Ranelagh Primary School
English
English
Early Reading
In EYFS and KS1, we have daily, discrete phonics lessons. As of 2024, we use Little Wandle as our SSP (Systematic Synthetic Phonics) programme. Following their phonics lesson, children then have the daily reading practice sessions to apply their decoding skills by reading a book matched to their current phonics ability. These practice sessions are vital in developing children's confidence; allowing everyone to feel that they are achieving as a reader.
The children will always have both a decodable phonics book to practise their phonics skills and a library book to share with an adult at home to grow their love of reading.
During year 1, children must sit a national phonics test called the Phonics Screening Check (PSC). The PSC is a statutory, one to one assessment for UK year 1 pupils (typically age 5-6) in June to confirm they have learned phonic decoding to an age- appropriate standard. It consists of 40 words- a mix of 20 real words and 20 pseudo words (we call these alien words)- designed to test a child's ability to sound out and blend graphemes (letters) into phonemes (sounds).
The year 1 teacher will prepare your child for this screening check. Sometimes you might be provided with additional phonics homework in the summer term to help prepare and we kindly ask that this is completed to support your child to succeed.
For more information, please read:
Phonics screening check- information for parents
Reading Fluency
Developing fluency is a key part of becoming a proficient reader and, at Ranelagh, we believe that becoming an accomplished, fluent reader is the single most important transferable skill that we can equip our pupils with.
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) defines reading fluency as: The ability to apply and identify the correct pronunciation of written words immediately and without conscious effort. It involves smoothly and effortlessly decoding words while also comprehending and interpreting the text.
There are three interlinked aspects of fluent reading:
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accuracy – reading words correctly
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automaticity – reading words at an appropriate speed without great effort
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prosody – using appropriate pace and intonation (pitch and tone to highlight an expression)
As children master their understanding of phonics and can confidently apply phase 5 sounds in decodable books at a speed of 90 words per minute, they progress onto the Little Wandle Fluency programme. During our daily 30 minute fluency lessons, we continue to develop children’s alphabetic knowledge so they can decode the new words they meet in books. It also teaches prosody and reading fluency through repeated reading activities. We develop children’s language and comprehension by chatting about each chapter. We connect to children’s background knowledge and use prosody practice and repeated reading to help children understand what they have read. Most importantly, children grow their reading stamina and enjoyment through reading books at the right level, so they are successful.
In KS2, reading is taught daily for half an hour. These sessions are either the Little Wandle Fluency programme for children who need to continue to develop their fluency or lessons teaching reading through whole novels. These novels expose all children to high quality text and new vocabulary that they otherwise would not come across. During this time, teachers and TAs model the fluency, the reading process and develop higher order reading skills, such as inference.
At Ranelagh, we refer to these skills as the VIPER skills which stands for:
Vocabulary
Infer
Predict
Explain
Retrieve
Sequence or Summarise
Reading
Rapid Catch-Up
Every child in Year 2 or above who is unable to read at age-related expectations is given targeted support so that they can access the curriculum and enjoy reading as soon as possible. At our school, children in Reception and Year 1 learn to read following the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised phonics programme. They apply what they learn in phonics lessons to reading books matched to their phonetic knowledge.
The Rapid Catch-up programme mirrors the core Little Wandle programme but children learn at a much faster pace. The Rapid Catch-up programme has been carefully designed for children aged 7 and above to catch up quickly.
Writing
Writing
High quality texts are at the heart of our English curriculum. Teachers model the writing and planning process through writing sessions in English, where ideas are collected and developed. Children work in groups, pairs or individually to write narrative and non-narrative texts based on a range of appropriate genres. Grammar and punctuation are contextually taught in English lessons as well as recapped during daily grammar meetings. Spelling rules are also taught during these grammar meetings. Spellings rules are taught from the National Curriculum and delivered using CUSP.
Handwriting
At Ranelagh, we believe that handwriting is a progressive skill that builds up over time. It is important that children have the opportunity to refine their handwriting skills so that it reduces cognitive load when completing writing tasks. We aim for our children to leave in Year 6 with the ability to write using their own style of fast, fluent, legible and sustainable handwriting (Penpals).
In order to teach handwriting, we follow the Penpals for Handwriting scheme. In KS1, handwriting takes place three times a week and in KS2, handwriting is delivered daily. We acknowledge the importance of building on prior learning and providing children with the opportunity to revisit previously learnt skills.
Oracy
We want our pupils to learn ‘through talk’ as well as to learn ‘to talk’. High quality talk is deliberately planned for in a progressive way across our curriculum, to ensure children have the opportunity to broaden their vocabulary, deepen their subject knowledge and articulate themselves well. All of these opportunities empower them to better understand themselves.
Useful links
Reading Eggs (Fast Phonics)
Phonics Play
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources
Little Wandle https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
Epic Reading
Accelerated Reader
(Usernames and passwords should be in the front of your child's homework book)
https://global-zone61.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/2248283