Calverton
Primary School
At Calverton Primary School we believe a quality English Curriculum should nurture and develop a child’s love for reading, inspire them to be imaginative, confident writers and be deep thinkers and self reliant communicators. We recognise the importance of creating an appreciation of reading not only for pleasure but as a route to improving and extending minds, writers that are critical of their work, striving for excellence in their work and debaters who can discuss and deliberate to further their learning.
We believe at Calverton Primary School that a secure basis in literacy skills is crucial for progression to a high quality education and will give our children the tools they need to participate in, and contribute to, being a well rounded member of society.
Implementation:
We follow the aims of the National Curriculum for English 2014. These aims are embedded through a well planned and organised English curriculum. It is purposeful and provides opportunities for reading, writing and discussion daily for all pupils, achieved through the adaptation, where appropriate, and teaching of the Literacy and Language program. Teachers also ensure there are cross curricular links woven in to other subjects to ensure children can transfer their literacy skills into every aspect of their education.
In addition to our daily English curriculum we teach reading through the Ruth Misken phonics programme RWI; this is delivered daily for Reception children up to year 2.
We have a wide range of quality texts in our two libraries; our part time librarian works closely with children, encouraging them to choose suitable books and supporting them to help run our library. This allows children who do not have access to a local library, an enriching experience.
We have a themed Book Week every year – parental involvement is paramount to its success. Some of our parents read dual language books to the children and help to sell the books at our own Book Fair.
Impact:
As a result, we have a community of enthusiastic readers and writers who are only too keen to show their achievements. They take risks in their reading and writing and are happy to discuss why.
Our successful English curriculum comprises of Read Write Inc (a synthetic phonics approach for EYFS and KS1) and the Literacy and Language scheme for KS2.
In RWI, children are taught to:
In Literacy and Language, children are taught to:
The Big Question :
The aim of the Big Question is to develop spoken language and argument skills. Children are encouraged to discuss the weekly Big Question with parents and siblings. Children learn to justify ideas with reasons, negotiate, evaluate and build on the ideas of others, as well as think in a deeper way about abstract ideas. We encourage children to express their opinions and enjoy a context where there may be no right or wrong answers.
Reading
We strive to foster a love of reading in our pupils, and children of all ages are helped to read widely, both at home and at school. We ensure that children regularly share books together and with their class teacher.
After children complete the RWI phonics programme, they progress to Reciprocal Reading. These lessons consist of shared reading opportunities, vocabulary building and comprehension questions.
Books are taken home to read and are changed weekly. Children also have access to Bug Club, an online library where books are assigned to children according to their reading level. Each book has vocabulary and comprehension activities aimed to support children’s learning.