Curriculum
Curriculum by Subject
Early Years
Intent
At Wellesley Primary we believe that learning to read is central for all areas of development and is a vital skill for life. We aim to foster a love of reading in many ways, such as listening to daily stories; visiting the school library; weekly reading for pleasure time and our class book areas. We want children to become fluent readers as this is the key to success and future opportunities. Our aim is that the children will be competent readers by the time that they leave us and that they will choose to read a wide range of genres and take pleasure in recommending books to their peers. We teach reading comprehension skills so that the children will be able to access and understand texts they have read in our school and as they move on to secondary education.
Implementation
Read Write Inc (RWI)
We follow a scheme called Read Write Inc to teach phonics which is taught every day in EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2; over the course of the year, the children in Year 2 will transition onto a spelling programme. The children are assessed regularly every term and their progress is tracked; they are then taught in homogenous groups linked to their current ability. Each phonic lesson includes learning new phonemes; followed by time to practice reading and writing words. The children also have the opportunity to read a book with a partner during phonic lessons. We have a keep up not catch up approach; children who need extra time consolidate the sounds have phonic interventions in the afternoons. Children are given a book to support their reading in school to share at home.
Oxford Reading Tree
In Year 2 the children begin to transition from RWI Phonic books onto the Oxford Reading Tree scheme which continues through Key Stage 2. The coloured banding which starts in KS1 with RWI bookbag books, continues through to Year 6 providing a consistent system and progression. Children are placed on the reading scheme by their class teacher according to their ability.
In Key Stage 2, daily whole class reading lessons develop the children’s language, retrieval of information and inference skills. In addition, the children have opportunities to read with a range of adults in school.
Story time is timetabled daily across school and is highly enjoyed by the children. In our weekly reading for pleasure time, children are encouraged to share books and to recommend them to their classmates. All classes have weekly visits to the school library and our school often has the highest number of children who take part in the South Glos Libraries Summer Challenge.
Impact
The impact of reading success in our school can be seen through:
- Children of all abilities engaging with and being able to success in their reading lessons
- Children enjoying reading a range of genres
- Children being able to talk about their reading preferences and favourite authors
- Children being able to decode and recognise enough sight words at the end of KS1 to be able to fluently read a text at their level
- The % of pupils passing the annual Y1 phonics check will be at least in line with national averages if not better
- Once children have finished RWI Phonics, they will have a range of strategies to decode words
- Parents and carers will have a good understanding of how they can support their child with reading at home and contribute regularly to their home-school reading records
Read our Reading Intent
Reading Guides for Parents:
https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/tips-and-advice/reading-tips/
https://www.teacherstoyourhome.com/uk/blog/the-parents-guide-to-reading
https://literacytrust.org.uk/parents-and-families/
WRITING:
Intent
At Wellesley Primary School, we want all children to be able to confidently communicate their ideas, knowledge and emotions through their writing. We aim to provide a variety of purposeful and exciting writing opportunities to engage all children. In addition, the development of language and oracy is encouraged, developed and planned for throughout our topics as is the progression of grammar skills that allow the children to write effectively in a range of genres. We encourage children to take pride in their presentation, by developing a legible, cursive handwriting style by the time they leave primary school. Our curriculum is progressive and builds upon the previous year’s teaching and regular assessment allows teachers to ensure that all children’s needs are met in lessons.
Implementation
At Wellesley, reading is intrinsically linked to the teaching of writing and every writing unit is based around a high quality text. These model texts inspire children’s writing and provide a context for it. We teach writing through a sequential journey and a key part of it is discussing authors’ choices of vocabulary, sentence structure and punctuation. The texts provide an opportunity for all children to be immersed in rich and challenging vocabulary that will support their development of the written word and foster their love of language. By developing the children’s vocabulary it allows them to become confident writers and enables them to choose vocabulary for effect.
We plan a unit of work over a period of 2-3 weeks, ensuring that we have a balance of skills and application being taught throughout. We plan a sequence backwards, beginning with the end of unit outcome and focusing on the skills that need to be developed for children to write different genres independently, this is known as ‘bottom-up planning.’ The skills are mapped out to show clear progression from EYFS to Year 6. Throughout the unit all teachers model writing so that the children can understand the thought process behind writing and to also demonstrate the high standards expected from all children.
We break down a unit into 3 phases. Each phase allows children to develop and apply grammar and punctuation skills. Every unit concludes with an extended piece of writing which allows the children to write with confidence and enjoyment. Our aim at the end of the unit is for the children to show the reader how much they love writing and how they have the skills to entertain, persuade, inform, argue or discuss through their writing. We want them to truly feel like an author.
An important part of their writing journey is the ability to plan, revise and evaluate their writing. We teach children how to edit and redraft their writing and this allows them to develop the necessary skills to refine and improve their own writing independently. Through this process they develop an awareness of the audience and purpose of their writing.
Read our Writing Intent
Spelling
At Wellesley, once children have completed RWI Phonics in Y2, spelling is taught through the Essential Spelling Programme which calls on prior knowledge from past year groups as well as teaching the spelling rules and patterns for each year group. Children in KS2 have a daily spelling lesson where the skills are taught, modelled and practiced. The children then apply the spelling patterns and rules when they are writing independently.
Handwriting
The presentation of work is highly valued and we encourage the children to take pride in their work. As recommended by the British Dyslexia Association, we teach a continuous cursive style of handwriting. In Early Years, the children are taught how to sit properly in order to have the correct posture for writing and how to hold a pencil correctly. They are also encouraged to mark make using chunky chalks, triangular pencils etc as they experiment with writing. In KS1, letter formation is also included in their daily RWI phonics lessons and each class has a daily, short handwriting session. In Y3 and 4, handwriting books are used regularly and in upper KS2 handwriting is included in daily spelling sessions.
Impact
Teachers use termly assessment as an essential tool to help them evaluate learning and plan the next steps needed by the children. Regular monitoring of books and pupil conferencing shows a clear teaching sequence and progression through the school.
The impact can be seen in the following ways:
- Children will consistently talk about their enjoyment of writing
- Children will have the skills to write clearly, accurately and coherently for a range of purposes and audiences
- Children’s work will show a wide variety of adventurous vocabulary and an understanding of the correct grammar needed at their level
- Children will have the ability to plan, draft and edit their work to improve it
