Westfield Primary SchoolEnglish including Phonics
| Writing Subject Leader | Mrs Davies |
| Reading Subject Leader | Mrs Davies (whole school) Mrs K Crook (phonics) |
| English Link Governors | Mrs Abel and Mrs Williams |
English at Westfield Primary School
At Westfield Primary School, we believe that high-quality literature should be at the heart of English teaching. We want every child to develop a love of reading and writing, while becoming confident communicators who can express their ideas clearly, creatively and effectively.
Our Intent
Our English curriculum aims to develop children who are enthusiastic readers, confident writers and articulate speakers. We use rich, ambitious and engaging texts as the starting point for developing the knowledge, vocabulary and skills children need to become successful readers and writers.
At Westfield, our English texts have been personally selected and carefully mapped by our staff. We consider the interests and experiences of our pupils when choosing texts, alongside opportunities for children to broaden their understanding of the world. Wherever possible, texts are also selected to complement and deepen learning in our wider curriculum, giving children opportunities to revisit, investigate and develop knowledge through literature.
We want children to encounter a wide range of voices, experiences, genres and perspectives, developing empathy, curiosity and the ability to form informed opinions.
Our Implementation
We follow the Literacy Tree approach, using high-quality texts to provide meaningful contexts for reading and writing. The National Curriculum objectives for reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary and spoken language are carefully mapped across the school, with opportunities for children to revisit, practise and consolidate key skills.
Our teachers adapt and personalise the curriculum to meet the needs of their pupils, ensuring that all children can access ambitious English learning and make progress from their individual starting points.
Children experience a range of purposeful reading and writing opportunities, including writing for different audiences and purposes, writing in role, discussion and debate, drama, vocabulary exploration, drafting, revising and editing. Working walls and other classroom resources support children to develop their ideas and apply new vocabulary and skills independently.
Our carefully chosen texts also provide opportunities to make meaningful connections across the curriculum, supporting children to build knowledge and make links between their learning.
Our Impact
Through our English curriculum, we aim for children to:
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develop a genuine love of reading and writing;
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become confident, fluent and effective readers and writers;
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use a broad and ambitious vocabulary;
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communicate confidently for a range of purposes and audiences;
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develop their ability to discuss, question and express informed opinions;
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apply their literacy skills across the wider curriculum;
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develop empathy, curiosity and a deeper understanding of the world;
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leave Westfield with the knowledge, skills and confidence to succeed in the next stage of their education.
We want every child to see themselves as a reader, a writer and a confident communicator, with a rich understanding of language, literature and the world around them.
For further details, please see our English Policy.
Phonics
At Westfield, we use the Read Write Inc (RWI) programme to get children off to a flying start with their reading and writing. RWI is a method of learning centred around letter sounds and phonics, and we use it to aid children in their reading and writing.
Reading opens the door to learning. A child who reads a lot will become a good reader. A child who reads challenging material is a child who will learn.
Using RWI, the children learn to read effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into comprehending what they read. It also allows them to spell effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into composing what they write.
We start by teaching phonics to the children in the Reception class. This means that they learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. This is essential for reading, but it also helps children learn to spell well. We teach the children simple ways of remembering these sounds and letters; ask them to show you what some of these sounds are.
The children also practise reading (and spelling) what we call ‘red words’, such as ‘once,’ ‘have,’ ‘said’ and ‘where’.
The children practise their reading with books that match the phonics and the ‘red words’ they know. The children become more fluent readers as their sight vocabulary increases and this does wonders for their confidence.
WHEN USING RWI TO READ & WRITE THE CHILDREN WILL:
- learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple picture prompts
- learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent 44 sounds
- learn to read and write words using Fred Talk
- read lively stories featuring words they have learned to sound out
- show that they comprehend the stories by answering questions
Below is a link to the RWInc website that explains in more detail the resources used to deliver the programme and many video clips to demonstrate how RWInc is taught from Reception through to KS2.
Also, by navigating the website you will find useful activities to support your child at home.
http://www.ruthmiskintraining.com/teacher-support/tag-36/index.html
In addition, we teach pupils to work effectively with a partner to explain and consolidate what they are learning. This provides the teacher with opportunities to assess learning and to pick up on difficulties, such as pupils’ poor articulation, or problems with blending or alphabetic code knowledge.
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.
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.
Impact
As a result, we have a community of enthusiastic readers and writers who enjoy showcasing their developing literacy knowledge and skills. They are confident to take risks in their reading and writing, and love to discuss and share their ideas. Children’s work showcases their progression of skills and how their learning in the wider curriculum compliments our units of work in English.
Reading at Home
We believe that regular reading at home is an important part of developing confident, fluent and enthusiastic readers. We encourage all children to read regularly with an adult at home, as well as enjoying books independently.
We use Boom Reader to help us monitor and support children’s reading beyond the classroom. Families can record the books their child reads at home, allowing teachers to see children’s reading habits and engagement in real time. This information helps us to celebrate reading, identify children who may need additional encouragement or support, and ensure that we continue to promote a strong culture of reading across school and home.
We value the partnership between school and families and encourage parents and carers to talk about books, share stories and make reading an enjoyable part of everyday life.
Phonics games and resources
Articulation of phonemes
DFE Information for parents