‘Books and reading are Magic. And this magic must be urgently available to absolutely everyone.’

Cressida Cowell, Children’s Laureate

Reading

At Pawlett Primary School Academy we are passionate and dedicated about ensuring ALL children to become fluent and accurate readers, who select texts for purpose and pleasure. There is no doubt that reading is at the heart of everything we do – the golden thread that children need to learn to access the whole curriculum. Our two-year rolling cycle curriculum is built upon quality picture books, novels (both classics and new) and non-fiction texts which support children on the journey from reading to writing.

• Throughout EYFS, Key Stage 1 and 2, we foster a love and enjoyment of reading through the sharing of high-quality texts. All texts are read by an adult to the children to remove any decoding impediments.
• Every class offers a daily DEAR (drop everything and read). This may be hearing priority readers 1:1 reading their own books, reading a high-quality class book or reading the relevant class text. Reading fluency and decoding is addressed in KS2 through these sessions.
• In KS1 explicit comprehension skills are taught through a weekly whole-class reading session using a RIC (retrieve, interpret, choice) approach and ‘book talk’. In KS1 fluency skills are taught a minimum of three times a week in adult supported small groups. In KS2 explicit comprehension skills are taught through 2 x weekly whole-class reading sessions using an ERIC (explain, retrieve, interpret, choice) approach and ‘book talk’.
• Reading Cafes a weekly session where parents and carers are invited to stay after drop off to listen to their child read or engage in book talk
• Library Sessions for each class to learn how to chose books and share a love of reading.

Writing
Learning to write is an incredibly complex process involving a variety of skills but is an extremely powerful medium and can often last longer than the spoken word.  We encourage all our children to become “authors” in their own right. The focus for writing in EYFS and KS1 is to entertain and inform. In lower KS2 another focus is added – to persuade. A further focus is added in upper KS2 – to discuss. Writing is taught through the use of WAGOLL (what a good one looks like) texts as a guide with a Talk for Writing approach, making explicit links with the spelling and grammar pertinent to the particular writing focus and subject. The links between reading and writing are made clear to the children in both reading and writing sessions. We also ensure that children are aware of clear purposes for writing as they continue on their educational journeys and that it remains to be a critical skill to learn which embraces advancements in technology.

SPaG
We aim for our pupils to become fluent and effective writers. Accurate use of grammar, punctuation and spelling (SPaG) is a means to that end. We use the National Curriculum 2014 as a basis for teaching Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling by introducing patterns or conventions and continually practising those already introduced. Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling strategies are taught explicitly in short interactive and investigative sessions which are directly linked to the writing focus. Pupils are encouraged to apply learnt strategies to their independent writing through the use of tool kits, checklists and steps to success. We also encourage the use of SpellingShed both at home and in school to support our teaching of spellings in the classroom.

Handwriting
We strive for our children to develop correct letter formations, joining and good handwriting habits so that they can write fluently and legibly, and in their own style, by the end of KS2.  Children are introduced to cursive style writing from Year 1 when they have mastered the art of correct letter formation. In KS1 we use handwriting to support the development of correct spelling and to aid in the elimination of letter reversals by the learning of word patterns and the correct joining of letters. In KS2 handwriting and SPaG are taught in tandem as consolidation and preparatory work towards the longer pieces of writing at the end of the teaching sequence.