At Daubeney we are committed to raising standards in Literacy and follow the National Curriculum in order maintain accurate coverage across the year. In order to maximise opportunities to develop literacy skills, we make cross curricular links wherever possible.

In Early Years we follow the Early Years Curriculum to ensure continuity and progression from the Foundation Stage through to the National Curriculum.

  

If you would like to know more about this area of the curriculum, please talk to Ebony Lester and Seema Bibi.

Oracy

Oracy permeates the entire curriculum. Interactive teaching strategies are used to engage all pupils in pupil talk and discussion throughout lessons. Students are encouraged to develop effective communication skills in readiness for later life and further development of their reading and writing skills.

Approaches to Speaking and Listening:

• Group discussions and reporting back to the class
• Talk partners
• Whole class discussion
• Circle time
• Role play
• Presentations and speeches 
• Assemblies

Reading

At Daubeney, we ensure that our children are taught to read with fluency, stamina, accuracy and understanding through a variety of discreet and cross-curricular learning opportunities. All children experience reading a wide and varied selection of fiction and non-fiction genres appropriate for their age and ability.

Reading Policy

We have a range of approaches and strategies to develop children’s reading skills and love of reading. These include:

Phonics

At Blossom Federation we have devised our own phonics programme based upon the principles of Letters and Sounds to provide concentrated and systematic teaching of daily phonics. We use a range of resources and strategies to tailor the phonics provision to meet the needs of our pupils. It forms the foundation for early reading and aims to build children's speaking and listening skills as well as preparing them for learning to read by developing their phonic knowledge and decoding skills. 

Find out more about Phonics....

Shared Reading

Opportunities are provided in literacy lessons for children to read and respond to a quality text linked to their topic or writing genre.

Daily Supported Reading (DSR)

This programme provides children in KS1 with a daily adult-led reading lesson. It ensures that children become fluent and independent readers. The programme develops children’s decoding, word reading and understanding of language.

Daubeney Loves Reading (DLR)

Children in KS2 develop their stamina, fluency and comprehension skills through a combination of whole class and independent reading. They complete short tasks linked to the reading skills and weekly comprehension activities. They will read an appropriately levelled book independently and have regular opportunities to read 1:1 with an adult.

Find out more about Daubeney Loves Reading...

Home Reading

Children are expected to spend at least 10-20 minutes a day reading at home with an adult with comments recorded into their reading records. Children must bring in their books and reading records every day. Research shows that this is the single most important thing parents can do to help their child’s education.

Reception & Year 1 - change every week (1 at level, 1 above, 1 phonics)
Year 2 – change every week (1 at level, 1 above, 1 free choice)
Year 3 & 4 – change every week (1 at level, 1 free choice)
Year 5 & 6 - change independently as and when they finish their book

Writing

In order to teach writing, spelling and grammar, we follow the National Curriculum. Writing is taught through quality texts and stimuli linked to the cross curricular topic to give the writing purpose and context. All children at Daubeney experience a range of fiction and non-fiction writing genres including narrative, poetry, reports, letters and persuasive arguments. Children will be immersed in the topic or text stimuli and look at the grammar, language and layout features of the genre they are writing. They are then given opportunities to draft, edit and publish writing in order to aid their progression and meet national expectations.

To develop writing we use the following approach:

Each child will produce one piece of extensive high quality writing and one shorter piece each half term. The writing activities are related to quality texts and stimuli or the cross curricular topic to give the writing purpose and context. The main genres are narrative, poetry, reports, letters and persuasive arguments.

Grammar

Children in Year 1- 6 are taught grammar through discrete sessions based on the National Curriculum expectations for each year group. This teaching is reinforced by applying the grammar rules and punctuation associated which each genre.

Spelling

In Year 1 - 6 spelling is taught following National Curriculum Guidelines. It is taught as a discrete session twice a week and also integrated into literacy and guided writing sessions. Children in Years 2 - 6 are given spelling to practice at home for a weekly spelling test to assess their progress.

Handwriting

Handwriting is developed through the school. In EYFS pupils are taught to hold a pencil correctly and begin mark making. In Year 1 they learn how to have a positive learning posture and form lower and upper case letters as well as digit correctly. In Year 2 they start to use the joins that lead to cursive writing and children continue to develop this in KS2 through the use of our bespoke handwriting book.

Fundamentals of Writing

Fundamentals of Reading

Tips and Useful Information

English in the EYFS

Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading.

Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. 

Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing). "

Early learning goals that link to English:

EYFS Communication and language development

ELG Listening, attention and understanding –

• Listen attentively and respond to what they hear with relevant questions, comments and actions when being read to and during whole class discussions and small group interactions
• Make comments about what they have heard and ask questions to clarify their understanding
• Hold conversation when engaged in back-and-forth exchanges with their teacher and peers

ELG Speaking –

• Participate in small group, class and one-to-one discussions, offering their own ideas, using recently introduced vocabulary.
• Offer explanations for why things might happen, making use of recently introduced vocabulary from stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems when appropriate
• Express their ideas and feelings about their experiences using full sentences, including use of past, present and future tenses and making use of conjunctions, with modelling and support from their teacher.

EYFS Physical development (this links to the mechanics of writing/pencil control)

ELG Fine motor skills –

• Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – using the tripod grip in almost all cases

EYFS Literacy

ELG Comprehension

• Demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary.
• Anticipate (where appropriate) key events in stories.
• Use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems and during role play.

ELG Word reading

• Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs
• Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending.
• Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words.

ELG Writing

• Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.
• Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters.
• Write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others.

EYFS Expressive arts and design (this links to re-telling and adapting familiar stories – talk for writing)

ELG Being imaginative

Invent, adapt and recount narratives and stories with peers and their teacher

In the EYFS, children are taught

…phonics through the Blossom Phonics scheme (phonemes, graphemes, tricky words, high frequency words, segmenting and blending, letter names).

• Learn songs, rhymes and stories with Singalong actions, so that they can re-tell them independently.
• Practise book skills eg where to find the front and back of a book, author, title, turning pages in order, tracking words from left to write, differences between words and letters, answering simple questions.
• Learn how to form letters correctly using letter patter (with flicks).
• Learn how to write simple words and sentences using their phonics skills.
• Gain a love of stories and reading from adults who share books regularly using props and puppets.
• Read individually or in a small group with an adult each week.
• Have daily opportunities to practise their reading and writing skills indoors and outdoors in child-led provision.
• Are taught new vocabulary in context and staff are skilled in helping the children to use new vocabulary so that it becomes embedded. Vocab books are made and used to enable children to re-visit and practise using new vocabulary.