English is a broad and enveloping subject that requires pupils to use many skills simultaneously, and is fundamental for children’s learning in all other areas of the curriculum. At St Anselm’s, we believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion. We have a rigorous and well-organised English curriculum that provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. Our curriculum closely follows the aims of the National Curriculum to enable all children to:
● read easily, fluently and with good understanding
● develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
● acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
● appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
● write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
● use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
● be competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.
At St Anselm's, we recognise that reading is the 'gateway' to all other learning, therefore the teaching of word reading and comprehension is given absolute priority within English lessons, but also across the wider curriculum.
In Year R & Year 1, 'word reading' skills are prioritised so that children can become confident, fluent and independent readers by the end of Year 1. This is taught through daily discrete phonics lessons which follow the Phonics Shed scheme. Early comprehension is established through discussion about a story and high-quality questioning.
In Year 1, children also receive one reading comprehension lesson per week, using Schofield & Sims' Complete Comprehension. During this time, children are discretely taught one reading comprehension skill per week from the KS1 reading domains. They learn new vocabulary, develop strategies to navigate texts successfully and develop enjoyment and engagement with new texts.
Any children who reach Year 2 without a solid grasp of the fundamentals of phonics will continue to receive daily phonics lessons until they are ready to progress. All children in Year 2 will continue to develop their phonic knowledge throughout the year, and phonics strategies are used throughout the school in spelling and reading lessons.
Once children reach a good level of proficiency in phonics, the teaching priority shifts in reading to predominantly comprehension-based lessons. All children in Years 2 - 6 receive four reading lessons per week:
1. One lesson follows Schofield & Sims' Complete Comprehension scheme.
2. Two lessons explore the term's class novel, or another challenging, age-appropriate fiction text.
3. One lesson explores a non-fiction text which further develops children's learning of the wider curriculum e.g. if children are learning about micro-organisms in science, they may read about this in their non-fiction reading lesson.
Please follow the below links to see an example of each of these lesson types.
Children will start using Accelerated Reader either:
OR
Children are unable to quiz from home but parents can still access their accounts to see how they are progressing towards their termly targets using Renaissance Home Connect and inputting their login details which can be found in their planner/reading record.
The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is the estimated Book Level range that children should read between in order to make maximum progress in reading. All children bring home a school library book selected from their ZPD. This is determined by completing an Accelerated Reader STAR reading assessment. Children are re-assessed four times per year and provided with a new ZPD. In order to help in selecting other books from outside of school, the Advanced Search feature on AR Book Finder allows you to search specifically for books within a given ZPD.
Once a child finishes their book, they take an Accelerated Reader quiz which tests their comprehension of what they have read. Based on whether they have passed their quiz or not, they will then be supported by their teachers and Year 6 English leaders to select a new book to maximise their success. For example, if they failed the previous quiz, they will be guided to select a lower book level within their ZPD; if they passed at the minimum percentage (either 60% or 70% depending on number of questions) they should choose a similar book level, if they passed at 90-100% they will be encouraged to choose a higher book level within their ZPD.
Books are also categorised by Interest Level. This measures the level of suitability of the book appropriate to the age of the child.
If a child selects a book in a higher interest level than their age, they will need to bring it to an adult first to check its appropriateness. If a child has a higher reading ability than their interest level and are finding many of the books in their ZPD are recommended for older students, we may speak with parents to agree on which books a child is permitted to bring home.
Each book also carries a number of points. When children take their quiz, they earn points according to how much of their book has been understood. All children are also set a points target to earn within each term. This is calculated by the Accelerated Reader algorithm based on the child’s ZPD, target of passing quizzes with 85% and reading for 30 minutes per day. Please see below examples for better understanding:
Children who meet their points target each term will be invited to a reading party to celebrate their achievements. This reward is for effort and amount of reading done. It is not connected to children’s ability, as the stronger the reader, the higher the points target.