Tregolls AcademyLiteracy Policy

We want to our pupils to speak, listen, read and write in a variety of situations with confidence, fluency and understanding. English is a part of all aspects of the curriculum and in moral, social and creative areas also.

We want our children to enjoy language, to be successful in using it, and to have the motivation to succeed.

We plan for progress by implementing the objectives set out for each Year group in the New National Curriculum (2014) and the Foundation Stage Curriculum.

We will:

  • Make English a high priority in our school
  • Challenge all pupils to achieve the best that they can
  • Ensure that all children have equal opportunities and access to the curriculum, regardless of gender, religion, race or ability (refer to SEN Policy)
  • Plan work that is of a high quality, consistent in approach and specific to the needs of the children
  • Assess and record regularly in accordance with the school’s assessment policy to inform teaching, learning and planning
  • Teach knowledge, skills and understanding and provide opportunities for children to express themselves creatively and communicate effectively

Organisation and Management

Literacy is taught throughout the school on a daily basis, following either the objectives from the NC (2014) or the Read Write Inc. programme of phonics and reading. (For more information see Opportunities for Literacy will be provided in other curriculum subjects through extended opportunities to develop wider skills, providing a broad and balanced curriculum across all stages.

In the Foundation Stage, English is taught as part of Communication, Language and Literacy development. As the reception class is part of the Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum, we relate the literacy aspects of the children's work to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals, which underpin the curriculum planning for the children. We give all children the opportunity to talk and communicate in a widening range of situations, to respond to adults and to each other, to listen carefully, and to practise and exchange their range of vocabulary and communication skills.Learning takes place through active exploration in both directed and self-directed activities. All children are taught to read as soon as possible using the RWI phonics programme in small and large groups during the morning sessions. The Foundation Stage teachers will plan for daily speaking, listening, reading, writing and role-play activities and implement speech and language opportunities for children who have entered below expectations.

In Key Stage 1, children work in small, homogenous groups to develop phonics, reading, comprehension and writing skills for 50 minutes each day, following the plans provided in the Read Write Inc. scheme. Following this session they then have an opportunity to apply their literacy knowledge, skills and understanding following the NC (2014). Pupils also develop Literacy skills in other sessions outside of this hour.

Grammar is taught throughout all writing and reading sessions.

Key Stage 2 pupils are taught according to objectives taken from the NC (2014)through a Talk the Textand Literacy, Language and Communication programme with age appropriate stories and information books. Pupils will also have a weekly session for Extended Writing, so as to develop skills in writing outlined by the objectives being covered in a particular unit of work. Some children in Key Stage 2 will also require support and catch up in reading which will be provided through the Read Write Inc. programme and Fresh Start.

Children in KS2 will be taught grammar, spelling and punctuation explicitly through standalone lessons, following the NC (2014) objectives, 5 times a week, as well through daily literacy lessons.

Assessment, Recording and Reporting

The school’s assessment policy sets clear procedures and time scales for formal and informal assessments. The Literacy Subject Manager will be responsible for monitoring the progress of all pupils in the school and will use the SIMS Assessment Manager system to track progress made and identify children who need further support. Please refer to Assessment Policy.

Class teachers will make and record ongoing informal, formative assessments.

Individual teachers keep up to date copies of mid-term and weekly plans for Literacy.

Termly assessments will be completed through a range of genres and kept in a writing portfolio which will updated throughout their school life.

Following the NC (2014) guidelines, children now have the opportunity to edit and improve their learning before submitting their final draft for evaluation. Moderation takes place termly both externally and internally.

Teachers and Teaching Assistants involved in Read Write Inc will keep up to date records of the progress of the pupils in their groups. The Literacy Leader will monitor and assimilate this data and regularly assess pupils in order to ensure that progress is made and that all children are working in appropriate groups matched to their ability.

Technology

We believe that the use of ICT has huge potential in encouraging language development. We use Interactive resources where possible in all classes, and aim to provide a range of opportunities for children to use ICT skills to access learning objectives through the use of, for example, video cameras, TV/DVD and interactive whiteboard technology.

Homework

All pupils will receive homework in Literacy. The amount and the frequency will vary according to the age of the child (refer to Homework Policy), for example pupils in Key Stage 1 will take home a reading book and a writing task. Key Stage 2 children will have reading and writing homework set weekly as well as spellings.

Special Educational Needs / Equal Opportunities

We are committed to providing a teaching environment conducive to learning.

Every child is valued, respected, supported and challenged.

Pupils will be supported at their level by differentiation in tasks, and through support from the class teacher and Teaching Assistant. Teachers will provide learning opportunities matched to the needs of able children and children with learning difficulties. These opportunities willtake into account the targets set for individual children in their IEPS, and will be monitored regularly by the class teacher and the Special Needs Coordinator. Please refer to Special Needs / Able Child policies.

Specific special educational needs and problems associated with speech and language delay may be addressed through the phonics programme used in school.

Role of the Subject Leader

To lead by example in the school, and develop the subject through staff INSET and staff meetings.

To further develop and embed the teaching of the Read Write Inc. phonics and reading programme throughout the school.

To monitor teaching and learning through evaluation of planning, data analysis, working with pupils and lesson observations where possible.

To provide guidance and support to individual members of staff.

To order, store and maintain appropriate resources, both for Read Write Inc. and other Literacy resources required.

To keep up to date with local and national developments in Literacy, and disseminate relevant information to staff.

To be accountable, with the Head Teacher, for whole school pupil performance in English.

Speaking and Listening

We want our children to be able to:

  • Speak clearly and confidently, considering the needs of the listener
  • Listen and respond to the views of others
  • Participate actively in paired, group and class discussions
  • Explore character, situation and emotion through role-play and drama activities
  • Enjoy talking for a range of different purposes
  • Be able to express themselves in an articulate way
  • Draw on a wide, interesting vocabulary when speaking

We will meet these aims by:

  • Involving all children in regular ‘Turn To Your Partner’ activities in class and in all subjects to ensure total participation from all pupils
  • Ensuring that speaking, listening, group interaction and discussion activities are incorporated into all curriculum subjects and activities
  • No longer asking for hands up in class, assemblies and in all subjects in school. Instead, children will be given thinking time, partner talk time and will all be able to respond in an appropriate way to a question.
  • Valuing children’s ideas and opinions and providing opportunities for them to talk in a supportive environment
  • Ensuring that children ‘teach’ their partners so that they can demonstrate what they have learned
  • Praising and encouraging ‘perfect partner’ work
  • Using the DfE’s Speaking and Listening objectives in planning, and use a range of drama activities from resource material stored in school.
  • Provide opportunities through a range of curriculum subjects for role-play and drama work.
  • Daily literacy lessons.

Reading

We want our children to be able to:

  • Be confident and able readers
  • Read from a range of books for interest, information and pleasure
  • Be able to effortlessly decode known and unknown words, drawing on a range of clear strategies taught through the RWI programme, e.g. Fred Talk
  • Demonstrate their comprehension of what they have read by talking and writing about it
  • Develop as enthusiastic, independent and reflective readers who read, understand and respond to a variety of texts from all genre types

We will meet these aims by:

  • Implementing a high-quality programme for the systematic teaching of phonics and reading
  • Providing daily opportunities for shared, guided, paired and independent reading
  • Ensuring that children take books home regularly to read and share with their parents and families
  • Providing opportunities for children to read for a specific purpose
  • Ensuring that reading books in school are varied according to age and interest, and that we have books that appeal to children
  • Modelling a care and respect for books
  • Modelling a love of reading and an enthusiasm about how books can enrich our lives
  • Using the NC (2014) objectives for reading to guide our planning
  • Hold children and parents accountable for support.
  • Access to VLE platforms

Writing

We want our children to be able to:

  • Develop as confident writers who can write effectively for a variety of audiences and a range of purposes
  • Interest and engage a reader by the use of premiership words and phrases
  • Enjoy the process of developing, organising and communicating ideas to others
  • Use the texts they read as models for their own writing
  • Write grammatically accurate sentences and texts
  • Apply features of fiction and non-fiction texts to their own writing
  • Apply spelling rules and strategies independently in their writing, e.g. Fred Fingers, knowledge of word endings, suffixes etc.
  • Write in a fluent, legible style (although we do not expect handwriting to be fully joined in Key Stage 1).
  • Be adventurous with language, and persist when writing is difficult.
  • Apply accurately the grammatical skills and conventions in different forms of writing.

We will meet these aims by:

  • Providing opportunities for children to write a range of texts for different audiences and purposes
  • Encouraging the children to explore how language can be used to express meaning in different ways
  • Ensuring that we provide meaningful tasks that motivate and encourage children
  • Teaching the grammatical skills and conventions for composing and communicating accurately through different forms of writing
  • Providing opportunities for paired, guided, shared and independent writing to take place
  • Modelling and demonstrating ‘good writing’ for the children during shared writing sessions, and providing supportive opportunities to practise skills
  • Planning for extended writing activities and tasks that regularly involve the use of ICT
  • Showing children how to form and join letters correctly
  • Encouraging pupils to proofread and edit their writing in order to improve the quality of their work
  • Explicit teaching of grammar each day through Literacy lessons and standalone SPAG lessons, following the NC (2014) objectives and Alan Peat sentence types.

Specific information about handwriting across the primary school can be found in the Handwriting Policy below.

Tregolls Academy

Handwriting Policy

Our aims:

We aim to ensure that all children are taught and develop a handwriting style that is clear, legible, fluent and cursive.

Children will be taught the conventional ways of forming letter shapes, both lower case and capitals, through purposeful guided practice in order to foster a comfortable handwriting style.

There will be continuity and consistency of style throughout all Key Stages.

Equal opportunities will be provided for all pupils, including left and right handed writers and pupils with Special Educational Needs.

We will encourage the following in all pupils:

  • A correct pencil grip (held between thumb and index finger, resting on third finger)
  • Correct posture for writing
  • Position of paper should be adjusted to suit left or right handed writers.

Provision:

Handwriting skills will be taught to younger children in the school, and will then be practised and reinforced in the upper school once the correct style and letter formations are established. Children will be introduced to a joined style of handwriting once their letter formation is correct. This joined style must be carried forward into Key Stage 2 to ensure that handwriting styles are well-established and fluent by Year 6.

Time will need to be allocated on timetables for these activities, and children will be expected to present all final draft pieces of work in a legible, joined and cursive style. We will use a variety of teaching methods, including group and individual work, teacher demonstration and homework sheets for reinforcement where appropriate.

Our Read Write Inc. reading programme does not actively encourage the use of joined writing as this can affect the pupils’ ability and enthusiasm in writing. However, we believe that a neat handwriting style makes a significant contribution to raising standards, not in terms of marks awarded at end of key stage tests but as an essential life skill. Good handwriting contributes towards achievement and success across the curriculum.

Teachers will act as role models, using the same joined and cursive style that we are teaching our pupils to use. It is pointless to provide the children with lessons and a specific style if the black/whiteboard model does not match it. Pupils’ books will be marked in this style, all writing on the board should reinforce it, and display labels/classroom resources will be handwritten on occasion rather than always printed in computer fonts.

Handwriting will be taught 4 days a week for 15 mins in all classes. We use the Pen Pals handwriting scheme to ensure continuity and progression.

SEN

Teaching Assistants will provide support and reinforcement for those pupils who require specific help in handwriting and teachers will be sensitive to the requirements of children with Special Educational Needs and developmental needs.

ICT

From Year 1, children are encouraged to develop keyboard skills and use word processing packages to present written work in different ways. Refer to English Framework and ICT objectives.

Resources

Red handwriting books and line guides available for all pupils containing specific line markings to develop skills. Reception children will practise regularly with a variety of materials appropriate to their needs and development.

Black handwriting pens, triangular pens for SEN. Pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 will use school issue pens for all written work except in Maths. Fountain/cartridge pens will not be used in school.

Blue handwriting pens will be available for all children in KS2 to use during Take up time.

Presentation

It is important that we take pride in our work. We will not accept

  • Scruffy or untidy work
  • Drawing or doodles on the covers of our books
  • Children spoiling each others work
  • Class teacher will make clear at the start of the year the policy for correction of errors in class. Errors in work should be crossed our with a single horizontal line. All WALT’s and dates will be underlined.

Staff handwriting.

We believe that correct letter formation and appropriate style of handwriting should be modelled by all staff when writing on the board, books or displays. We will ensure that displays in classrooms and around the school include an element of handwriting, to model good practice.