English

At Linton-on-Ouse Primary School and Nursery, we encourage a love of the written and spoken word.  Everyone in our school community is a valued writer, and students are given frequent opportunities to read and write for a range of purposes.

We aim for all children to:

• Enjoy reading, find pleasure in books, and read for a wide range of purposes with fluency and understanding.

• Continually expand their vocabulary, understanding of grammar, and knowledge of literary and linguistic conventions for reading, writing, and the spoken word.

• Find authors, new and old, to read and take inspiration from.

• Write with confidence, enjoyment, and clarity, using language and style appropriately for a range of contexts, purposes, and audiences. 

• Participate in speaking and listening, using the spoken word to learn, elaborate, collaborate, and explain their ideas. 

• Show care and attention to presentation and handwriting. 

Reading:

Early Reading: Systematic Synthetic Phonics: Throughout KS1, the children receive daily reading lessons through 'Essential Letters and Sounds' (ELS). For more information please see the Phonics page. 

Whole-class guided reading sessions: Children begin these sessions in Year 1 and the approach continues throughout their time at our school. These lessons allow the teacher to explore a text in-depth with the class, and will involve the same text over a period of several lessons. Activities can include vocabulary work, comprehension, prediction of the storyline, artwork, and grammar. As much as possible, the texts are extracts from larger books or other texts that the children are able to borrow or examine further. 

Reading Scheme/Home Reading: Children will bring home books to share with their families as soon as they begin their lessons in EYFS. Books might be wordless to start with, and then will build words in conjunction with their phonics and reading learning. We encourage reading for pleasure, and children have a part in choosing which books they would like to bring home. We also monitor how much home reading is done through our Reading Rainforest initiative, with children earning small rewards such as certificates, stickers, or bookmarks depending on how often they read at home. Guidance on supporting your child will be given by your child's teacher. 

Our library: In our library, the non-fiction books are organised using a system based on the Dewey Index and the fiction books are ordered alphabetically by the author's surname. We also have a wide range of books and magazines available in our classrooms which are refreshed regularly from the library. 

Reading and books are a thread throughout our entire curriculum. Texts are used to provide information, further context, and creative interpretations of different areas of learning. Books used are outlined in our curriculum overview documents. 

Impact will be measured by assessing against the National Curriculum Age-Related Expectations statements through ‘Insight pupil tracking’ as:

·       Above

·       Below

·       Just Below

·       On Track

·       Greater Depth

Pupils will also take NFER assessments once a term gaining a standardised score, that we use to support our teacher judgements for all pupils’ assessments. These assessments are completed for Reading and SPAG (Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar). Writing is continually teacher assessed throughout the year. 

At the end of KS2 our pupils will sit the statutory assessments in Reading and SPAG (SATS). 

All subjects are monitored and kept up to date by a specified subject leader. Each term, reports are created to share with school staff and governors, showing the children's progression and key development points for that subject area. 

Parents are informed of their child's progress through parent-teacher meetings and written reports. Teachers will request to meet with parents should any concerns arise, aiming for the best possible outcome for the child. 

Among many other possible careers!