English
Reading
We believe reading is key for academic success and therefore teaching of early reading, which begins in the EYFS, is vital. This is when the children are introduced to phonics. We use a systematic synthetic phonics programme that is based on Ruth Miskin’s ‘Read Write Inc.’ programme, at the heart of which is the systematic teaching of all the common sounds in the English language. Children are taught to recognise the sounds and to put them together into words for reading. Each sound is taught in a microscopic manner and includes plenty of opportunities to retrieve and rehearse their prior learning. In addition to this, we ensure that the teaching of phonics is alongside a language and text rich environment.
To provide the children with additional practise and consolidation of their phonic sounds, extremely careful choices of reading schemes and titles have been made following extensive research, to ensure that books are phonetically matched to our phonics programme and support the microscopic progression of all children through their journey of learning to read. We expect families to read these books with their children each evening.
Once all sounds have been taught children then work through levelled books which match their current attainment. These books provide the children with additional fluency practise, as well as providing more opportunity to build comprehension skills.
Throughout the school, the teaching of reading ensures that pupils' comprehension of words develops alongside their decoding of the letters and sounds. Reading is taught as a whole class and children complete a range of activities to apply their understanding of a wide range of texts.
The teaching of reading always has a specific focus on vocabulary alongside fluency and comprehension. We know that the explicitly teaching vocabulary can prove a significant boost for vocabulary development. By combining academic talk, reading, as well as undertaking explicit vocabulary instruction, we take a deliberate and intentional approach to language development that benefits every child.
Children are read to regularly by their class teacher. We foster a love of reading and of good literature, promoting a life-long habit of reading for enjoyment and as a source of information and knowledge. This is supported by our ‘Reading for Pleasure’ scheme which is embedded in KS2 classes. As a school we have a set list of books which we think each year group will enjoy hearing which supplements our independent ‘Reading for Pleasure’ scheme.
Each classroom has a selection of books directly linked with the wider curriculum units which will be studied across the year. This offers opportunities for the children to apply their reading skills across the curriculum.
Writing
At Wimbledon Park, we believe that creating a love of literacy is vital. We want to use literature that inspires children to want to write as it is an empowering way to be able to express oneself. Each unit of writing is supported by high quality literature and we adopt a ‘whole text’ teaching approach. During their time at Wimbledon Park, children are introduced to literature from the classic cannon of British children’s authors, as well as writing from Children’s Laureates, fairy and folk stories, traditional tales and writing from countries beyond Europe. Click here to see a list of our current 'Core Texts'.
We explicitly teach the characteristics of different text types from poems, to letters, to non –fiction texts. Children will be exposed to examples of high quality, carefully chosen literature as models and will be given opportunities to ‘text-mark’ for features of each. The units of writing begin with excellent models and exposure to the genre, then moves on to scaffolded examples. The children move on to the planning phase before being given extended opportunities to write at length and independently – applying all that has been taught in the build-up. Children are taught to re-read their writing and to make edits and improvements so that every piece of writing they produce is something they would like to share with others.
We teach the secretarial aspects of writing including spelling and handwriting. Handwriting lessons begin in our EYFS, where children learn to develop their gross and fine motor skills. We model how to correctly hold a pencil and begin to practise correct letter formation. In the summer term in Reception children are taught their ‘get ready’ stroke which then progresses on to cursive script in year 1. In all classes, we encourage children to take pride in their attractive, swift and fluent script and how their work is presented in all areas of the curriculum but particularly when we are ‘publishing’ writing.
Grammar is embedded into the teaching of writing and, our grammar curriculum, is aligned with the National Curriculum. Our youngest pupils in Reception begin to learn how to punctuate their writing correctly, while older pupils use advanced punctuation and ambitious vocabulary choices to make their writing more effective. We select appropriate grammatical structures to teach alongside the wide range of text types the children are exposed to.
Children are provided with frequent opportunities to write across the curriculum.