Subject Coordinator - Mrs D Clarkson

English is a fundamental and exciting area of our school curriculum, and I am thrilled to share my passion for reading and writing with our students. As an avid reader with a love for various genres, I enjoy discussing and sharing books with friends and family. My enthusiasm for reading began in Year 4, thanks to a dedicated teacher who helped me discover the joy of books. His persistence and belief in finding the right book for every reader transformed my view of reading from a chore into a cherished hobby, and I am committed to fostering this same love of reading in our students.

As the English Lead, my goal is to develop a curriculum that is both engaging and inclusive, with a strong emphasis on key skills. Our journey begins in Reception with the Read Write Inc. (RWI) phonics programme. This foundational programme introduces children to the sounds of letters and builds their ability to read and write increasingly complex words. To ensure every child’s progress, we will assess their phonics skills every six weeks. Phonics is one of my favourite lessons to teach, and I will be offering phonics clubs for Year 1 and Year 2 students throughout the year.

This year in Reception, we are excited to introduce a new writing initiative called 'Drawing Club'. This scheme, is centred around children’s interests, will enhance their phonetic knowledge, reading, and writing skills while nurturing a love for writing. Our Reception staff are enthusiastic about implementing this new programme.

In our English lessons, we plan around a key text each term, creating meaningful connections between reading and writing. We carefully select texts that are age-appropriate and engaging, ensuring a balance of fiction and nonfiction, as well as books from diverse genres and cultures. This approach provides a broad and balanced curriculum that supports a wide range of reading experiences.

Reading will be a major focus this year. Each child will bring home a reading diary and is encouraged to read at least five times a week. Regular reading, even for just a few minutes, significantly impacts their progress across all subjects, including mathematics. Later this year, we will introduce Accelerated Reader for Year 2 and above. This new reading scheme will provide children with books tailored to their reading and comprehension levels, and we will provide further details about this initiative soon.

I am eager to collaborate with staff and students on this essential aspect of our curriculum and to support every child's journey in developing their reading and writing skills.

Subject Intent Statements

Reading

Children first learn to decode and make sense of the written word, before building confidence and a love of texts and a greater understanding.

Reading for our children

Learning to read helps me read to learn.

 

Phonics

At Mablethorpe Primary Academy we follow Read Write Inc for our Phonics teaching in Foundation stage and Key Stage 1.

The RWI programme is well structured and lively. The children learn 44 sounds and matching letters/letter groups. They learn to blend sounds to read words. They read books which have been specially written, and children will take reading books home matched to their phonics ability. During RWI lessons the children will read and write for 1 hour every day, in their groups (they are grouped according to their reading level).

Links to help your child:

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/3gg9Jx1I/htnqu7M5

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/JU92SMsl/5kkuU8Y4

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/i2vgPcNP/1loT1F0O

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/PCZg8dEt/bFAQblFy

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/oCaRsxrm/CXcIiDAQ

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/ODObmX2H/X2SPchPR

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/ayORhBdK/BPSs95jo

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/XsvOOjXm/eZJbdLS2

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/Yv78B08M/VxymhtlP

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/5w2g4FkT/qHDMhMye

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/aN75o5Nz/P8JGWnbq

Reading

Once the children have completed the Read Write Inc programme, children will read a wide range of books which have been banded to match to their reading ability.  The Book Band system helps us to grade our books by difficulty level. Each level has its own colour and includes a selection of different reading scheme books and ‘real’ books. The difference between each band is gradual so that children will not experience difficulty when moving from one to the next. Class teachers assess the children’s reading on a regular basis and will change their Book Band colour when they are confident that both the comprehension and word reading targets have been  met.

Book bands

Speaking and Listening

To provide opportunities for children to explore and practice speaking using standard English and to increase challenging vocabulary through drama, discussions and presentations.

Speaking and Listening for our children

I can speak confidently using interesting vocabulary.

 

Writing

To communicate ideas through writing for different audiences using a range of different text types

Writing for our children

I can write for different purposes.