At Sproatley Endowed CE Academy, our ambition is to nurture and develop confident learners who approach reading and writing with enthusiasm. We aim to prepare our children for their future by giving them the fluency in speaking, reading and writing skills necessary to succeed. This includes communication skills, the foundation of which are laid in EYFS, which are promoted through dialogic teaching approaches and opportunities to develop oracy skills.

Our teaching of writing aims to inspire all children to become creative and confident writers who are able to accurately communicate ideas for a range of audiences and purposes. Transcription skills are explicitly taught to promote automaticity in handwriting and spelling. Writing is approached through a carefully planned sequence in which the children explore the chosen genre in depth, identifying features and practising skills, before writing their own texts. Children begin by reading example texts, discussing the audience and purpose and relevant features. Children are explicitly taught sentence skills and punctuation linked to the purpose for writing with opportunities to practise and apply new skills to secure these. Children are taught how to plan effectively and how to structure their writing. Children are taught how to revise and edit their writing, thinking about the accuracy of their writing and the impact on their readers, with opportunities to share their writing.

Children are taught grammar and punctuation linked to their writing purposes and text types. Children learn vocabulary and grammatical terms identified in the National Curriculum and practise applying sentence skills in English lessons. Spelling is taught linked to Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised in Key Stage 1. In Key Stage 2, the Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 spelling rules and word lists are taught, with children using Spelling Shed to practise and learn these spellings. Children are taught to proof-read to check their writing for incorrect spellings, using ‘If in doubt, check it out’ as a rule to help them check spellings they are unsure of.

National Curriculum Appendix 2: Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

Reading is at the heart of learning at Sproatley Endowed CE Academy; we aim to promote a love reading through using high-quality texts and ensuring children become fluent, confident readers. Children are taught early reading and phonics using the Little Wandle scheme from nursery to Year 2 to secure decoding skills and fluency. Children are taught phonics daily and develop fluency, prosody and comprehension through repeated reads and regular reading groups. Children also enjoy listening to and discussing whole class reading books, helping them develop a love for reading from an early age. For those children who need more support to become fluent readers, Daily Keep Up interventions are used. From Year 2 onwards, the Rapid Catch Up intervention provides targeted support to ensure children become fluent readers. Teachers model fluency by reading aloud and children have regular opportunities to read aloud and develop their own fluency. Reading texts are carefully chosen to ensure children experience reading a range of high-quality texts including fiction, non-fiction, picture books and poetry throughout the year; books chosen also promote diversity and help children to explore other cultures. Whole class reading sessions are planned to develop comprehension skills and vocabulary. Through dialogic talk, children are able to discuss, question and analyse ideas and texts, sharing and extending their ideas.