English

Writing Curriculum

At Wheelock, the teaching of writing is of paramount importance within a broad, balanced curriculum. Our aim is to ensure that every child is immersed in a vocabulary rich curriculum and develops their skill, accuracy and love of writing through exposure to a range of exemplar texts. This exposure, to a variety of texts from different genres, allows the children at Wheelock to gain knowledge and experience of writing in different styles and for different purposes. Writing is embedded across the curriculum and in all year groups. It is intended that by the end of Year 6, children have developed a love of writing, become confident with the essential skills of grammar, punctuation and spelling and have the ability to edit and improve.

At Wheelock, we set high expectations for our children to take pride in their work and have a fluent, cursive handwriting style. It is intended that children leave Wheelock with the confidence to use their skills, knowledge and understanding of different text types and how to construct them, in their future beyond Wheelock. 

We use the Read to Write scheme of work to support our teaching of writing across the school from Reception to Year 6. 

Pedagogy

In order to create confident writers at Wheelock, we teach writing through the Literacy Counts scheme of work. The scheme, which focuses heavily on the link between reading and writing, is evidence based and made up of units. These units are mapped out so the entire statutory curriculum for writing is covered in each year group. The units of work centre on engaging, vocabulary-rich texts, with a wealth of writing opportunities. It provides teachers with high-quality literature known as ‘Vehicle texts’. Several of these selected vehicle texts have strong thematic links to Science, History and Geography allowing for great cross-curricular knowledge.

Each unit of work provided includes:

• Clear Sequential Episodes of Learning
• Example Texts (greater depth WAGOLL)
• Learning Objectives that link to the teaching sequence (Immerse, Analyse, Plan Write) 
• Vocabulary Learning
• Contextualised Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation
• Writer’s Knowledge Linked to National Standards
• Sentence Accuracy Work Linked to National Standards
• Progressions Documents with Year Group Expectations
• Reflecting on Unit Outcomes: Planning for Next Steps
• Example Planning Format
• Wider Reading for the Wider Curriculum
• A Wealth of Resources Linked to the National Standards
• Explicit Links to the National Curriculum

Teachers model the process of writing within every Literacy lesson. Working walls and washing lines are used to support children with their writing. During the lessons, teachers will think out loud, edit and demonstrate how and why they are structuring their writing in the way they have. Children participate in shared writes where everyone contributes to the writing outcome. Before the start of a unit, children undertake a ‘Cold Task’. This is to inform teachers’ planning and enable gaps in knowledge to be identified and effectively planned for. At the end of the unit, children then undertake a ‘Hot task’ this is used as an assessment piece to identify learning outcomes and progress acquired.

The teaching of grammar and punctuation is an integral part of writing at Wheelock. This is taught through Literacy Counts units of work and as discreet lessons. This allows children to gain more confidence and practice previously taught skills. Although spelling is part of many units of work in writing, it is also taught outside of Literacy lessons. Our next development is that of a spelling scheme for Years 2-6. Currently, children are taught different spelling rules and patterns as well as the morphology of words. Children have access to Spelling Shed where they can learn and practise spellings.This is beneficial for parents to see what their child is learning and their target spellings moving forward.

The children at Wheelock are set high expectations for their handwriting and presentation. We aim for children to be proud of their work and confident that it is eligible with a neat, cursive style. This is enforced by taught handwriting sessions. These take place across the school. Children are taught how to form the letters of the alphabet accurately, how to join letters and the importance of ascending and descending letters. Handwriting examples are placed in each classroom and extra support is given to children who have difficulty with their fine motor skills. Children in KS2 are also given the opportunity to write in pen when they are confident in the formation of their letters. This is something the children strive for.

Assessment

• Children have gained sustained learning and transferrable skills in writing.
• Children are more confident when writing independently.
• Children are more familiar with different genres and have a growing understanding of what is needed to structure them.
• Greater understanding of grammar and punctuation and able to use these across the wider curriculum.
• The use of Cold and Hot tasks allows assessment of children’s progress.
• More children achieving Greater Depth in writing by the end of KS2.
• Children have been exposed to a variety and vast amount of high quality literature, which they have then used as inspiration for their own writing.
• An improvement in spelling across the school
• Regular book scrutinies informs senior leaders of the impact of literacy Counts and how it is being implemented throughout the school.

We hope that as the children move on from Wheelock Primary Schools to further their learning, that their creativity, passion for Literacy and high aspirations travel with them.

PhonicsCurriculum

At Wheelock Primary School, we recognise reading as a key life skill, which underpins access to the rest of the curriculum. We aim for children to read words and simple sentences by the end of Reception, become successful, fluent readers by the end of Key Stage 1 and develop a lifelong love of reading as they move through school. We also value and encourage pupils to read for enjoyment and recognise that this starts with the foundations of acquiring letter sounds, segmenting and blending skills – enjoying success and gaining confidence from a positive experience.

Read Write Inc (R.W.I) is an inclusive literacy programme for all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 learning to read. Children learn the 44 common sounds in the English language and how to blend them to read and spell. The scheme includes both a reading and a writing focus.

Reading is the key that unlocks the whole curriculum so the ability to efficiently decode is essential. The R.W.I sessions occur each day as the continuity and pace of the programme is key to accelerating the progress of children’s reading development.

We aim to enable our children to:

• Decode letter-sound correspondences quickly and effortlessly, using their phonic knowledge and skills
• Read common exception words on sight
• Understand what they read
• Read aloud with fluency and expression
• Write confidently, with a strong focus on vocabulary and grammar
• Spell quickly and easily by segmenting the sounds in words
• Acquire good handwriting.

Implementation

This is based on the 5 Ps.

Praise – Children learn quickly in a positive climate.

Pace – Good pace is essential to the lesson.

Purpose – Every part of the lesson has a specific purpose.

Passion – This is a very prescriptive programme. It is the energy, enthusiasm and passion that teachers put into the lesson that bring the teaching and learning to life! Participation - A strong feature of R.W.I lessons is partner work and the partners ‘teaching’ each other (based on research which states that we learn 70% of what we talk about with our partner and 90% of what we teach).

Delivery of Phonics

• Initial sounds are to be taught in a specific order.
• Sounds taught should be ‘pure’ ie ‘b’, not ‘buh’ as this is central to phonic teaching and ability to recognise sounds in words.
• Blends are to be de-clustered. E.g. bl is two specific sounds.
• Children are to be taught that the number of graphemes in a word always corresponds to the number of phonemes. This greatly aids spelling.
• Set 2 sounds are to be taught after Set 1 (initial sounds).
• Letter names are to be introduced with Set 3.

Foundation Stage: R.W.I is fully implemented in Reception by fully trained teachers and TA’s, where the class will be split into groups after a baseline assessment is completed. Lessons will take place daily. Within this time a 10 minute speed sounds session will occur with follow up handwriting and sentence writing. This will happen within reception alone for Autumn term, then mixing with KS1 for the Spring and Summer term (up to purple group).

Year One and Two: R.W.I groups will be set following assessments carried out by the R.W.I lead. The sessions will occur daily for 1 hour and will be carried out by fully trained teachers and teaching assistants. These sessions will replace literacy teaching with a 10 minute Speed Sounds session followed by Reading and Get Writing. Lessons will take place daily. Any children who do not pass the phonics screening in Year 1 will continue to receive RWI session and 1:1 intervention in Year 2.

Key Stage Two: R.W.I will take the form of an intervention for those children with the greatest need in Year 3/4. This will be done by the daily phonics and writing sessions as well as using the 1:1 RWI tutoring programme by trained TA’s.

In Reception, we emphasise the alphabetic code. The pupils rapidly learn sounds and the letter or groups of letters they need to represent them. Simple mnemonics help them to grasp this quickly. This is especially useful for pupils at risk of making slower progress. This learning is consolidated daily. Pupils have frequent practice in reading high frequency words with irregular spellings – common exception words.

We make sure that pupils read books that are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and the common exception words. This is so that, early on, they experience success and gain confidence that they are readers. Re-reading and discussing these books with the teacher supports their increasingly fluent decoding.

Alongside this, the teachers read a wide range of stories, poetry and non-fiction to pupils; they are soon able to read these texts for themselves.

Embedding the alphabetic code early on means that pupils quickly learn to write simple words and sentences. We encourage them to compose each sentence aloud until they are confident to write independently. We make sure they write every day.

Pupils write at the level of their spelling knowledge. The quality of the vocabulary they use in their writing reflects the language they have heard in the books the teacher has read to them; they have also discussed what the words mean.

Our aim is for pupils to complete the phonics programme as quickly as possible. The sooner they complete it, the sooner they will be able to choose books to read at their own interest and comprehension level.

Pedagogy

By the end of Key Stage 1, our pupils are able to read aloud age-appropriate texts accurately and with sufficient speed for comprehension. This means that we can focus on developing their comprehension, preparing them well for transition to Key Stage 2. Their good decoding skills mean that they have a sound strategy for decoding unfamiliar words when they come across them at whatever stage or in any subject, even into secondary school. Most children are expected to complete the programme by the end of Autumn term in Year 2.

Pupils who are making slower progress usually complete the programme by the end of Year 2. We support pupils who have identified special educational needs for however long it takes until they can read. For example, we identify those who are at risk of falling behind their peers immediately – whatever their age. Highly trained staff tutor them for 10 minutes every day, using the Read Write Inc. One-to-one tutoring programme. If a child arrives in Key Stage 2 reading below their chronological age or with English as an additional language they are taught Read Write Inc. Phonics until they too catch up with their peers.

Inclusion

SEN pupils are fully involved in R.W.I. lessons as all pupils work in ability groups and teaching is geared to the speed of progress of each group. 1:1 tuition will be identified by the RWI lead if required. Able children are catered for as groups are based on ability and there is the flexibility to accommodate gifted younger children within groups of older children.

Additional Support for Low-Attainers

Pupils in the ‘lowest’ attaining group have the widest variety of needs. This is therefore the least homogeneous group. In order to give these pupils the same carefully targeted teaching as all the other groups, some of these pupils have daily one-to-one tutoring for 10 minutes, in addition to their group session in the morning. This tutoring helps us to meet their individual needs. Once these pupils have learnt to read they will receive additional support when learning to spell.

Assessment and Recording

Children are assessed throughout every lesson. Every time partner work is used the teacher assesses the progress of her children. We group pupils homogeneously, according to their progress in reading rather than their writing. This is because it is known that pupils’ progress in writing will lag behind progress in reading, especially for those whose motor skills are less well developed.

The teacher assesses how children:

• Read the grapheme chart
• Read the green and red word lists
• Decode the ditty/story
• Comprehend the story

Formal assessment is carried out every half term by the R.W.I lead using the R.W.I. assessments. This allows for achieving homogeneity within each group and indicates the correct access point for new entrants.

We assess all pupils following Read Write Inc. Phonics using the Entry Assessment; we use this data to assign them to either Read Write Inc. Phonics. This gives us a very good indication of how well they are making progress relative to their starting points. We do this for all pupils, whenever they join us, so we can track all of them effectively, including those eligible for the pupil premium. For those on the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme, we record their starting date and entry point on the tracker to monitor the rate at which they are making progress. We can also easily identify those who joined the programme later.

Role of the Early Reading Lead

The R.W.I leader:

• Assesses all Reception, KS.1 and some KS 2 pupils and designates pupils to the correct groups.
• Coaches R.W.I teachers and check that pupils are in the correct groups
• Attends up-date meetings when they occur and reports back to the R.W.I teachers.
• Speaks with the Head teacher regarding groups and a 1-1 “hot list” of pupils needing further support.
• Is responsible for reporting to the governors about the quality of the implementation of R.W.I and the impact on standards.
• Ensuring that our teaching of reading is of the highest quality and that all our pupils make progress.
• Ensuring pupils in the ‘lower progress’ group are making good progress and organising one-to-one tutoring for the pupils who need extra support.
• Providing further training (through masterclasses, coaching/ observation and face-to- face feedback).

Home/School Partnership

At Wheelock, we value the support of our parents/carers in teaching their children to read. Reading at home allows children to practice the skills they have been taught in school. This does wonders for their confidence as a reader. We invite parents/carers to an initial meeting and we hold Inspire workshops regularly to show how they can help their children read at home. We use the resources on the parent page on the Ruth Miskin Training website: http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents.

At Wheelock we:

• Hold an introduction to RWI Inspire workshop/parents meeting.
• Hold workshops across the year for parents/carers who want extra support.
• At parents evenings we share progress with parents/carers.
• We direct parents to the Ruth Miskin Training website: http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents.
• We run a phonics screening meeting for Year One parents/carers and Year Two parents/carers who need to be retested.
• Give out phonics information to parents/carers to support their child in the program.

Reading at Home

Pupils are sent a book bag book home with every Tuesday and Friday. Children are expected to read daily and record this in their reading record book. The children are expected to read these books at least 3 times. Practise is key when learning to read. 

• First read: children will be decoding words (sounding out) and trying to read accurately.
• Second read: children will hopefully be reading accurately, developing fluency and pace.
• Third and final read: children can read for pleasure and understanding of the text. Once the children can read their book fluently, they can practise using expression- this is a real opportunity to use their storytelling voice.

We also use Oxford Reading Owls for additional books linked to the childs phonics level. These have quizes attached at the end of every book too to assess comprehension skills. The children are also assigned a sound quiz weekly on here too. This is monitered by the class teacher. 

As well as this, we also empahsise the importance of reading for pleasure. The children have a basket of books that they can help them selves to take home. These are good quality and varied texts that parents can read, enjoy and discuss with children. Top tips and guidance for parents is shared with them to make this as beneficial as possible.