English

English at CAW

At CAW, English comprises of Writing and Reading lessons, each taught discreetly, daily. For Early Years and Key Stage 1 this is made up of Talk For Write and Read Write Inc Phonics and in Key Stage Two this is made up of Talk for Write and Reading Reconsidered.

Our Approach To Writing

From Early Years through to Year 6 English is taught through the use of high quality, engaging texts written or inspired by skilled authors. Examples of these include Naughty Bus by Jan Oak in Reception, Stone Age Boy by Satoshi Kitamura in Year 2, The Firework Maker’s Daughter by Phillip Pullman in Year 3 and Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver in Year 6. We follow a pattern of imitation (learning and unpicking a model text, developing transcriptional fluency), innovation (gaining confidence in adapting the model text whilst still practising the key skills) and inventing (applying skills and knowledge, acquiring compositional fluency). Grammar and spelling are taught in context throughout these sequences. Careful medium-term planning ensures that narrative, non-narrative and poetry are taught each half term and at least one piece of work is ‘published’.

Read Write Inc – Our Approach to Early Reading

From Early Years through to Year 2 children at CAW are taught to read using Read Write Inc. We follow this approach with complete fidelity. Our teaching of early reading ensures that children learn the basics of reading in a stepped approach. Once children complete the programme, they become a ‘Rainbow Reader’ where they are supported in becoming even more fluent and comprehensive readers. Once children move to KS2 some may continue to require specific phonics teaching. Where necessary, this is continued until the child is a confident, fluent reader.

Reading Reconsidered – Our Approach to KS2 Reading

Reading from Year 3 – Year 6 is taught as whole class lessons using high quality texts. It is our ambition that all children study challenging texts. Each child has a copy of the novel they use to track when being read to and read from when reading aloud or independently. Teachers use the Reading Reconsidered approaches alongside the National Curriculum statements to compose engaging comprehension and discussion questions which aim to improve children’s vocabulary and understanding of what they have read. Alongside these novels, usually 3 per academic year, pupils regularly study Complementary Texts (which could be extracts from similar texts or different versions of the same text) and Non Fiction Texts (which work to give the children a deeper understanding of their novel – for example, when studying The Girl Who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson in Year 5, children read a non-fiction article about traditional Russian folktales which are prominent in the novel). Often, the reading texts inspire writing units. This approach to reading maximises the benefits  and minimises the limitations of being read to, reading aloud and reading independently.