English

Accelerated Reader

Our English Vision – Igniting a passion for literature and developing writers for the real world.

Our Principles of English Teaching

• Children are writing for real audiences and purposes
• Children are motivated to write and strive to achieve their best through editing and redrafting
• Children present their ideas in a variety of ways and do so with pride
• Children enjoy reading a variety of genres written by a variety of authors
• Children complete varied tasks of achievable but challenging difficulty

In Key Stage 1, we follow 'Read Write Inc' as our Phonics programme and pupils are grouped for these sessions according to need. Phonics is taught daily for 30 minutes, covering all phases within the programme.

What is Read Write Inc?

Read Write Inc is phonics programme that allows children to gain the knowledge and tools to become fluent and confident readers. It sets out a detailed and systematic programme for the teaching of phonics skills for children starting in reception, with the aim of them becoming fluent readers by the end of Key Stage 1.Within the programme children learn the English alphabetic code: first they learn one way to read the 40+ sounds and blend these sounds into words, then learn to read the same sounds with alternative graphemes. They experience success from the very beginning.
Lively phonic books are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and 'tricky' words and, as children re-read the stories, their fluency increases. Along with a thought-provoking introduction, prompts for thinking out loud and discussion, children are helped to read with a storyteller's voice.

Reading in Key Stage 1

The Key Stage One Reading Scheme is closely linked with the children's phonics knowledge. We provide the children with well match reading books that are linked to the sounds they have learnt that week. This ensure that children are set up for success and become confident with their own reading ability from day one. Each child is assessed every 4-6 weeks to ensure they are succeeding as well as being challenged appropriately. There are nine groups that your child will progress through during Reception and Key Stage 1. All information regarding book groups is attached in the documents to the right.

Reading in Key Stage 2

Once the children have completed the Read Write Inc reading scheme, they move onto the Accelerated Reader system. In order to foster a love of reading and to ensure that children meet a range of text styles, the reading scheme is vast.
Publishers/schemes include: PEARSON, Oxford Reading Tree, Collins Big Cat, PM Benchmark, Project X and a mix of individually levelled books. If you'd like to check whether a book you have at home is on the Accelerated Reader system, use the link below. The "reading expectations" document below also explains which level children should be reading in each year group.

http://www.arbookfind.co.uk/UserType.aspx

Throughout school, from Reception to Year 6, we followed Read to Write, by Literacy Counts.

Read to Write empowers teachers to provide high-quality teaching of writing through children's high-quality literature (Vehicle Texts). The units of work centre on engaging, vocabulary-rich texts, with a wealth of writing opportunities. Several of these carefully selected Vehicle Texts have strong thematic links to the Science, History and Geography curriculum. They are being implemented with great success because they include (with some additional resources for 2021):

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

Read to Write is evidence-based teaching of writing. These units have been carefully mapped out so the entire statutory curriculum for writing is covered for each year group. They also enable schools to draw upon the wider curriculum, which supports schools to build rich curriculums.