At Our Lady Immaculate we aim to produce a lively and stimulating environment in which staff are committed to teaching individual, group and class activities which promote rich and appropriate speaking, listening, reading and writing experiences.
We recognise that English is a core subject within the National Curriculum and essential for educational and social progress. Mastery over language empowers children to communicate creatively and imaginatively, as well as allowing them engagement with the world at large. Therefore we aim to establish a curriculum which provides the necessary meaningful opportunities to develop competence in all language areas.
At Our Lady Immaculate we teach our English curriculum using the Literacy Counts Scheme including Ready Steady Write, Ready Steady Read Together and Ready Steady Spell. These units of work are adapted to meet the needs of our children and inspire our children though high quality literature.
Reading, writing and spelling within our school curriculum has been implemented with our phonics scheme as a foundation, please visit our phonics page for more information.
Reading
It is our aim to encourage children to learn to love reading and to read regularly outside of school. Each area within school has its own dedicated area for a library as well as access to disciplinary reading texts. Adults model reading to children daily. Children have access to books to read purely for enjoyment in each classroom. Reading for pleasure is highly valued and encouraged to enable all of our children to become enthusiastic, life-long learners.
Through, Ready Steady Read Together all year groups (Y2-Y6), immerse themselves in a new ‘vehicle text’ each half term; this vocabulary-rich text drives learning and hosts a wealth of reading and writing opportunities across the curriculum. Children will explore a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts and explore skills in recall, making inferences, developing vocabulary, making predictions and summarising texts: enabling them to experience literature which develops, fluency, vocabulary and understanding. Through teacher modelling of expression, pace, intonation and prosody, children learn how skilled readers bring meaning to a text and how these features support comprehension.
Ready Steady Read Together, is aspirational for every child. It ensures that all pupils including those who may have barriers to learning, are given opportunities to develop their understanding of challenging texts. Shared reading is only one part of a child’s overall reading entitlement, which also includes other forms of reading such as independent reading, guided reading, story time, library use and access to a wide range of texts at home and at school.
Pupils will also be taught two key reading skills:
Through ‘word reading’ the ability to decode words- will be taught through the use of the synthetic phonics scheme ‘Little Wandle’. Children will be assessed to determine the level of books they should be reading and to ensure that they progress appropriately.
Through ‘language comprehension’ children’s comprehension skills will be taught through high quality shared and guided reading sessions with teachers and teaching assistants, individual and group reading times and whole class reading activities. We have moved towards a whole class reading approach and we have found that children have become motivated to read and discuss more challenging texts. They are encouraged to independently apply their knowledge before high quality answers are modelled. There are also designated times when children will read on a 1-1 basis to their class teacher or Learning Support Assistant. These times develop competence in skilled word reading, fluency and a clear understanding of the text.
Story times are regularly timetabled in each of our classes. They are highly immersive sessions in which the children study high quality texts from a range of authors, genres, traditions and cultures. A collection of these books are available for the children to independently read, if they choose to do so in their classrooms and area libraries.
We are very fortunate to employ a very experienced Language Support Teacher to work with children for whom English is not their first language. Mrs Jackson has successfully worked with us for a number of years and is well known to our EAL pupils within school. She is a highly qualified EAL teacher with a wealth of experience who will work with our EAL pupils to assess in small groups or on an individual basis to lead learning to ensure these children receive high quality interventions.
At Our Lady Immaculate, Home Reading is strongly encouraged. Children have access to high quality texts which meets the needs of all; from those securing their phonological knowledge to highly competent readers who seek rich and diverse choice of books. It is important to foster an interest and a love of books; to engage children in reading, we need to make it something for them to cherish. The shared attention on a book, the exploration together of different worlds and words, the snuggling up – all of this has long-term benefits for your child. If they’re struggling to read themselves, let them relax and enjoy you reading to them. Enjoy this special time together.
Celebrations such as World Book Day are used to invite authors into school and promote the pleasure and knowledge that can be gained from books. We also take advantage of our local authority’s events that have included workshops and visits from authors.
Please click on the overview below to access the vehicle texts for your child’s year group from Year 2-Year 6.
Ready Steady Read Together Overview for Years 2-6
Useful websites for Parents
Please find a list of websites that you may find useful in helping you and your child learn about phonics. Games and fun activity websites are also included.
http://jollylearning.co.uk/ – Games and information for parents
http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ – many games to play
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/phonics/play/ – fun games for the children to play
http://www.ictgames.com/literacy.html – fun games for the children to play
http://www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/kentict/kentict_home.cfm – fun games for the children to play and information for parents
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/ – fun games for the children to play
http://www.starfall.com/ – fun games for the children to play
http://www.firstschoolyears.com/ – fun games for the children to play
BBC Bitesize – many games to play covering all areas of the curriculum
Writing
Through, Ready Steady Write, all year groups immerse themselves in a new ‘vehicle text’ each half term; this vocabulary-rich text drives learning and hosts a wealth of reading and writing opportunities across the curriculum.
We have recently adapted our writing curriculum to become a ‘Read to Write’ school which has created an inspiring curriculum; please read below to view our policies and curriculum overviews.
Our writing scheme empowers teachers to provide high-quality teaching of writing through high-quality literature. These detailed units of work centre on engaging, vocabulary-rich vehicle texts, with a wealth of writing opportunities within and across the curriculum and they also signpost wider curriculum enrichment opportunities through writing.
The documents below give you more information about the vehicle texts and genres that your child will be covering.
Reception Progression & Overview
Spelling
Our spelling curriculum is designed to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all children. We follow the award-recognised Ready Steady Spell by Literacy Counts to ensure that all pupils become fluent, accurate spellers. Our spelling curriculum is research-informed and impact-proven, helping children secure the essential skills and strategies they need to spell confidently across the curriculum. Through engaging activities, consistent teaching routines and regular opportunities to revisit prior learning, we help children move spelling knowledge into their long-term memory.
Our aim is to build confident writers who are equipped with the tools they need to communicate clearly and effectively. Spelling is taught in a clear and systematic way, with regular reviews and assessments. Additional support is provided through Ready Steady Spell: Go sessions, which offer targeted intervention for pupils who need further consolidation.
English curricular links and policies
English National Curriculum
National Curriculum Vocabulary, Grammar & Punctuation Overview
National Curriculum Spelling Overview