Reading
When children are first starting to read, they progress through our early reading and phonics scheme called ‘Little Wandle – Letters and Sounds’ (see below). These books help the children to secure the initial phonics that they need to be able to tackle harder words that they will come across later on. Once they reach phase 5 in phonics (the end of Year 1 for most children), they can then choose a book from our wider reading scheme. Our wider reading scheme contains a range of books that are grouped into colour bands according to the level of difficulty. Children progress through these colour bands. The class teacher will decide, based on their assessments, how long a child needs to spend on the colour band before moving upto the next band.
We aim for children to develop a love of reading and the pleasure that it brings. We have a well-stocked library and children can choose books from here as well as their ‘book band’ book. Every class has a time each day when children are read aloud to from an age appropriate book.
More about our approach to teaching reading
Click the links below to find out more about our approach to teaching reading through school.
The link to Little Wandle Letters and Sounds provides more detailed information about how children learn phonics and early reading at St Barnabas and how to support your child at home.
Little Wandle Letters and Sounds
Progression in Reading Skills
The document below sets out what children are expected to learn in each in each year group in the different aspects of reading.
Skills Progression in Reading St Barnabas
Reading at Home
We encourage children to read at home daily, not just to build up their reading fluency but also to just enjoy reading and books.
Reading aloud with children is a far richer experience than watching storytimes online or on TV, however brilliantly read by actors! These simple steps remind us that there is no right way to do this, but that turning the TV off, snuggling down and encouraging children to look closely and engage with the text is vital. This is a special time together for adults and children – a daily space to relax, read, connect and enjoy.
Writing
The documents below set out the knowledge and skills that children are taught in across the different year groups in the different aspects of writing.
Writing Long Term Plan YR & KS1
Throughout school writing skills are developed using an approach called “Talk For Writing.”
Talk for Writing is an approach to teaching writing that emphasises three teaching methods: ‘imitation’ (where pupils learn texts by heart, so they can discuss and dissect them), ‘innovation’ (where pupils adapt stories to create their own versions), and ‘invention’ (where teachers help pupils to create original stories). These tasks aim to improve writing skills by giving pupils an understanding of the structure and elements of written language.
This approach is also beneficial in developing oral language skills in children, which then leads to improved writing.
Children are also supported to edit and improve their own work as they write, as this is an important skill in improving the quality of written work
Spelling
From Year 2 onwards we use the No Nonsense Spelling Scheme. Through this, children are taught a range of different strategies to help them to learn spelling rules. Why not help your child to try some of the strategies in this leaflet and find out which one they like best?
Ways to Help Your Child with Spelling
