English
At Hambrough Primary school we strive for children to be ‘Primary Literate Pupils’.
By the age of 11 we aim for a child to be able to:
- Listen and communicate effectively and competently.
- Read confidently, accurately and fluently, using a range of reading cues (phonic, graphic, syntactic, contextual) to read and be able to correct their own mistakes. Phonics is our prime approach when learning to read.
- Enjoy and engage with and understand a range of text types and genres.
- Express opinions, articulate feelings and formulate responses to a range of texts both fiction and non-fiction using appropriate technical vocabulary.
- Understand and respond to what they read using inference and deduction where appropriate.
- Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
- Develop independent strategies to self-monitor and correct reading and writing.
- Foster an interest in words and their meanings, and to develop a growing vocabulary in both spoken and written form.
- Seek information and learn from the written word.
At Hambrough Primary School we plan from the National Curriculum in KS1&2 and the EYFS statutory framework in EYFS. Our medium and long term planning is informed by these documents which map out the English curriculum for each year group. Where possible, the teaching of English is delivered in a creative, cross-curricular way and English lessons are based around quality core texts, many from the CLPE Power of Reading project. We use Power of Reading teaching approaches and visible learning tools when planning our teaching sequences.
Click here for a copy of our English long term overview for each year group.
Speaking and Listening
Our aim at Hambrough Primary is to enable our pupils to be able to listen and communicate confidently and effectively. The majority of our pupils speak English as an additional language and therefore, we see speaking and listening as an integral element of a child’s language experience and an essential foundation for creative thinking and effective learning.
Opportunities to develop our pupils’ competence in spoken language are interwoven into our whole curriculum; (both National and wider curriculum) as well as opportunities to listen and to be listened to.
We aim for our pupils to learn the conventions of language and its vocabulary for a variety of contexts e.g. discussion, debate, explanation, expressing opinion and responding. By doing so, we aim to enable our pupils to be able to fully participate in and gain knowledge, skills and understanding from this common human currency.
Phonics
Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS)
Following an update from the DfE around phonics teaching we have moved to Essential Letters and Sounds, this is a phonics programme based on Letters and Sounds (2007). This new phonics programme will support your child making quick progress in becoming a fluent and confident reader, which will allow them to access the wider curriculum.
Essential Letters and Sounds is a DfE validated Systematic Synthetic Phonics Programme. The programme teaches children how to read through the art of decoding and blending. ELS is based on simplicity and is designed so consistent terminology is used by teachers, children and parents. Children in EYFS and KS1 receive daily whole-class lessons with ongoing assessments to inform teachers about children who need extra support.
To best support us in teaching your child how to read we ask that you read the decodable text provided by the school 4 times across the week. Spending 10 minutes a day reading with your child will hugely support them in their journey to becoming an independent reader.
We will be changing children’s books weekly; this allows your child to re-read each text several times building their confidence and fluency. This is especially important as they begin to learn that the sounds within our language can be spelt in different ways.
It is a key part of learning to read that children re-read words and sentences that they can decode (sound out) until they are fluent (read with ease and precision). By reading texts several times children have the greatest opportunity to achieve this fluency.
The books sent home are carefully matched to the teaching taking place in school. Your child will be practising what they have been taught in school with you at home. We will only ask children to read books independently when they can decode these by themselves. Any books that are not yet decodable for the children will be a sharing book. These books are there for you to read with you child, helping us to instil a love of reading from the very beginning of their reading journey. These could be read together with your child reading the words they are able to decode or could be read to your child.
Click on these links for a video tutorial of the sounds and their pronunciations for the different phonics phases:
Phase 2: https://vimeo.com/641445921/9382cf6db0
Phase 3: https://vimeo.com/642342878/59d233684c
Click the presentation below for a parent guide on Essential Letters and Sounds:
Reading
Our aim at Hambrough Primary is to enable our pupils to read confidently, accurately and fluently, using a range of reading cues (phonic, graphic, syntactic, contextual).
Through the use of high quality texts, we aim to engage and support pupils to enjoy and understand a wide range of text types and genres. As they explore books that present lives, worlds and perspectives that might be similar or different to their own, we aim for our pupils to be able to express opinions, articulate feelings and formulate responses.
By providing opportunities for reading in subjects beyond just English, we aim for our pupils to have ample opportunity to grow in knowledge, vocabulary and ideas as we work towards a reading rich curriculum.
All staff at Hambrough endeavour to foster in the children a love of reading and books. As a school we provide various opportunities to read from a range of sources and to a range of people – both at school and at home. These include guided reading groups, 1:1 reading support, a class library of books and access to a library of online books.
Our curriculum allows pupils to develop the following disciplinary skills within the domain of Reading:
- Activating prior knowledge
- Vocabulary (word meaning)
- Choices and attitudes
- Decoding
- Fluency
- Comprehension (text reflection including questioning)
- Response
The following categories of knowledge are used to support pupil retention of information by fostering the development of schemas:
- visualising
- decoding
- retrieval
- punctuation
- self- correcting
- scanning
- inference
- skimming
- predicting
- summarising
Writing
Our aim at Hambrough Primary is that through the teaching of effective composition, our pupils will be able to find their own authorial voice. We aim to tool our pupils with the skills, knowledge and understanding that will enable them to use spelling, punctuation and grammar accurately, appropriately and purposefully in a wide range of genres.
Our curriculum allows pupils to develop the following disciplinary skills within the domain of Writing:
- Activating prior knowledge
- Write for a purpose
- Organisation writing
- Word choice
- Impact/effect
- Recognition of sentence structures and effect/impact
- Conscious manipulation sentence structure for effect/impact
The following categories of knowledge are used to support pupil retention of information by fostering the development of schemas:
Composition
- writing purpose
- use of language (vocab) and sentence structures
- writing organisation
Transcription
- handwriting
- spelling
- punctuation
Analysis and presenting
- analyse writing
- present/publish writing
Handwriting
We aim for children to:
- To teach correct letter formation.
- To teach children to write with a flowing hand which is legible and to the best of their ability
- To support the development of correct spelling and to aid in the elimination of letter reversals by the learning of word patterns and the correct joining of letters.
- To ensure that children of differing abilities are provided with appropriate and achievable goals.
- To assist children in taking pride with the presentation of their work.
- To instil in children the importance of clear and neat presentation in order to communicate meaning effectively.
- To enable children to develop their own style of handwriting as they progress through their later primary years.
For extra support at home please look at the attachments for the correct script and language used for each letter and the National Curriculum aspects that relate to handwriting.