Ormiston Cliff Park Primary Academy follows the National Curriculum to teach English.
Our English lessons link very closely to our topic work in order to ensure that children are supported in being able to make links with and between skills, concepts and knowledge. They also support the children’s application of skills in a range of ways and contexts.
We are passionate about giving the children the chance to develop their reading and writing skills across a range of genres and in many cross-curricular ways.
Reading statement of intent, implementation and impact
Intention.
The National Curriculum for English is clear that children should:
– read easily, fluently and with good understanding
– develop the habit of reading widely and often, both for pleasure
and information
At Ormiston Cliff Park Primary Academy, the intention is that children are provided with the skills to become confident and enthusiastic readers, who can decode what they read using taught strategies and discuss their ideas about their reading with clarity. We aim to ensure that children are resilient and independent learners, who develop their skills in a school environment that is dedicated to the promotion of reading, both as an academic pursuit and a vital life skill. The intention is therefore to ensure that all school staff, as well as parents and the wider community, are fully involved as stakeholders in the development of a lifelong love of reading among children, through providing experiences and stimulus that inspire and challenge all children to read and discuss their reading as critical and creative thinkers.
Implementation
At Ormiston Cliff Park Primary Academy, the core of the reading curriculum involves structured English teaching and learning that allows for development of reading knowledge, practice and application of skills in a variety of contexts. This begins in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage One with daily direct phonics teaching that is sequenced, tailored to the needs of each group, and moves at high pace. In Key Stage One and Key Stage Two, English lessons include a weekly opportunity to gain further reading skills through explicit quality first teaching of strategies for answering questions about reading. This is augmented by daily opportunities to apply these strategies in English lessons as well as through work in foundation subjects that relies upon reading both for research and in order to clarify concepts and ideas. Children who are working below the expected standard in reading across the academies are identified swiftly through baseline measures including Salford Reading Age assessment and Speed Reading tests, in addition to test data. Children identified as vulnerable readers through these measures are targeted though rigorous interventions that include daily 1:1 reading, tailored phonics teaching in Key Stages One and Two, and high frequency word
recognition work such as Precision Teaching. These interventions are assessed for impact after each term- children are assessed again to ensure that they are making rapid progress.
In order to promote a school environment that values reading, the Academy maintains a stock of high quality texts which are regularly reviewed to ensure that they are stimulating and appropriately matched to children’s reading levels, which are stored in year group areas to create an environment that prizes books, and to allow for easy access to a wide range of texts for all pupils. Teachers and teaching assistants monitor the books that children read in order to ensure that texts are matched to their abilities and are sufficiently challenging through reading records, and parents are encouraged to be involved in their children’s reading through communicating with the school through home-school reading records. The promotion of reading for pleasure is also maintained through events such as World Book Day and Shakespeare Week, which give children opportunities to apply the critical and creative analytical skills that they have developed during the teaching of reading in a variety of inspiring and stimulating contexts.
Impact
The progress that children make in reading is assessed, tracked and rigorously monitored at Ormiston Cliff Park Primary Academy. The observation of children’s application of reading skills across the curriculum is monitored through daily assessment for learning, recorded on weekly assessment trackers that are matched to the objectives being taught. A termly class assessment tracker also records progress based on summative test and baseline data, as well as formative teacher assessment. Termly PIXL assessments across the academy allow for focussed question level analysis that informs planning.
Teaching and learning, and their impact, are also quality assured through the agreement of standards through trust-wide moderation events, as well as learning walks and lesson drop ins.
Intention.
The National Curriculum for English is clear that children should:
– acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
– 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
At Ormiston Cliff Park Primary Academy, the intention is that children are equipped with the basic skills to be able to communicate their ideas both verbally and in writing. This involves ensuring that children are engaged in acquiring and using an increasing and ambitious range of vocabulary, including that which is subject specific across the curriculum. Through a systematically planned and sequenced sequence of skills progression, children will become resilient, articulate and independent learners, who take advantage of a variety of opportunities to develop a love of writing and communicating. In a language rich and stimulating learning environment, children who attend Ormiston Cliff Park Primary Academy will develop their abilities to express themselves both as an academic goal and a vital life skill.
Implementation
At Ormiston Cliff Park Primary Academy, the core of the writing curriculum involves structured English teaching and learning that allows for development of writing knowledge, practice and application of skills in a variety of contexts. This begins in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage One with daily direct phonics teaching that is sequenced, tailored to the needs of each group, and moves at high pace, as well as a variety of opportunities for applying encoding skills in their writing. In Key Stage One and Key Stage Two, English lessons include a weekly opportunity to apply their writing skills in a variety of contexts, based on appropriate and high quality stimulus. Weekly grammar teaching sessions allow children to develop their skills through pedagogy that emphasises repeated and systematic teaching of key grammatical concepts, and the opportunity to apply these concepts their weekly writing sessions. This is augmented by daily opportunities to rehearse these skills, and a consistent opportunities for proof reading
and editing of their writing to ensure that these skills are embedded and independently applied. Further opportunities to apply writing skills are found across the curriculum in the foundation subjects, where high expectations of grammar and vocabulary ensure a consistent standard between English and foundation subject writing.
The learning environment at Ormiston Cliff Park Primary Academy is stimulating and language rich, and children have daily opportunities to familiarise and investigate subject specific vocabulary across the curriculum. This is reflected in classroom displays and knowledge organisers in books that allow children to consistently rehearse and apply their understanding of specific vocabulary.
Children who are working below the expected standard in writing across the academies are identified swiftly through teacher assessment which is rigorous and ongoing. Through live marking in lessons, teachers identify gaps in children’s phonic and grammar knowledge. Children identified as vulnerable through this assessment for learning are targeted though rigorous interventions that include daily phonics reinforcement, high frequency word recognition work, and specific daily interventions based on needs identified during lessons. These interventions are assessed for impact after each term- children are assessed again to ensure that they are making rapid progress.
In order to promote a school environment that values writing, the academy maintains displays of writing that show progression across the year groups and key stages. Weekly homework gives children the opportunity to apply their grammar and writing skills, and parents also have opportunities to engage with their children’s learning through parents’ evenings. The promotion of communicating is sustained through events such as World Book Day and Shakespeare Week, which allow children to discuss their ideas with their peers and express their opinions in creative and engaging ways.
Impact
The progress that children make in writing is assessed, tracked and rigorously monitored at Ormiston Cliff Park Primary Academy. The observation of children’s application of writing skills across the curriculum is monitored through daily assessment for learning, recorded on weekly assessment trackers that are matched to the objectives being taught. A termly class assessment tracker also records progress based on formative teacher assessment. Termly PIXL assessments in grammar and spelling across the academies allow for focussed question level analysis that informs planning.
Teaching and learning, and their impact, are also quality assured through the agreement of standards through trust-wide moderation events, as well as learning walks and lesson drop ins.
Intention.
The National Curriculum for English is clear that children should ‘write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences’.
At Ormiston Cliff Park Primary Academy, the intention is that children are provided with the skills to become confident and enthusiastic writers, who can use a variety of strategies to ensure that they tailor their writing for a variety of purposes and audiences. We aim to ensure that children are resilient and independent learners, who develop their skills in a school environment that is dedicated to the promotion of writing, as an academic pursuit but also as a creative outlet and an essential means of expression. The intention is therefore to ensure that all school staff, as well as parents and the wider community, are fully involved as stakeholders in the development of a willingness to express themselves in writing among children, through providing experiences and stimulus that inspire and challenge all children to write and discuss their writing as critical and creative thinkers.
Implementation
At Ormiston Cliff Park Primary Academy, the core of the writing curriculum involves structured English teaching and learning that allows for development of writing knowledge, practice and application of skills in a variety of contexts. The Early Years Foundation Stage learning environment is designed to promote a variety of opportunities for mark making and early writing, and children are encouraged to develop their fine and gross motor skills through schemes such as ‘Funkys’. In Key Stage One and Key Stage Two, English lessons include a weekly opportunity to develop and refine their writing skills further, through specific teaching of grammar and punctuation strands. Weekly English lessons follow a structure that allows children to respond to texts before developing and planning their own writing. Regardless of ability, every child in the Academy has the opportunity to write independently once per week, drawing on the planning and development from previous lessons to ensure that writing is tailored to a specific purpose and audience. This is augmented by daily opportunities to express themselves in writing in foundation subjects by note taking, report writing and explanation texts. Children who are working below the expected standard in writing across the academies are identified swiftly by class teachers. Children identified as vulnerable in writing are targeted though rigorous interventions that include handwriting interventions, tailored phonics teaching in Key Stages One and Two, and high frequency word recognition work such as Precision Teaching. These interventions are assessed for impact after each term- children are assessed again to ensure that they are making rapid progress.
Impact
The progress that children make in writing is assessed, tracked and rigorously monitored at Ormiston Cliff Park Primary Academy. Live marking of writing by teachers and teaching assistants allows misconceptions and errors to be addressed swiftly and in a bespoke manner, and children develop the skills to proofread and edit their own and others’ writing through regular opportunities to share their work. The observation of children’s application of writing skills across the curriculum is monitored through daily assessment for learning, recorded on weekly assessment trackers that are matched to the objectives being taught. A termly class assessment tracker also records progress based on formative teacher assessment. Regular in school and also cross school network moderation of writing across the year groups ensures that teachers are confident in making rigorous and sound judgements.
Teaching and learning, and their impact, are also quality assured through the agreement of standards through trust-wide moderation events, as well as learning walks and lesson drop ins.