English – Brookfield Primary School

Reading

At Brookfield we hope to instil in all children a lifelong love of reading. They start this journey as soon as they join us. All children enjoy: free reading in their classroom’s cosy book corners; class stories regularly read aloud by teachers; visits to our local library; trips to the Owl Bookshop to purchase new books; World Book Day celebrations; and other reading and writing workshops throughout the year.

Reading skills are developed and encouraged in a number of ways.

In Early Years and KS1, children follow the Letters and Sounds (Little Wandle) scheme. Daily sessions incorporate systematic teaching of phonics sounds alongside reading of supporting stories. Handwriting, spelling and writing are also taught through the programme.

Once phonic skills have developed, children enjoy small group adult led practise reading sessions 3 time a week which are matched to their phonic stage. Here, children explore a variety of texts in depth and develop comprehension through rich discussions. Children then bring home their reading practice book to read independently as well as a sharing book to talk about and enjoy with their parent/carer. Reading at home on a daily basis is essential to help further reading skills and enjoyment of reading.

From Year 2, and increasingly through KS2, classes also enjoy shared reading sessions. Here, a range of texts are explored as a whole class, and reading skills are developed through rich discussions and questioning. Reading at home continues to be an essential part of reading development. Throughout Brookfield we encourage children to continue to read daily at home to themselves and with family members. Children then share their reading journey in a reading diary.

For further information about how we teach reading in the early years please visit;

For parents

A programme overview of the order phonic sounds are taught can be found here;

Programme Overview Reception and Year 1 Download

Writing

Reading and writing development are so closely linked: unleash the reader, and the writing will often follow! At Brookfield, English lessons typically involve exciting texts to hook the children towards storytelling and writing outcomes created with an awareness of audience, purpose and voice. We explore a wide range of writing types ranging from various narrative genres to non-fiction such as information texts and persuasive letters. We use learning strategies through a lens of oracy and talk for writing: an immersion in the world of the text and its writing type; word building; spoken practice; high quality modelling; shared and independent writing opportunities. We aim to share this fantastic writing and are always seeking opportunities for these outcomes to be delivered to others: children in other year groups; turned into presentations or performances; published and displayed as a celebration of their work.

The texts which inspire us have been carefully chosen to introduce children to a range of authors and to ensure that, as well as broadening their horizons, every child sees reflections of themselves and their friends within the books on their English journey. We are proud of the diversity of our texts at Brookfield and are constantly open to refreshing choices with a mind to them being reflective of our children, the world around and imagined contexts beyond their lived experience. The books chosen also link to the theme that each year group is exploring at the time. Many trips and workshops also provide opportunities for exciting writing outcomes. For example, Year 5 and 6 enjoy a performance from the Young Shakespeare Company every year in order to inspire a writing outcome such as an alternative scene for the play, a dramatic newspaper report or even a persuasive love letter!

Brookfield Skill Progression English Writing

Brookfield Oracy Progression Skill

Oracy

Oracy involves learning a range of speaking and listening skills, behaviours and language necessary for effective communication and collaboration. The development of these skills underpins every subject across the curriculum, pervades every moment of the day and is shown to be integral to learning in the classroom and beyond. At Brookfield we learn to talk and we talk to learn! In English, as well as in other subjects, it is very important for developing reading, writing, ideas, self-expression, communication and even empathy and kindness to be immersed in a language rich environment where through talk we build our skills and knowledge. These are developed across our broad curriculum through: listening to, expressing and sharing ideas, opinions and experiences; thought provoking discussion and debate; vocabulary building; talk for writing techniques; role play and drama activities; presentations and performances.