At Bishop’s Waltham Junior School the health, safety and well-being of every child is our top priority.

Gallery

English

National Curriculum Aims for English (Reading)

The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

  • read easily, fluently and with good understanding
  • develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
  • acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
  • appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
  • write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
  • use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
  • are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate

 

 The reading curriculum at Bishop's Waltham Junior School

Intent (Reading)

  • For children to develop a love of reading as a hobby for pleasure and as a means of learning about the world.
  • For children to be able to make choices about books to read, able to navigate a library and select books that are appropriate and engaging.
  • For children to be exposed to a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts through an organised system of class readers, individual reading books and curriculum text drivers during their time at school.
  • For children to be able to read to an audience and internally with fluency, accuracy and expression.
  • For children to be able to decode unfamiliar words using phonics skills, phonetic awareness and contextual clues where appropriate.
  • For children to be able to retrieve information, summarise findings and use inference skills to deduce meaning from what they have read.
  • For children to be able to offer ideas and justify opinions about their reading.
  • For children to use books and other resources (including online) to find information about a range of different topics and themes.

 

Implementation (Reading)

  • All year groups teach whole class guided reading using a set of texts overseen by the English leader. Texts are chosen to increase in complexity of language and concepts as children progress through the school.
  • Guided reading planning includes specific fluency sessions for children to practise their skills of reading aloud.
  • All children in Year 3 (and all children assessed as close to / below at the end of the previous year) carry out a baseline assessment in September to ascertain the lowest 20% of readers in each class. These children then carry out a phonics assessment so they can be provided with a phonic matched book and supported in class and through targeted intervention.  Children are tracked through the rest of the year to measure progress.
  • Daily spelling lessons are taught throughout the school incorporating phonic skills particularly in Year 3 as a continuation of their learning at the infant school. Children continue to build their repertoire of phonic knowledge and other word-level awareness which they can use to help them decode unfamiliar words when reading.  Spelling sessions are based predominantly around the No Nonsense Spelling scheme, supplemented with other resources as appropriate.
  • During the Spring Term of Year 6, children spend guided reading sessions looking specifically at test-style texts and questions in preparation for their end of Key Stage 2 assessments.
  • Children with specific difficulties in reading will be provided with some of a range of targeted interventions including but not limited to Toe by Toe, Stareway to Spelling and Reading Plus in Year 5. Children in receipt of Pupil Premium funding will often be given additional timetabled reading sessions with our Pupil Premium tutor.  Year 6 staff will run a reading booster group in the Spring Term of Year 6.
  • All children will visit the school library at least once (but usually twice) a week. They will have the opportunity to choose two books to read (in addition to any phonics-matched book they may be provided with).  Library times allow children the opportunity to share books they have been reading, and make recommendations to others.
  • Children are encouraged to leave a reading book from the library in school so that they have an ongoing book to read at the beginning of the afternoon session. Each classroom has a bookcase of material available in addition to this.
  • In addition to guided reading sessions, each year group also has a selection of whole class readers for teachers to share with their class across the year. This selection has been curated by the English leader to ensure a balance of styles and authors across the school, enabling children to increase the breadth of their experience with different texts.
  • Alongside the specific reading curriculum, reading as a skill is also developed throughout the curriculum as children are exposed to a range of different texts in all subjects.

 

Impact (Reading)

  • Through regular pupil conferencing, children’s enjoyment of English is evident.
  • During guided reading book looks, there is a clear progression in reading skills from years 3 – 6, with children exposed to more complex texts and more challenging questions and tasks.
  • Tracking data across the school shows progression amongst children in the lowest 20% of readers. Their phonics levels will improve throughout the year as a result of targeted interventions and class support.
  • Children’s love of high quality texts increases, with children more likely to seek out the focus author/type of text during weekly library sessions
  • Children are increasingly able to find and select information they need across the curriculum to aid them in their learning as a result of the skills they have learned in reading sessions.
  • Children achieve well in their end of Key Stage 2 SATS.

  

National Curriculum Aims for English (Writing)

The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

  • read easily, fluently and with good understanding
  • develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
  • acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
  • appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
  • write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
  • use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
  • are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate

  

 The writing curriculum at Bishop's Waltham Junior School

Intent (Writing)

  • For all pupils to be able to speak and write fluently so they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others
  • To be able to use spoken language competently in order to develop a capacity to explain and prepare their ideas before they write
  • For children to understand the importance of drama within writing as a means to understanding how to empathise with characters and respond to others
  • To be able to organise their ideas for writing in a coherent way, drawing on the skills taught to compose a variety of forms of writing
  • To be able to spell confidently through the use of phonics, morphology (word structure) and orthography (spelling structure) enabling children to become fluent when writing down their ideas
  • To be able to proof-read a piece of writing and edit this for spelling and punctuation errors, composition effects and effective vocabulary
  • To understand the importance of ‘writing for an audience’ and ‘writing for a purpose’ as a way to help the children compose and organise their ideas ready for writing

    

Implementation (Writing)

  • All year groups have access to high quality texts (text drivers) which explore different themes and conventions. There is a clear rationale as to why they have been chosen for each year group and a clear progression in the complexity of texts can be seen from year 3 through to year 6.
  • Each ‘text driver’ allows for a variety of different forms of writing to be explored and taught which means there are ample opportunities for the same form of writing to be practiced at a variety of different points over the year. This allows the skills previously taught within the form of writing to be built upon each time it is revisited.
  • Every unit plan follows a ‘3 phase structure’: Phase one – Stimulate and Generate, Phase Two – Capture, Sift and Sort, Phase Three – Create, Refine and Evaluate. This structure allows rich texts to be explored through shared reading and deep discussion, the generation of ideas and development of vocabulary through the direct teaching of skills and modelled writing, a focus on the structure of a plan based on the purpose and audience for the piece of writing, honing the skills of editing and self-correction and evaluating the success of writing against an agreed ‘set of effects on the reader’. This model also allows children to build on their knowledge of grammatical and literary features that can be transferred between texts and tasks.
  • A clear skills progression linked to the main forms of writing has been written and disseminated to staff, allowing staff to teach the correct skills for each form of writing, building on their prior knowledge from the previous year’s work
  • Work is differentiated so that all children can achieve – appropriate scaffolds are put in place to support the skills practise and writing process
  • An emphasis has been placed on ‘editing and improving’ – children have appropriate time in follow-up lessons to implement the changes teachers have noticed during feedback after the lesson
  • Opportunities for writing in the wider curriculum is evident – children can draw on their skills from their English lessons to help them write for different purposes in a range of foundation subjects

  

Impact (Writing)

  • Through regular pupil conferencing, children’s enjoyment of English is evident
  • During book looks, there is a clear progression in skills for a variety of forms of writing from years 3 – 6, with children achieving a good amount of writing linked to the purpose and form
  • Due to the cyclical nature of the writing curriculum, less time is needed to be spent on teaching the skills of how to write for a certain form/purpose/audience as the children are exposed to these many times over the course of the academic year
  • Children can speak confidently to different audiences and for different purposes due to the implementation of drama/performance in the English curriculum
  • During book looks, children’s editing skills improve year upon year which shows children understand the importance of proof-reading and editing their work carefully
  • Children’s love of high quality texts increases, with children more likely to seek out the focus author/type of text during weekly library sessions
  • When writing across the wider curriculum, the children’s use of sentence skills and appropriate vocabulary for specific forms of writing is evident

 

How can you help?

Reading

Reading with your child and helping him/her with writing and spelling can help boost their achievement. Reading is fundamental to your child’s progress and is the most important way that parents can help their child. This is true right up to the end of Year 6 and beyond. We ask that you make sure your child has regular reading practise and check that s/he understands what s/he reads. Click here to find out how to do Paired Reading effectively.     

  • Visit the library – it’s free to join. As well as story books, libraries lend a range of up-to-date non-fiction books and books on tape.
  • Don’t just read books. Encourage your child to read newspapers, TV guides, comics and magazines. Ask your child to find out information from the Yellow Pages, cookery books etc.       

 

Hampshire County Council have produced a list of 'Significant Authors' which they recommend for children in Key Stage 2 to read.  You might find these useful when choosing books with your children.

   

Significant Authors for Years 3 & 4

Significant Authors for Years 5 & 6

 

Writing and Spelling

It’s easier to get into good handwriting habits early on than to correct poor writing later. The same goes for spelling. Help your child to see writing and spelling skills not only as fun, but as something important and to be proud of:

  • Help younger children by writing words and sentences for them to copy.
  • Emphasise the links between drawing and writing and make sure your child always signs finished artwork.
  • Encourage your child to be look at examples of beautiful handwriting in museums, galleries and books.
  • Older children can develop their writing and social skills together by finding pen-friends through the school World Class club or  keeping in touch with friends and relatives who live far away.

 

SPAG Guidance for Parents

  

  

image