TEMPLARS PRIMARY SCHOOL LITERACY POLICY RATIONALE Literacy skills, including speaking, listening, reading and writing, underpin the curriculum at Templars Primary School and competence in these skills are essential to providing life opportunities for our children. Effective written and verbal communication skills enable children to organise and express their own thoughts and understand the ideas of others. Furthermore, developing an ability to engage with and respond to literature gives children the opportunity to enrich their lives at a personal level, now and in the future. AIMS We aim to develop pupils Literacy abilities of speaking and listening, reading and writing through the teaching of core Literacy skills every day. Pupils will also be given a wide variety of opportunities to apply and consolidate their Literacy skills across a range of contexts within a broad and balanced curriculum. By the end of Year 6, we aim for our children to be able to: Read a wide range of texts for pleasure and to find information, with fluency and understanding. Develop and express personal responses to texts. Demonstrate a secure understanding of English grammar and a wide vocabulary, in both spoken and written forms of language. Write across a range of Literacy genres, confidently adapting their style to fit the context, purpose and audience. Speak clearly and confidently in a variety of contexts, including informal discussions, presentations and debates. Listen and respond sensitively to others viewpoints. SUBJECT ORGANISATION The English curriculum has been designed to ensure that children are taught the statutory requirements of the English National Curriculum (2014), which ensures progression throughout the key stages. However, children working above or below age-related expectations will follow a programme of study suited to their ability, not age. Children in Reception and Year 1 are grouped by ability to follow the Read, Write, Inc. programme of synthetic phonics, reading and comprehension. All children are assessed halftermly and groups rearranged to ensure children are learning at the appropriate level for their ability.
Children in Years 2 to 6 are taught Literacy in mixed-ability classes using a variety of approaches and resources, including Literacy and Language and Visual Literacy. Teachers differentiate work to meet the needs of each ability group through differentiated tasks and success criteria. Children in Years 2 to 6 who are working significantly below age-related expectations may follow an intervention programme, Read, Write, Inc. Fresh Start. They will work on developing basic Literacy skills within a small group. All children across the school take part in daily guided reading lessons within their class group, in which they read with their teacher at least once per week. In addition to Literacy lessons, children across the school have the opportunity to apply their Literacy skills in Literacy Through Theme lessons, which provide writing opportunities in a range of subject contexts (for example, History, Geography, Science and Religious Education). SPEAKING AND LISTENING Aims We aim to enable our children to: Listen and respond appropriately to adults and peers, asking questions to extend their understanding and responding to comments made by others. Speak confidently in a range of contexts, including discussions, presentations, performances, role play and debates- gaining and maintaining the interest of the audience. Demonstrate a command of Standard English, including the use of correct grammatical structures and a wide and varied vocabulary. Speaking and listening opportunities are integrated into teaching across the curriculum. Teachers use Pie Corbett s Talk for Writing and Literacy and Language Secret Story techniques when introducing texts, encouraging children to retell known stories with confidence. Drama, including role play and hot-seating, is used to explore characterisation in narrative work. Paired and group discussions are used frequently across the curriculum and children are given opportunities to present their work to a range of audiences. Furthermore, children are introduced to formal debates, discussions and presentations in Key Stage 2. Aims We aim to enable our children to: READING Read independently, fluently and with expression. Read a wide range of texts for both pleasure and information. To engage with texts, demonstrating good understanding and comprehension, as well as developing a personal response to texts.
Please refer to the Reading Policy for information about approaches and provision for the teaching of reading. Aims We aim to enable our children to: WRITING Write across a range of Literacy genres, confidently adapting their style to fit the context, purpose and audience. Write with technical accuracy of grammar, punctuation and spelling. To develop the ability to draft, edit and improve their writing. Develop a consistent, clear, fluent, joined handwriting style and be able to make decisions about how to present their work effectively. During the Early Years, children begin write for a range of purposes in child-initiated and role-play contexts. They are then introduced to more formal writing tasks, in which teachers focus on developing spelling ability and improving pencil control. When children enter Key Stage 1, they take part in 5 hours of Read, Write, Inc. phonics lessons per week and continue to write for a range of purposes across the curriculum in Literacy Through Theme lessons. In Key Stage 2, most children will have completed the phonics programme but continue to be taught spellings for ten minutes per day, supported by the Get Spelling programme. Children learn to write across a wide range of genres for different purposes, and continue to write across the curriculum. Teachers use a range of strategies to teach writing, including modelled, shared and guided writing. All children are expected to write independently once appropriate modelling has taken place. Teachers introduce the skills-based learning intention (WALT) to the children and clear, differentiated success criteria are shared every lesson and used for self, peer and teacher assessment. All children are taught how to edit and improve their writing, at an age-appropriate level. Teachers use feedback marking to encourage children to improve their own work. Children in Key Stage 2 use draft books, in which they edit and improve their own writing as part of the composition process. Phonics and Spelling Children begin following the Read, Write, Inc. programme in Foundation Stage and progress through the programme at their own speed throughout Reception and Year 1. Children learn phonemegrapheme correspondences, how to use sounds to build words, techniques for spelling common exception words, letter formation and sentence building techniques, including the use of correct sentence punctuation. In addition to Read, Write, Inc. resources, planning is adapted to suit the needs of the children and extension tasks are prepared to extend the children s learning.
When children complete the Read, Write, Inc. programme (usually in Year 1 or Year 2), they continue to be taught spelling skills for ten minutes per day, using resources from the Get Spelling programme. This programme builds upon the skills learnt in Read, Write, Inc., introducing children to root words, prefixes and suffixes, homophones and irregular spelling patterns. They will also develop their understanding of morphology and etymology. Children from Year 1 to Year 6 have a personal Spelling Log and Dictionary which is updated during spelling lessons and referred to when writing independently. Children have a spelling test once per week. They are tested on spellings they have practised at home during the week using the Look, Cover, Say, Write, Check method. Teachers may test children s understanding of the spelling pattern by adding unseen words to the weekly test. Grammar, Punctuation and Vocabulary Grammar, punctuation and vocabulary skills are taught as part of the Literacy lesson, integrated into the teaching of writing in a range of contexts. Skills-based learning objectives (WALTs) are used in every Literacy lesson to focus the children on a Literacy skill, which is often a grammar, punctuation or vocabulary skill. Where teachers identify a need to teach grammar, punctuation and vocabulary skills discretely, they may plan time at the beginning of the Literacy lesson, or timetable a discrete grammar lesson to address the need of the class. In addition to class work, Literacy homework- sent home weekly- aims to consolidate and develop children s skills in grammar, punctuation and vocabulary. Handwriting and Presentation Children are taught letter formation in the Early Years and develop their handwriting ability as part of their Literacy lessons, following the Read, Write, Inc. approach. From Year 1, children are taught handwriting discretely for 25 minutes per week. They follow the Nelson Handwriting programme, which teaches children to write in a fluent and legible handwriting style. Each child has access to an individual handwriting prompt card, which shows correct lower and upper-case letter formation (Years 1-6) and the first four joins (Years 3-6). They are able to refer to this resource during independent writing to encourage correct letter formation. In addition, teachers model the correct letter formation and joins when writing in children s books or on the board. All children follow the school presentation policy when working in their books across the curriculum. Children in Key Stage 2 are encouraged to consider the best way to present their work, which may include the use of ICT. CROSS-CURRICULAR LITERACY OPPORTUNITIES
Teachers actively seek to make cross-curricular links throughout the curriculum so that children have the opportunity to apply the skills they have learnt in their Literacy lessons in a broad range of contexts. Children in Year 1 to Year 6 are taught Literacy Through Theme lessons for 2 hours per week. These lessons include two learning objectives; one subject-based (e.g. History or Geography) and one Literacy-based WALT, in which a previously taught Literacy skill is applied in the subject context. INCLUSION We aim to ensure that all children achieve their full potential in Literacy by adapting provision to meet the needs of all pupils, regardless of gender, ethnicity or home background. Within lessons, teachers differentiate work according to the ability of the children in the class and ensure that all children are sufficiently challenged. Some children may require additional resources, such as word-banks, writing frames and adult support, in order to meet the objectives of the lesson. Some children may require a higher-level of support to develop their Literacy skills. There are a range of intervention programmes running throughout school, which are reviewed and evaluated halftermly. These include additional phonics and spelling interventions, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary interventions, speaking and listening interventions and reading interventions (including Paired Reading and Reading Recovery). Intervention programmes are delivered by Teachers or Teaching Assistants and children work individually or in small groups on their targets. Additional grammar and reading interventions run after school as Booster Clubs in Key Stage 2. Children on the SEND or Gifted and Talented registers have personal targets and provision is in place to ensure their additional needs are catered for, as outlined in the Special Educational Needs Policy and More Able, Gifted and Talented Policy. HOMEWORK AND PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT Parents have the opportunity to be highly involved in their child s Literacy development. Children are expected to read for at least ten minutes per day with an adult at home, who should provide feedback to the child on their fluency and expression, as well as asking questions to enable the child to develop a deeper understanding of the text. In addition, Literacy and Spelling homework is sent home weekly and parents are expected to provide support to their child to complete this homework where necessary, as outlined in the Homework Policy. Parents receive regular verbal and written informal feedback about their child s progress in Literacy, through use of the home-school diary. Parents also have the opportunity to attend a termly Parents Evening to meet with staff to discuss progress and see their child s work. An annual written report is sent home at the end of the school year, including information about their child s progress and areas for development. Furthermore, parents are regularly invited into school for Literacy information evenings, open afternoons and workshops.
ASSESSMENT Assessment of Literacy skills begins in the Foundation Stage as teachers assess each child s ability in Communication, Language and Literacy. Assessments are made daily as teachers observe children speaking, listening, reading and writing in a range of contexts. Observations are then collated halftermly and children s progress is tracked throughout the year. In addition, phonic ability is assessed half-termly using the Read, Write, Inc. Phonics assessment tool. In Key Stages 1 and 2, teachers use a range of Assessment for Learning strategies to make on-going assessments of children s progress in Literacy; adapting planning and teaching to meet the needs of the children. Detailed marking is used to assess children s work on a daily basis and provides feedback to children about how to improve their work and how they are progressing towards their personal targets. At the end of each half term, children in Year 1 to Year 6 complete assessments in the following: Three independent writing tasks across a range of genres. Reading assessments, including comprehension tasks. Grammar, Punctuation, Vocabulary and Spelling tests (Rising Stars) Read, Write, Inc. Phonics assessments (if children are on the programme) In addition, children complete the following assessments at the end of each term: Standardised Reading Age Tests (NGRT) Standardised Spelling Age Tests (Single Word Spelling Test) In the Summer Term, Year 1 children complete the Phonics Screening Test. Children in Year 2 and Year 6 complete Standardised Assessment Tests (SATs) in Reading, Grammar, Punctuation, Vocabulary and Spelling. Writing is Teacher Assessed and end of Key Stage levels are submitted to the Local Authority. On-going assessment of Reading and Writing is tracked using APP for every child in Years 1 to 6. In addition, teachers highlight the objectives of the National Curriculum when 80% of their class have achieved the end of year expectations which ensures that planning is focused on the areas of need within the class. Regular moderation of reading and writing levels is carried out between year groups and with other schools in the Network. ROLE OF SUBJECT LEADER The Literacy Subject Leader, along with the Senior Leadership Team, is responsible for improving the standard of teaching and learning in Literacy by:
Monitoring and evaluating Literacy teaching and learning, including: Evaluating the quality of provision for Literacy, including class teaching and intervention programmes. Monitoring progress and standard of work in children s books. Pupil voice. Evaluating the quality of the Literacy learning environment. Monitoring the deployment and provision of support staff. Tracking pupil progress and working with class teachers to provide additional support for children who are not making good progress. Providing opportunity for a range of moderation exercises within school and between schools. Purchasing and organising Literacy resources. Providing CPD opportunities for all staff. Reviewing the Literacy elements of the School Improvement Plan. Attending regular Network and Local Authority meetings to keep up-to-date with Literacy developments, feeding back key messages to all staff. Reviewing and amending the Literacy policy.