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English at Hythe Bay

We aim to create a Christian environment in which each child is valued and special and in which respect for the rights and needs of others is nurtured.  As a Church school we believe all we do is supported by biblical guidelines.

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Reading Intent

 

We aim to make all of our pupils at Hythe Bay ‘readers’ who develop a positive attitude and confidence as well as interest and a life-long love of literature through a curriculum with reading at its core.

 

Reading Implementation

All staff work together to create an atmosphere that exudes a passion for reading and an expectation that pupils will engage with books daily.

 

VIPERS

Children are explicitly taught the skills of reading (outlined in the National Curriculum and the KS1 and KS2 test domains) through the use of VIPERS which were created by Rob Smith (The Literacy Shed).

 

The Reading Vipers can be used by both KS1 and KS2 with a little adaption. The main difference being in the S.

Sequence- KS1

Summarise-KS2

 

In KS1, ‘Explain’; is not one of the content domains, rather it asks children why they have come to a certain conclusion, to explain their preferences, thoughts and opinions about a text.

 

In KS2, the Explain section covers the additional content domains of 2F, 2G and 2H which are not present in KS1.

Continuing opportunities for in depth reading of a wide range of texts occur through regular Guided Reading sessions and Reading Comprehension focused lessons during Literacy hour.

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  • English lessons often include an element of Shared Reading of high quality texts, with the teacher and children reading a text together.

  • The school will take part in annual World Book Day festivities.

  • All classes have ‘story time’ at some point during the day.

 

Parents are encouraged to read with their child by being supplied with support materials when in the Reception year and are also invited periodically into school to enjoy a book with their child during the school day. Books are chosen by the children at an appropriate level, with adult assistance. Teachers will endure they use a range of books that represent our diverse community.

  

Reading Impact

By the age of eleven, pupils should:

  • Read with confidence, fluency and understanding, orchestrating a range of independent strategies to self-monitor and correct.

  • Have an interest in books and read for enjoyment.

  • Have an interest in words, their meanings; develop a growing vocabulary

  • Understand a range of text types and genres

  • Develop skills in inferences, prediction, explanation, sequencing and summarising in relation to their reading

  • Have a suitable technical vocabulary to articulate their responses in conversation about their reading.

 

The school uses a combination of assessment tools: phonics screening, Target Tracker and Pixl as a planning and diagnostic tool to allow pupils to reach targets in their reading and learning, which allows them to make good progress.

 

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Phonics

We use Little Wandle at Hythe Bay.

Writing Intent

Through an engaging and stimulating curriculum, we aim to produce an atmosphere in which individuals become: literate, creative, independent, inquisitive, enquiring and confident. They should leave the school with the ability to express in writing their thoughts, ideas and imaginations.

 

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Writing Impact

By the age of eleven pupils should:

  • Have a positive attitude towards writing.

  • Write with confidence, clarity and imagination.

  • Understand and apply their knowledge of phonics and spelling.

  •  Write in a range of genres (including fiction, non-fiction and poetry).

  • Plan, draft, revise and edit their own work, and learn how to self and peer assess against the success criteria.

  • Develop a technical vocabulary through which to understand and discuss their writing.

  • Develop their imagination, creativity, expressive language and critical awareness through their writing.

  •  Have equality of opportunity regardless of race, gender or ability.

  • Write clearly, accurately and effectively for a range of audiences and purposes.

 

Target Tracker and Pixl are used to inform planning and as a diagnostic tool to set and monitor targets and progress.

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Writing Implementation

Pupils explore new vocabulary at every opportunity. Teachers introduce new words and their associated synonyms daily using Vocabulary Ninja, taking the time to discuss how and when to use and promote the use of these in their writing.

 

At Hythe Bay, Pie Corbett’s Talk for Writing is used improve achievement in writing. Talk for Writing advocates that children imitate the key language needed for a particular genre orally, before reading and analysing it. Through fun activities they rehearse retelling the text, then through shared writing they are shown how to craft their writing in the same style. The approach includes imitation, innovation and independent application (invention) – a two to three-week process depending on the genre being taught.

 

Many opportunities are taken in the course of topic work for children to write in a variety of genres. High quality writing is modelled during whole class teaching time and in smaller groups using the children’s ideas and writing techniques are explicitly taught and reinforced during these parts of the lesson. Children are expected to complete increasingly long pieces of work as they progress through the school. In the Early Years, they are given opportunities for emergent writing during Child Initiated activities; this is continued in role-play areas throughout Key Stage 1.

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