Children are taught phonics in a systematic way following the Letters and Sounds programme. Through structured, fun activities they learn to recognise letter sounds and then use the sounds in words, to read and write independently.
Spelling and Grammar
Spelling and Grammar are taught through literacy lessons in relation to the texts that children are using in class. Children are also asked to practise spellings at home.
Children are taught through Guided Reading to decode words and recognise high frequency words. They also discuss, ask and answer questions in order to develop comprehension skills. We have recently invested in a new reading scheme called Bug Club which has engaging books at all levels and a website where children can access eBooks to practise their reading skills. We also use Oxford Reading Tree books. All classes also have class picture books, novels and information books which support the topic work and allow children to explore texts in a cross curricular way. We encourage parents to help their child practise reading at home by sharing a variety of texts. E.g. books, comics, magazines menus, instructions.
All children are taught handwriting through a cursive script which encourages joining as soon as children are ready. This allows children to develop a fluent, neat style. Writing is taught in a cross curricular way to ensure that children are able to confidently write in a variety of genres e.g. stories, plays, poems, information texts.