Why we teach English

At Westacre, we strive to embed a life-long love of language and communication by learning and applying literacy skills through quality texts that inspire and excite young readers and writers.

Aims of English

• For our children to become confident, life-long readers, who love the world of books
• For our children to be able to communicate meaning through the spoken and written word with confidence

English at Westacre

Writing

Children are given a wealth of writing opportunities throughout the curriculum – not just during English lessons. They are taught how to write for a clear purpose using Michael Tidd’s Purposes of Writing: to inform, to entertain, to persuade and to discuss. A big part of this is learning how to select appropriate sentence structure and vocabulary to fit the purpose of the text and how, through accurate grammar and punctuation, the meaning of their writing is clear. All children are authors and we always encourage them to consider the choices they make in their writing, based on the impact they want to have on their reader.

Reading – in school

Children at Westacre have 5 taught reading sessions a week, exposing them to high-level fiction and non-fiction texts. These are whole class reading sessions which are a balance between practising and applying fundamental reading skills.
 

The principles of over-reading (re-reading a text multiple times, in different ways) and choral reading (teacher reading aloud, choral reading and whisper reading) are used to support pupils’ fundamental reading skills: decoding, fluency, language comprehension and vocabulary. 
 

By teaching our children how to make sense of what they read, reading becomes a skill they can use to support all of their learning, in all subjects. We use two key approaches to support pupils’ understanding of a text: book talk and building a mental model of the text, using summary skills. 

Reading Week

We are committed to nurturing our pupils’ love of reading so, each half term, our Guided Reading sessions become ‘free reading’ sessions, when children are encouraged to read their own choice of reading material, whether it be a graphic novel, a magazine, The Guiness Book of World Records…the options are endless!

Not only this but Reading Week becomes the focus of Guided Reading and English lessons once a term, immersing pupils in a high-quality text, and giving them time to read a book from cover to cover with their teacher and take part in thorough, ongoing discussions about the book.

Celebrating reading

We love to take every opportunity to celebrate reading at Westacre and we have a real passion for nurturing our pupils’ love of reading. We are always looking for ways to create an extra buzz around reading:

• Music videos performed by each year group, inspired by a popular song (with the lyrics re-written to give a reading-related twist!)
• The Masked Reader competition, involving staff across the school reading an extract…is disguise!
• Author live events – Catherine Doyle (The Miracle on Ebenezer Street) Struan Murray (Orphans of the Tide & Shipwreck Island) and Michael Morpurgo!

At Westacre, we use Renaissance Accelerated Reader (AR) to support and track progress in reading for all children. Our daily 10-minute independent reading sessions are dedicated to AR reading, and quizzing, and provide an opportunity to discuss pupils’ progress towards their personal AR targets. AR is a powerful tool for monitoring and managing independent reading practice. The information generated from children’s AR reading quizzes is used to ensure that pupils read appropriately challenging books - difficult enough to keep them engaged but not so difficult that pupils become frustrated. Children can access the AR system at school and at home, making it a powerful tool in developing a lifelong love of reading and motivating children of all ages to read more suitably challenging books.

Choice

Whilst every child is expected to have an AR book from the library, they are also encouraged to have additional ‘choice books’ (one fiction and one non-fiction), which could be in a different AR reading range, or separate to the AR system completely. This combination of the AR book and the additional ‘choice books’ enables us to focus on developing comprehension skills, as well as nurturing a love of reading.

eBooks via our ePlatform

Once logged in, children can browse a wide range of books at home, search for types of books or names / authors and also search by their AR range. They can borrow books, create a wish list and reserve books which are already loaned. Books can be borrowed for 2 weeks, and are available to read online. The screen can be customised to ensure that all pupils’ needs are supported.

Reading – at home

At Westacre, the expectation is that children will complete a book-related activity at home at least 4 times a week, for a minimum of 10 minutes.  Each child has their own reading record, in their learning journal, which must be filled in by the child and signed by an adult. Home reading is monitored and encouraged by the class teacher and TA, as appropriate.

Incentives

Reading rewards are based on pupils' progress towards their AR targets.

One of the key AR targets is that pupils achieve an average of at least 85% on their AR quizzes, which must be taken within a couple of days of finishing their AR book. This target is so important because it shows that pupils are understanding the texts they read. Pupils' progress towards this target is monitored each week by class teachers, who provide support and encouragement as needed. In weekly year group assemblies, the percentage of pupils in each class achieving 85% or more on their quizzes is shared. This element of competition is great, and incredibly motivating for all concerned! At the end of term, all pupils who meet all three targets (85% average, as well as a personal target for points earned and book level achieved) receive an extra-special reward.

Spoken Language

Oracy is a key feature of the curriculum at Westacre and oracy opportunities are woven through everything we do. We teach our pupils how to be active listeners, as well as how to speak effectively in a variety of situations, from informal, exploratory talk to more formal presentational talk.

Spelling

At Westacre, weekly spelling sessions give children the opportunity to explore and practice age-related spelling rules. In addition to this, pupils have their own login for Spelling Frame - an online resource which enables them to play games, practice and take tests on their weekly spellings, both at school and at home, which are matched to their spelling ability. Spelling Frame’s multi-sensory approach to spelling is both engaging and effective, making it a great addition to our range of spelling activities.    

Grammar and Punctuation

The teaching of grammar and punctuation is woven throughout the curriculum. Grammar is taught in creative and meaningful ways that go beyond simply knowing terms and categories, towards encouraging children to love playing with grammar and language. The purpose of punctuation is to clarify the meaning of texts. Readers use punctuation to help make sense of written texts while writers use punctuation to help communicate intended meaning to the reader.

Teaching at Westacre

During English lessons at Westacre, whether it be reading, writing or spelling, sessions are planned to ensure that all children are supported and challenged appropriately and focus groups are a common feature of all lessons. Every classroom has an ‘access toolkit’ (available to all children, irrespective of ability) which contains resources to support learning, from coloured overlays and pencil grips to working mats and task boards.

Every classroom has an English working wall, where key elements of the writing process can be recorded for children’s reference throughout a writing topic. A key feature of every classroom are the resources to accompany Michael Tidd’s Purposes of Writing (to inform, to entertain, to persuade, to discuss) This consistency across the school supports all children in their learning journey at Westacre.

Pupil assessment

Reading

In Guided Reading lessons, assessment is an ongoing process which allows teachers to adapt lessons to best meet the needs of learners. Children complete a range of whole class, paired and independent tasks to give the teacher a rounded picture of strengths and areas for development. Formal assessment takes place once a term, usually at the end, to give children the opportunity to apply their reading skills in a more formal context. Again, information from this activity is used to inform future plans.

In addition to assessment in lessons, we complete a termly assessment for pupils’ reading age (using the STAR Reading Test on Accelerated Reader) and reading fluency where appropriate, to support our identification of children who may need additional support.

Writing

Assessment is also an ongoing process in writing, enabling teachers to adapt their lessons in response to the strengths and areas for development in children’s writing. Pupils complete an extended independent writing task every couple of weeks, on average, which allows teachers to assess how well children can apply their writing skills. In light of this assessment, teachers plan and deliver focused feedback tasks which are specific to the needs of individuals. At the end of each term, when a range of independent writing has been produced, an overview assessment of all skills is completed to provide a rounded picture of each child as a writer.

Self-assessment and peer-assessment is an important part of the writing process, giving children the chance to reflect on their own and other’s writing…helping them to see themselves as authors.  

At every stage, teachers use the assessment process to inform their planning and ensure they provide an English curriculum, which allows every child to progress.

Please see the document below for more information about how we support the needs of all learners in English: