Our Reading Approach

We base our approach on the understanding that reading is the gateway to learning and the acquisition of knowledge.

We follow the  ‘Essential Letters and Sounds’ Systematic synthetic phonics programme.  A synthetic phonics programme, such as ELS, is a structure for teaching these sounds in a certain order to build up children’s learning gradually. It is used daily during Reception, Year 1 and in the autumn term of Year 2 to teach all the sounds in the English language. New sounds are taught each day, with some review days and weeks to help children practise what they’ve learned. To view which order the sounds are taught, See below links or visit the ELS page here: https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-schemes-oxford-levels/essential-letters-and-sounds/

ELS Phonics- Order of Phase 2

ELS Phonics- Order of Phase 3

ELS Phonics- Order of Phase 5

Well-attended phonics workshops are held for parents each year and children begin to learn to read using levelled books matched to each child given their current knowledge of phonics.

In order to encourage a strong reading culture, we also offer children access to ‘real’ books that they can borrow and read, or be read-to, at home. Phonics sessions are regular, fast-paced and multi-sensory. Attainment in the Phonics Screening Check is above the National and Local Authority average. In 2019, the most recent year when we had statutory assessments, 98% of children had passed the Phonics Screening Check by the end of Year 2.

Those children in Year 3 and above who have not mastered phonics continue to receive interventions and support from their class teachers, who have had phonics training. Our Dyslexia Specialist Teacher also supports children in small groups or one-to-one where barriers to reading are complex.

Teaching reading in KS1 and KS2

At Yerbury, time is made available every day for reading of some type, whether this be whole class, guided or independent. We believe that building a programme of sustained reading into the weekly timetable encourages the children’s love of reading, shows its value within the curriculum, and helps to improve reading stamina. Yerbury chooses to teach reading through a whole class approach in KS1 and KS2, (the advocated pedagogy in most current educational research.) We recognise the numerous positive experiences that whole class reading allows the individual child as a learner including (but not limited to): spending more time over the week reading with the teacher; benefiting from the teacher’s expert modelling, questioning and feedback; listening to texts and answering open questions to prompt discussions, ensuring that the focus on language development is taught in a way that is not restricted by poor decoding. Additionally, whole class reading allows struggling readers to access age appropriate texts, ensuring they are not restricted to texts with lower levels of language comprehension. Each class (from Year 2) teaches 2 whole class reading lessons a week- in these lessons there will typically be opportunities for the following: teaching vocabulary; reading modelled by the teacher; paired reading (allowing time for the children to read aloud); independent reading; group discussion and comprehension activities (group or independent). Each whole class reading lesson is planned with a focus on one or more of the reading domains to ensure rigorous coverage over the year. To support teachers new to the whole class reading approach, we use the CLPD Power of Reading programme. However, teachers are asked to use this as a tool with which to plan lessons, take book suggestions and improve their own understanding of whole class reading; we do not follow The Power of Reading as a scheme of work as we feel teachers need the autonomy to plan reading lessons which are responsive to their children’s needs, interests and preferences.

However, we also recognise that, for early and struggling readers, regular opportunities should be given to practise and develop their decoding skills, closely linked to their phonics progression, in order to develop reading independence. Therefore, all children in EYFS, Year 1, all children starting Year 2 and struggling readers in KS2 are given opportunities in the week for additional reading aloud time with the teacher, in a small group or one-to-one, focusing on targeted texts designed to improve their decoding and early comprehension skills. During these 20-30 minute sessions, the fluent decoders in the class are encouraged to enjoy their own books, taken from the library or book corners (see reading for pleasure below). These sessions are recorded in the teacher’s guided reading folder. Books that the children read for pleasure are recorded in each child’s reading journal and regularly checked by their teacher.

Guided Reading takes place regularly until children have become automatic readers and successful at comprehension. Once this is the case, focussed reading interventions take place with lower attaining readers. Children continue to have access to a number of high-quality texts across a range of genres that are updated regularly through the Islington Reading Road Map.

Extra support for reading

In addition to quality first teaching within the classroom, Yerbury supports its struggling readers with a range of targeted interventions:

• Classroom interventions – Struggling readers in the classroom receive regular, quick-paced and purposeful intervention during the week from the teacher of TA to help with their decoding and early comprehension. This often links to their work on phonics. All teachers regularly monitor and evaluate their interventions to see if they are having the desired effect on the children’s progress.
• Beanstalk readers – Our beanstalk readers are specially trained volunteers who specialise in helping struggling readers with their decoding skills. Our struggling readers with the highest level of need benefit from weekly or twice-weekly 1:1 sessions with these readers, lasting around 30 minutes.
• Volunteer readers – We have an enthusiastic group of volunteer readers from the parent community who also give their time to offer our struggling readers weekly or twice-weekly 1:1 reading sessions, lasting around 30 minutes, with texts chosen by the teacher, targeted at their level of decoding and comprehension.
• Literacy support teacher – We employ one teacher working in the role of literacy support for our struggling readers (in particular, those with diagnosed and undiagnosed dyslexia.) These children benefit from specialist teaching once or twice a week focused on their decoding and early comprehension. Both our teachers have a Level 7 qualification for literacy support, allowing them to assess for dyslexia within the school.
• Dyslexia Quality Mark – Yerbury is one of eleven mainstream schools in the UK with Dyslexia-Friendly School status. Good practice is embedded across the school to support all children. Classrooms are equipped with Literacy Toolkits that contain resources to support learning. Our Dyslexia Specialist Teacher supports children in small groups or one-to-one and staff have frequent training that helps us to continually improve.

Reading for pleasure

We work hard to create a culture of reading for pleasure amongst our children, developing not only their decoding and comprehension skills, but also their knowledge of different authors, reading preferences and independent book choices. By successfully carefully embedding opportunities for this across our curriculum, we hope to create enthusiastic, confident and motivated readers who enjoy reading. Some of our approaches include:

• Reading for pleasure sessions incorporated into the curriculum – All children are asked to have a book in school, (either from home, the library or book corners) and teachers make opportunities available throughout the week for children to independently enjoy these texts including (but not limited to): while other children are receiving small group reading, before assembly at the start of the day; during library sessions and during break and lunch. These texts are monitored by teachers and regularly discussed with the children, in order to ensure that the children are introduced to a wide selection of challenging, quality texts, and that the teacher learns about their children’s text preferences and experiences. By creating this discourse in the classroom around reading, we ensure that our children see reading as a valued, exciting activity.
• Book corners – Our teachers highly value their book corners, and ensure that they are well-stocked, with a range of authors and genres.
• Use of the library – We believe that the library should be a highly valued and intrinsic part of the school, and that its appearance and environment should reflect that. Therefore, money fundraised by the PTA has been granted in order to undergo a drastic remodelling of the library space in June 2021. The library is used as another source of high-quality texts for the children to choose from. Library lessons are used twice a month to introduce children to different authors or genres, and as another time in which the children and adults can discuss, recommend and share different texts.
• Book fairs – We welcome a twice-yearly book fair (Scholastic) to the school, which is available to parents and children in the playground after and before school. Children are given book tokens to help towards the cost of buying books, and some of the proceeds are used to ensure that our PP children can have a new book each from the fair.
• Story time – All year groups have a daily story time at 3.00. This can be the class reader (used for whole class reading lessons) or another text to enjoy separately.
• The Islington Reading Road Map – Every year KS1 and KS2 participate in The Reading Road Map run by Islington Education Authority – a reading challenge which aims to widen children’s knowledge of authors and quality texts across a range of genres. Every year, the texts are changed and teachers keep the set of books for their book corners. The texts are chosen to have a level of high engagement, in order to help encourage our more reluctant readers. The children are rewarded with certificates and stickers for completing different levels of the map, which are presented in assembly.
• Visiting authors and workshops – We try to invite an author, poet or reading workshop to the school at least yearly, in order for the children to experience another aspect of reading and learn from their expertise and enthusiasm.
• World Book Day – World Book Day is celebrated every year at Yerbury, and we mark the occasion by encouraging the children and staff to dress as their favourite literary character, as well as taking part in a range of reading-focused activities, designed to encourage reading for pleasure.

Yerbury Phonics Progression Map – We cannot share our current progression documents on our website but can produce this on request.

Yerbury Reading Progression Overview KS1 & 2

Our Writing Approach

The Yerbury Approach to Writing

At Yerbury, we are proud to develop writers. We believe that our creative, engaging and supportive environment is key to developing our writers and igniting their passions. Teachers are given the creative freedom to plan and develop their own writing units, outside of a writing scheme. Teachers base the sequence of their lessons on the National Curriculum for their year group but then choose topics, books or themes that they feel will particularly engage their class. Specific texts types are not linked to particular year groups, but all year groups will teach a range of fictions and non-fiction texts. The Writing Lead ensures that there is a good coverage of different text types across the school.

Approach

At Yerbury, we follow a six-part approach to structure of writing units of work, which ensures engagement, generation of ideas, teaching of new concepts, application of writing and purposeful outcomes. Step 5 ‘editing’ only applies to years 2-6, as editing does not feature on the National Curriculum for previous year groups. EYFS use some elements of the Yerbury approach e.g. Step 1 ‘The hook’ but exclude the steps that can only be achieved when writing for length.

1. The hook: We use a creative stimulus, ‘a hook,’ in order to excite and motivate children. A hook may be a high-quality novel or intriguing picture book, an inspiring film or art stimulus or mystery objects and role-play. Teachers may choose to use their current class reader as a hook for writing opportunities, but are not required to do so.

2. Oracy and planning: We use lots of talk for writing and drama to develop children’s ideas in the pre-writing stage. Where appropriate, this could be turned in to a drawn/ written plan. Dialogic talk is used throughout the writing process.

3. Modelling: The class explore a model/text and then the teacher models the process of writing, whilst teaching the grammar or punctation lesson objective in context. After plenty of focused talk, the exploration of example texts, authors and styles of writing, children develop their ideas from the previous stage. a clear purpose and audience will be communicated and subsequently referred to throughout the unit of work. The purpose will be to persuade, entertain, inform or express an opinion; in KS2 it may be a combination of more than one.

4. Drafting: Children develop a draft of their writing. It is important children understand this is a draft, as they then acknowledge that an important part of the writing process is refining their work. Older children may make revisions of their draft. At this stage, children will receive feedback from their teachers and peers on how to refine their writing.

5. Editing: When editing, children learn how to make revisions, additions and proof-reading edits to their own work. In KS2 children will become increasingly confident with giving constructive feedback when peer-editing.

6. Publishing: All writing is published with a purpose in mind, to make the writing process meaningful. Writing may be published in a blog, book or video; for display; shared with parents; performed for others or in letters sent to real-life people. We strongly believe that real-life writing opportunities engage children and show them that their writing has a purpose.

Mastery Approach to Writing

We value writing across the curriculum, not just in English lessons, and understand that a broad knowledge base and vocabulary helps children to be confident writers. At every opportunity, we explore the composition of sentences and investigate different text and genre features. We understand that reading often and widely has a direct positive impact on a child’s mastery of writing. Additionally, Yerbury follows a research based, best-practice approach of teaching grammar and punctuation within the context of reading and writing and not as stand-alone lessons.

Spelling

In EYFS and KS1, we follow the Essential Letters and Sounds phonics scheme. This is a systematic and rigorous teaching of phonics, which includes the teaching of common exception words.

At the beginning of Year 2, there is a focus on recapping phase 4 and/or 5 phonics and, once the class is secure, this leads on to phase 6, which is the introduction of common spelling rules. These spelling rules are taught through the Spelling Shed scheme, which children will then follow up to Year 6.

Spelling Shed ensures the systematic teaching of the National Curriculum spelling rules, whilst making spelling practice fun and engaging through online games. Weekly homework is set based on the Spelling Shed scheme. Spelling is taught explicitly in years 2-6 twice a week, but teachers also embed spelling rules in to their English lessons.

Interventions and Extra Support

Yerbury is a proudly dyslexia-friendly school, with an in-house dyslexia specialist, who supports children in KS2 and ensures best teaching practice throughout the school. All classes are equipped with dyslexia toolkits, soundcards and laptops with programmes to support our children’s writing and learning.

Children who need additional support in writing or spelling, also have scheduled interventions taking place for them with teachers, support staff or tutors. Teachers decide on specific learning objectives that these children will be working towards, and discuss this in a meeting with the person leading the intervention. Regular conversation about progress is reviewed between the teacher and person giving the intervention, in order to review and adapt the teaching for the pupils.

Handwriting

On entry, our Foundation Stage children are involved in varied activities to develop essential pre-writing skills in line with the Early Learning Goals. There is much focus on developing gross and fine motor skills and strengthening muscles in the arms and fingers. From the time that children are ready, they are taught to sit with a good posture and are taught to hold a pencil with the correct grip.

From Year 1 to Year 4, we explicitly teach handwriting based around the PENPALS scheme, which focuses on joining letters using exit strokes, rather than lead-in cursive handwriting. However, if a child has developed fluent, joined cursive handwriting and is confident with this way of joining their letters, we do not change their style of writing. Children in Years 5 to 6 practise their handwriting through publishing pieces of work and additional intervention if needed.

The handwriting sessions are used to consolidate the National Curriculum spelling lists for each year group and key words and phrases related to topic work. As children progress through school there is an increasing focus on fluency, consistency and speed. All children initially write with a pencil, with children in Year 6 moving on to using a pen when they are ready.

It is expected that where possible notices, displays, titles and signs in the classroom and around the school will be in the same script and that all teachers and teaching assistants model the handwriting style at all times.

How handwriting is taught in each year group

EYFS: Children practise fine-motor skills to strengthen the muscles in their fingers and hands. They will then begin to work on letter formation and practising the pencil grip that corresponds to their developmental age (see diagram below).

Year 1: Initially, teachers to work 1:6 (max) while rest of class engage in holding activities which develop fine motor skills. Pupils concentrate on upper and lower case letter formation through PENPALS handwriting practice.

Year 2: Teachers to identify children who are not forming letters correctly for close supervision and guidance during handwriting sessions. Increasingly, independent handwriting practice using PENPALS.  Where a pupil is not independently forming letters accurately they should focus on this rather than the PENPALS lessons.

Year 3:  Teachers to identify those pupils who are not forming their letters accurately for intervention and supervised practice sessions. Where a pupil is not independently forming letters accurately they should focus on this rather than the PENPALS lessons. Practice of joins as per PENPALS.

Year 4:  Handwriting practice to be linked to spelling and to best copy of work for display. Teachers will identify those pupils who are not forming their letters or joins correctly and will supervise practice sessions, recommend them for intervention groups, or both. Practice of joins as per PENPALS.

Years 5 and 6: No new handwriting rules are taught, but there is a focus on legibility and handwriting style. Children particularly focus on handwriting when they are publishing their work. Children receive interventions if they need very specific support correcting errors that cause illegible handwriting and inaccurate letter formation  – with a particular focus on addressing size differentiation for letters that have the same appearance whether capital or lower case.

Writing Assessment

Formative assessment takes place during each writing lesson, across all year groups. EYFS undertake assessment every half term against the ELG framework. Teachers in Y1- 6 use the Termly Assessment Framework to undertake summative assessment every term, and plot their pupils’ progress against the national curriculum.

Conference marking

 From Year 2 onwards, we particularly focus on giving feedback during the drafting stage, as this has more impact than giving in-depth feedback at the end of the writing process. Additionally, each half term teachers hold 1:1 conferences with students; these are conversations about a the most recent, lengthy piece of writing. The emphasis of this session is giving the student positive feedback (teachers respond enthusiastically as a reader) and then to aid the student to make edits, additions and revisions to their own writing. The student and teacher will then discuss what steps can be taken to help the child move forward with their writing.

Writing curriculum progression map 2022

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