocabulary and are taught to express themselves confidently with a variety of contexts.
From year 1 to Year 6 the model of teaching literacy incorporates phases were explicit opportunities are planned and taught in Speaking and Listening. The planning meets the requirements set out by the objectives in the Primary Framework and the implied standards.
APPROACHES TO READING
The policy of this school is to encourage the children to develop a love of reading and of all kinds of books - stories, poetry, plays, non-fiction. This is developed in line with the expectations of the ‘Primary National Strategy’ and ‘The Rose Review’
Teachers provide opportunities for the children to make clear distinctions between word recognition and language comprehension, emphasising the importance of reading independently and reading for pleasure.
‘Good literacy teaching is lively, engaging and involves carefully planned blend of approaches that direct children’s learning’
(Primary National Strategy 2006)
At Cronton CE Primary School teachers plan carefully to raise standards in reading through shared, guided and independent sessions. Through shared and guided sessions teachers challenge, excite and engage children through a variety of genres. With guidance from the Primary Strategy children are given a wide range of reading experiences. Teachers also use these sessions to model reading skills and assess children’s attainment. The children are encouraged, on a daily basis, to read independently. Foundation and Key Stage One have reading corners which the children are encourage to use when appropriate. Key Stage Two have a 15 minute silent reading session every afternoon.
Methods used in the teaching of reading
We believe that the best way to teach reading is to use a structured course using a variety of approaches. We will use "look and say" "phonics" and "real books". Children will benefit from all three approaches, because children learn in different ways.
Published Schemes
The schemes used in school are:-
OXFORD READING TREE (O.R.T.) as the main spine in the Infants with Ginn, Big Cats and Alphakids as supplementary readers. All these reading books are banded so that children can move between schemes, ensuring continuity and progression.
Tree Tops and Banana books are used for the more fluent readers.
Wellington Square, Jets, Wolf Hill, New Way and Sprinters are used for lower ability children in the Juniors.
We have a wide selection of Guided Reading books throughout the school and a substantial range of Big Books.
Library books suitable for the capabilities within each class are also used. Junior children have a weekly opportunity to access non-fiction books.
Beginning reading
Parents of Reception children are invited to attend a meeting in order to learn about how their child is taught to read. Reading books are sent home from Reception; however enjoyment of books in Nursery is promoted through a loan system.
There is a record sheet of all the books and the order they should be read for each child. Note: within some levels, the order does not matter.
It is expected that this record sheet will be updated and altered as new books are published. This will be done by the English co-ordinator.
The date that a new book is given to the child should be recorded on the record sheet.
The children also will be given a reading diary. These have enough room for the child to read every day in school for an academic year. There is also space for the titles of the books read to be recorded.
The person listening to the child read, whether this is the teacher, classroom assistant, helper or parent, should note down the date, the pages read by the child and any comment on how well the child has read. Words that need to be learnt can also be noted down. The adult should initial the entry.
Reading in the Juniors
Y3. Reading records will be passed from Y2. Children read to their teacher, classroom helpers and are encouraged to read at home.
Sprinters, Wolf Hill, New Way, Tristars and Jets.
Children who need extra support will begin on the Wellington Square reading scheme.
When children have reached free reading they choose books from one of three levels in the class library.
The reading programme follows the same pattern in Y4/Y5/Y6.
Books and home
We believe that there should be a partnership between parents and the school. From the school's point of view, we will try to develop this partnership in several ways:
• reading books and library books can be taken home, provided certain conditions prevail ( see later )
• reading is seen in a positive and constructive way, and children are encouraged to see reading as a pleasurable pastime
The school
▪ will teach children to read using the scheme in the school and other schemes and books as the teacher thinks fit;
▪ will provide the books and support materials necessary
▪ will try to listen to each child read as often as is appropriate , having regard for the age and ability of the child and the numbers in the class
▪ will inform parents of any difficulty their child may be experiencing, and if appropriate, what the parents can do to help
▪ will inform the parents of the problems posed by putting their child under pressure by comparing their children to other children in the class/age group
▪ will encourage the children and parents to purchase books through the book fairs
The parents:
• will support the school by following the procedures laid down by the school
• will listen to their child read at home, not only the reading scheme book or the school library book, but also other literature
• will not write messages to the teacher in the reading diaries, but if necessary in a separate letter
• will look after the school's property, and pay for replacements should they be damaged defaced or lost, even if by accident
• will make sure that the child's reading book, issued by the school, is in the school each morning. Should the book be forgotten, the school cannot guarantee that the child will be heard read, even if the book has been finished at home
Each child in the infant department will be encouraged to buy a reading packet/folder in which to keep the reading books and diary. It may also be used for letters from the school to the home.
Higher order reading skills
We believe that children need to learn how to use dictionaries, encyclopaedias, the library, non-fiction books (index and contents pages etc), to practice skimming and scanning material to give them a brief outline of the story or to look for specific information.
APPROACHES TO WRITING
Aims
We aim to enable the children
▪ to write for a range of purposes
▪ to organise the content of what is written in ways appropriate to the purposes
▪ to use styles of writing appropriate to the purposes and the intended readership
▪ to use spelling, punctuation and syntax accurately and with confidence
Foundation
Across Foundation Stage children are encouraged to ‘mark make’ with emphasis on correct pencil grip. The correct formation of letters is developed throughout Reception.
From Year 1 to Year 6 opportunities to write for different purposes are set out in the long-term plans based on the Primary Framework. Medium term planning follows the ‘Reading to Writing Model’ set out by the Primary Framework. Teachers short term planning includes opportunities for the children to
• Familiarise with genre/text – enjoy and explore text and develop comprehension skills. Develop success criteria for writing
• Capturing ideas – develop and collect ideas, shape ideas orally or on paper, clarify and refine ideas using planning models
• Teacher demonstration/Teacher scribing/Supported writing- builds on planning to produce a final written outcome.
• Independent writing- work on different aspects of the writing process: drafting, revising, editing and presenting.
This programme of writing runs alongside a separate programme for spelling and handwriting.
Phonics and spelling
The children in Foundation and Key Stage 1 follow the Jolly Phonics programme. This will be used in conjunction with the guidance in the Letters and Sounds programme. This programme of synthetic phonics is taught daily in Reception and Key Stage One.
In Key Stage Two, the teaching of spelling follows the programme of study set out in the document Spelling Bank. Spelling is taught in at least two sessions every week. Spellings may be sent home for children to learn.
Grammar
Children should be taught to write English that is grammatically correct. At Key Stage One teaching is based on the Jolly Grammar programme, while at Key Stage Two the teaching is based on Grammar For Writing. More details of when the various aspects are taught can be found in the schemes of work. Grammar is taught in at least two sessions every week.
Handwriting.
The Nelson scheme for handwriting is used throughout the school. There is also guidance to handwriting/letter formation within Jolly Phonics. Opportunities to practice handwriting should be provided daily and there should be a weekly teaching session in both Key Stage One and lower Key Stage 2. By Year 4 children should have developed a joined handwriting style. In Years 5 and 6 handwriting cannot be a priority and is taught and practiced where necessary.
Use of pens and pencils
Initially, pencil will be used for all writing.
In the Infants this may include the use of triangular pencils so that the children get use to the correct grip.
In Y4, the children will begin to use ink pens if their writing is up to standard. It will be left to the discretion of the class teacher as to when the child begins to use pen.
The children must be informed that:
• ink pens should be used for all writing in neat
• pencil must be used for maths work and those aspects of science that involve maths
• that unless specified by the classteacher, all writing should be in blue or black ink
THE USE OF ICT
Opportunities to use ICT to support teaching and learning in Literacy will be planned for and used as appropriate.
ASSESSMENT AND TARGET SETTING –
Work will be assessed in line with the Assessment Policy.
Target Setting
Foundation and Key Stage One.
Targets in Literacy are on-going and are shared with the children orally. Records are kept by the class-teacher or in the children’s’ books.
Key Stage Two
Targets are set on a termly basis. These targets are reviewed termly and are placed in the children’s books.
Marking - please see the marking policy
Please note that there is no need to mark all spelling mistakes, particularly where a child has difficulties with spelling. Choose only the more common words, and even then do not over-face the child with too many corrections.
INCLUSION
We aim to provide for all children so that they achieve as highly as they can in English according to their individual abilities. We will identify which pupils or groups of pupils are under-achieving and take steps to improve their attainment. Gifted children will be identified and suitable learning challenges provided – see Gifted and Talented and SEN policy.
INTERVENTION PROGRAMMES
Intervention programmes are implemented throughout the school. These programmes are individualised to address the needs of the children. These programmes are planned by the class teacher and delivered by the teaching assistant. Government programmes are available to support delivery if needed.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
All children are provided with equal access to the English curriculum. We aim to provide suitable learning opportunities regardless of gender, ethnicity or home background.
ROLE OF SUBJECT LEADER:
The Subject Leader should be responsible for improving the standards of teaching and learning in Literacy through:
Monitoring and evaluating Literacy:-
• pupil progress
• provision of Literacy (including Intervention and Support programmes)
• the quality of the Learning Environment;
• the deployment and provision of support staff
Taking the lead in policy development
Auditing and supporting colleagues in their CPD
Purchasing and organising resources
Keeping up to date with recent Literacy developments
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
Parent involvement is encouraged through:
• reading regularly with their child
• helping with homework
• supporting book fairs
• working with children on targets set out in the curriculum guidance
APPENDICES
Samples of planning sheets
Update policy record sheet
Update to Policy Record Sheet
|Date |Reference / aspect of policy to update |Suggested amendments to consider at next review. |
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