Reading  

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Intent 

At Emmanuel Holcombe CE Primary School our aim is for every child to become a fluent reader.  We want children to become fluent readers in order for them to reach age related expectations or make accelerated progress from their starting point.  As well as this, we want children to develop a love for reading and read for pleasure on a regular basis.  

Our curriculum is designed around the needs of the pupils in our school and there are a variety of approaches to enable the pupils to make good progress.  

The aims of teaching reading in our school are to develop pupils who:  

• show high levels of achievement and exhibit very positive attitudes towards reading  

• rapidly acquire a secure knowledge of letters and sounds and make sustained progress in learning to read fluently  

• read easily and fluently with good understanding across both fiction and non-fiction  

• acquire a wider vocabulary  

• participate in the teaching of phonics knowledge, skills and understanding in a systematic and enjoyable way  

• develop their reading in all subjects to support their acquisition of knowledge.  

• develop a love of reading  

• read for pleasure both at home and school on a regular basis  

• through their reading develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually  

• and develop good comprehension drawing from their linguistic knowledge.  

 

Implementation 

• The school uses a systematic, synthetic phonics program throughout phase 1 to 6 to ensure consistency from one year to the next 

• teachers give pupils sufficient practice in reading and re-reading books that match the grapheme-phoneme correspondences they know, both at school and at home   

• the half-termly assessment of pupils’ phonics progress is detailed to identify any pupil who is falling behind the program’s pace and targeted support is put into place immediately   

• banded books ensure that children read at the appropriate level following completion of phase 5 phonics 

• teachers have a clear understanding of how pupils learn to read 

• long term planning with dedicated reading phases ensures consistency and progression  

• guided reading sessions are taught and learning is recorded in English Journals

• reading for pleasure is actively encouraged and celebrated  

• books available in school support diversity and inclusion 

• staff read aloud stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction that develop pupils' vocabulary, language comprehension and love of reading. 

 

Impact 

Pupils will:  

• make good progress from their own personal starting points 

• have the knowledge and skills to read and understand a range of genres 

• be active readers 

• make personal reading choices. 

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Writing  

Intent 

Emmanuel Holcombe CE Primary School believes that English skills are vital to the development of children, so they are prepared for their future life.  A broad and balanced English program using objectives from the National Curriculum 2014, determines the skills that each year group and Key Stage must cover.  A range of genres is studied and promoted.  A variety of resources are used to promote a reading and writing culture.  Children are given a range of writing opportunities including the use of paired, group and independent writing tasks.  A culture of learning from each other is promoted through use of co-operative learning structures.  This is developed across both key stages, so that the children learn to respond appropriately and supportively to each other regardless of gender, age, cultural or ethnic background.  

The aims of teaching writing in our school are to develop pupils who:  

• show high levels of achievement and exhibit very positive attitudes towards writing  

• use and understand language as speakers, readers and writers  

• are competent, confident and independent in the use of language in their writing  

• have an awareness of different audiences and purposes for writing  

• apply their grammatical knowledge in their writing  

• apply their phonetic and spelling knowledge in their writing  

• apply the English language in all areas of the curriculum.  

Implementation 

• long term planning ensures consistency and progression  

• high quality texts are used to model and inspire high quality writing   

• grammar is taught frequently and in context 

• teachers have a clear understanding of how children learn to write   

• children receive feedback on spelling, grammar, punctuation and handwriting across all aspects of the curriculum  

• the process of editing writing is integrated into the whole curriculum. 

Impact 

• make good progress from their own personal starting points 

• have the knowledge and skills to write clearly, accurately and coherently for a range of contexts 

• show an awareness of the audience and purpose of their writing 

• view editing as an integral part of the writing process. 

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