Bede Community Primary School

Reading

Intent

At Bede Community Primary School, we cherish reading as a fundamental life skill and are committed to fostering confident, fluent readers who derive both purpose and pleasure from books. Our goal is for all children to become proficient in reading with accuracy and understanding, recognizing its essential role in accessing knowledge, nurturing intellectual growth, and enhancing enjoyment of the wider world.

Implementation

Comprehensive Reading Curriculum: Our reading curriculum is closely aligned with the National Curriculum aims for English (2014), focusing on:

Developing fluent reading with deep comprehension

Instilling a love for reading through regular practice

Building vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension skills crucial for reading, writing, and spoken language

Phonics Instruction: We implement the Ruth Miskin Read Write Inc programme across all year groups, starting from Nursery/Reception through Year 2. This systematic and synthetic phonics approach ensures children master phonetic decoding for reading and spelling.

Daily Phonics Lessons: Beginning in Reception, children engage in daily 30-minute Read Write Inc phonics lessons. Lessons evolve from shorter to full-length sessions, incorporating oral blending games and weekly reviews to enhance fluency.

Keep-Up Lessons: Additional daily keep-up sessions are provided to support children who need extra practice. These sessions mirror class teaching structures, offering targeted support to consolidate learning and address any gaps identified through assessments.

Focused Reading Practice: Children in Reception and Key Stage 1 read three times a week using fully decodable books aligned with the Ruth Miskin Read Write Inc programme and Collins Big Cat books. Each session follows a 'three read' model focusing on decoding, prosody (intonation and expression), and comprehension.

Assessment and Intervention: Formal and informal assessments, including Ruth Miskin Read Write Inc assessments and regular reviews, monitor progress and identify areas needing intervention. Year 2 and 6 children undergo Phonics Screening Checks. Children in Years 4 to 6 who have not completed the Read Write Inc Phonics Programme receive targeted daily phonics sessions.

Impact

Evidence of Success: At Bede Community Primary School, our commitment to the Ruth Miskin Read Write Inc programme yields significant results:

Children make exceptional progress in reading from their starting points, leaving Year 6 as confident, independent readers.

They demonstrate fluency, comprehension, and a passion for reading, evidenced by their engagement with texts and ability to derive meaning.

Our structured phonics approach ensures all children acquire essential reading skills, nurturing a lifelong love for reading and equipping them for academic success and personal enrichment.

Through our dedicated approach to reading using the Ruth Miskin Read Write Inc scheme, we empower children to become skilled readers who excel academically and find joy in exploring the world through literature.

Writing

Intent

At Bede Community Primary School, our goal is to nurture confident and purposeful writers who possess a solid understanding of various writing purposes and are sensitive to audience needs. We aim to equip children with the essential skills and techniques required for independent and effective writing, aligning with the core objectives of the national curriculum for transcription and composition.

Implementation

Comprehensive Writing Curriculum: We adopt a 'book-based' approach at Bede Community Primary School, using high-quality texts as central stimuli to inspire and inform both narrative and non-fiction writing across each term. These texts serve as rich sources of ideas and themes, fostering deep engagement and providing content for students' own writing endeavors.

Genre Immersion: Children are immersed in carefully planned units spanning 4-6 weeks, with each unit focused on a specific genre. These units are delivered through daily 50-minute English lessons from Year 1 to Year 6.
Key Writing Skills: Throughout each teaching sequence, students progress through essential 'steps' in learning that encompass:
- Developing cohesion within their writing
- Enhancing sentence structure for clarity and impact
- Crafting compositions that effectively communicate ideas
- Employing punctuation effectively to enhance meaning
Progressive Skill Development: Our curriculum ensures that these key skills are systematically built upon within and across units of work, catering to the intended purpose and audience of the writing task.

Impact

Evident Growth: The approach at Bede Community Primary School results in tangible outcomes:

Children develop proficiency in various writing genres, understanding the purpose and impact of grammar and vocabulary choices.
They exhibit confidence in expressing themselves through writing, demonstrating clarity of thought and consideration for their audience.
Our structured writing curriculum fosters independent and effective writers who are well-prepared to navigate diverse writing tasks and contexts.

Through our dedicated approach to writing, grounded in high-quality literature and systematic skill development, we empower children to become adept communicators who can articulate ideas effectively across different genres and settings.