Intent:

We aim to develop our children’s oracy so they are able to speak clearly and confidently and with increasing prosody, are able to use appropriate language to express themselves and to speak with self-assuredness with an awareness of the context and audience.

Reading is more than just lifting words from a page. We aim to help children become fluent, independent readers who can read for pleasure, to learn and to inspire them. We aim to foster each child’s love of reading and inspire a lifelong enthusiasm for literature. We want children to leave school able to use their reading skills to fully access the wider school curriculum and to flourish in their learning. We aim to develop children's comprehension skills so they are able to infer meaning and draw deeper understanding from the texts they read as well as an understanding of the authorial intent and impact on the reader.

Reading and writing are inextricably linked and we strive to promote a love of both through a number of ways using text based learning from high quality, rich texts; media and experiences. Children learn that purpose and audience lie at the heart of writing which in turn informs choice about vocabulary, language and text structure. Children study a broad range of fiction and non-fiction including picture books, heritage texts, contemporary texts, short stories, poetry and media clips.

We encourage children to be imaginative, ambitious and to show personality and creativity when writing. We strive for our children to be able to produce high quality writing that demonstrates a sound understanding of and an ability to use the skills of handwriting, spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Implementation:

Spoken language is a crucial part of learning journeys within English and across the wider curriculum. At Winterbourne Earls, units of work are planned to incorporate opportunities for developing language, vocabulary and oral performance.

After the development of phonics and early reading and fluency, all children are taught using a whole class guided reading approach. Children read a range of carefully chosen, high quality books, text extracts and videos to support their reading development. Appropriate scaffolding is used to ensure all children can learn together.

Children at Winterbourne Earls are inspired to write by a wide range of text, media and experience ‘drivers’. They learn to write through our writing journey framework which mirrors the elements used by authors and draws on research and best practice in writing development. Children play an active role throughout the writing journey.

Children read high quality models; analyse and compare a range of texts and features; imitate and practice specific writing devices and forms; plan thoroughly (developing vocabulary); draft - drawing on their secure writing knowledge; edit for clarity and impact; and present appropriately. Children are taught to understand how purpose and audience are at the heart of effective writing and enable them to make informed decision about vocabulary, language and text structure.

Intent:

Spelling is important. Even in the digital age, it is important that children develop an understanding of the English Language and are able to spell accurately when writing across a range of subjects. At Winterbourne Earls, our aim is that children develop a secure understanding of spelling and can confidently use a range of age appropriate spelling patterns and structures when writing across the curriculum. They should also be able to use a range of supporting resources to check and improve their written spelling.  

Implementation:

When children move from Phonics and the development of Early Reading taught in Year 1 and Year 2, all children participate in daily* spelling lessons. To ensure we have a high quality, rigorous spelling curriculum in place, which meets the requirements of the National Curriculum, we have chosen to use the Read, Write Inc spelling scheme. 

The Read, Write Inc. spelling scheme ensures that children are learning and embedding the range of spelling patterns that all children are expected to know as they progress through KS2. The scheme also ensures that pupils are learning the high frequency words and words from the National Curriculum's statutory spelling lists. 

The spelling programme:

• is underpinned by direct teaching
• builds upon teaching strategies and spelling activities from Read Write Inc. Phonics.
• is organised in daily, 15-minute well-paced lessons
• provides plenty of writing practice, with a clear record of children’s progress

In addition to in class learning, all children are expected to regularly pracise the patterns being taught in class along with the associated work banks for each spelling 'Unit' at home.