English
Our vision and approach to English at The Oaks
Writing at The Oaks
Our aim is for every child to be a writer. We want our children to have the skills and confidence to pick up a pen and share their ideas.
Our aim at The Oaks is to develop in all children:
A belief in themselves - High expectations of what they can achieve. Our aim is for the children to strive to create high quality work that they feel proud of.
Imagination and innovation- to use the skills learnt in writing to innovate, invent and create
Independent thinking- to use their literacy skills across their English learning and far beyond- in all areas of the curriculum
Articulating ideas- to be able to articulate their ideas and vision for their writing and to be able to share and celebrate it orally afterwards.
Resilience- to continue to try when they find it tough and have the strength to continue to grow and improve as a writer
Reflection- to reflect, edit and improve their work and stove to make their writing the best it can be
Our objectives in writing at The Oaks are:
To have great texts at the heart of all that we do. They are the stimulus for play, talk and writing.
To develop a love of books and literature which will stand them in good stead to becoming great writers.
To create and grow a language rich environment.
To teach and embed the basic skills of writing- spelling, handwriting, grammar and punctuation.
To teach the craft and technique of writing so the children have a range of writing tools to use in their writing.
Power of reading
We are a Power of Reading (PoR) school which means that we put quality children’s literature at the heart of our English curriculum to foster a love of reading and writing. Whether we use a text from the PoR list or not, we use their underlying principles to engage and support the children’s learning. It allows us to use drama techniques to support the children’s understanding and build their confidence.
Reading at The Oaks
Reading is absolutely central to our curriculum. Children at The Oaks spend their first years at school learning to read, enabling them to read to learn. High quality texts are meticulously chosen to support learning and the acquisition of knowledge across the curriculum. We strive to nurture a love for reading and aim for every child to leave our school reading fluently and talking confidently about the books and authors they love.
Reading environments
Throughout the school, we have ‘book nooks’ which are cosy spaces for children to share stories and within classrooms our reading areas are designed to be inviting and engaging. Our books areas are organised so that children can independently choose books which interest and engage them. Book areas are cosy places to get comfortable and have a good read!
Library
We are extremely fortunate to have a beautiful library stocked with books for every type of reader and always being updated with the newest books. Our librarian, Mrs Byles, has a wealth of knowledge of children’s literature and each year group has their weekly library visit. Our children love going to the library. In Nursery and Reception, parents are invited in with their children to choose their books together. There are always lots of competitions going on and fun library activities. Be sure to check it out!
Celebrating reading
Every week, we celebrate the children’s reading as the children work their way towards their bronze, silver and gold awards. In KS2, alongside their reading awards, they celebrate their Accelerated Reader quizzing with some friendly competition between classes/phases. Our librarian also runs competitions between classes when they visit the library each week to encourage their reading for pleasure at home.
Chantry Book Jam
Each year, we take part in the Chantry Book Jam where a week is dedicated to every child getting the opportunity to meet an author or illustrator. Throughout the year, we organise authors to visit the children to inspire the children and always take part in events such as World Book Day.
Early reading
In EYFS and KS1, we have daily, discrete phonics lessons. As of September 2022, we have begun using the Little Wandle as our SSP (Systematic Synthetic Phonics) programme. Following their phonics lesson, children then have the opportunity to apply their decoding skills by reading a book matched to their current phonics ability. Their reading lessons will focus on decoding, prosody and comprehension. The children will always have both a decodable phonics book to practise their phonics skills and a library book to share with an adult at home to grow their love of reading.
Reading
In KS2, reading is taught daily for half an hour. These lessons are dedicated to fluency and the children’s understanding of the text. As well as discussing a range of texts as a class, they will also be exposed to ‘cold texts’; these are texts that they read independently and then answer questions on to assess their understanding. We are aiming to develop the children’s fluency and expression when reading but also their stamina. In Year 2 to Year 6, they also read an Accelerated Reader book alongside their library book. They quiz on these books to help assess their understanding, especially of new vocabulary within the text.
Useful links
Reading Eggs (Fast Phonics) https://readingeggs.co.uk/
Phonics Play https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources
Little Wandle https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
For more information please feel free to contact the school office admin@theoaksprimary.co.uk and ask for Miss Carey and Mrs Carr, our English leads.