English
'The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you will go.' - Dr. Seuss
At SMATT, we impart the skills and knowledge necessary to enable children to listen, speak, read and write fluently. Our children use effective and expressive means of communication and comprehension. They will be well-equipped to understand and access all aspects of media in society. We foster a life-long love of English.
SMATT teaches an English curriculum based on the National Curriculum for primary schools. However, as with everything at SMATT, we have worked developed our own curriculum model and methods for teaching this important subject based on various schemes to enable our children to flourish.
Writing
Children are taught writing through high quality texts. Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar is taught explicitly and within context in order for them to apply their knowledge.
To develop as effective writers, pupils are taught to:
- Extend and develop as writers throughout their time in school, drawing on new vocabulary and grammar in their writing.
- Develop the skill of generating ideas and words (Descriptosauruses are widely used).
- Read a variety of texts for purpose and pleasure, accurately, fluently and with understanding.
- Talk about their ideas and writing before committing to paper.
- Understand the variety of written language, and the differences between fiction and non-fiction.
- Improve their abilities to read, analyse and evaluate a wide range of texts.
- Plan, practice, make mistakes, edit and improve their writing.
- Play with and experiment with vocabulary and language structure.
- Use strategies to aid spelling
- Use fluid and legible handwriting
Please see our whole school writing long term plan below:
Handwriting is taught explicitly through the Read Write Inc programme and then Morrells Handwriting is used to follow.
Spellings are taught in KS2 using the No Nonsense Spelling scheme. The Common Exception Words and The Year3-4 and 5-6 spelling lists are from the National Curriculum and do not follow a spelling rule. They are words that children should be able to spell by the end of that year/key stage.
Reading
Reading is both an important subject in its own right and the medium for accessing the whole curriculum.
In KS1, children are split into groups and taught phonics and spelling based on the Read Write Inc scheme and taught a new sound every day. They are also given the opportunity to write words using the sound taught. This goes hand in hand with a reading session based on the sound.
In KS2, children are taught the necessary skills for reading through Whole Class Reading which occurs every day. VIPERS are used as a basis for children to be able to comprehend what they have read and answer questions based on the text.
Top 100 books to read before leaving Primary School
As a school, we also provide opportunities for the children to visit the local library, use our school library, have visits from authors, celebrate World Book Day and enjoy a class text at the end of each day.
Spelling
At SMATT we use the RWInc Spelling scheme throughout Years 2 – 6. Year 1 children practice spelling within their daily RWI phonics sessions.
Read Write Inc. Spelling is a 15 / 20 -minute-a-day programme for Years 2 to 6. The programme runs on a one week cycle per unit, consisting of five sessions per week.
Using a proven approach underpinned by phonics, fast–paced lessons and an online subscription, Read Write Inc. Spelling prepares children for the higher demands of the statutory spelling assessments in England.
Below is an overview of the content taught in each year group and how this links to the National Curriculum:
overview and teaching sequence.pdf