Respect
Resilience
Responsibility

Vision

Building respect, resilience & responsibility to encourage confident and questioning children who love learning.

Class Dojo

If you need further information about using ClassDojo, please contact your class teacher who will be able to guide you.

Online safety

We have a dedicated webpage that shows a wide selection of advice for children, parents and carers on the safe use of technology and the internet.

Subject information – English

In English, our aim is to ensure that every child becomes a reader, a writer and confident speaker by the time they leave Kirk Ella St Andrew’s Primary School.

Reading

At Kirk Ella St Andrew’s Primary School, we encourage children to become confident, independent readers. Children are provided with many opportunities to read, enjoy and share books as well as being exposed to a language rich environment, which provides access to many different types of print. We foster a love of reading by having designated reading areas, providing and sharing a range of texts within class and giving children the opportunity to read for pleasure in D.E.A.R Time sessions.

At our school, we use a variety of strategies to support the teaching of reading, as all learners are individual and therefore can require different approaches to secure their skills.

These strategies include:

  • The systematic teaching of synthetic phonics
  • Whole class reading lessons using high quality and challenging texts
  • Focused Reading Tasks when children work individually, in groups or as a whole class to use and apply their reading skills
  • Independent reading
  • DEAR Time (Drop Everything And Read). This is a special time of day when children and staff are given time to read thereby encouraging children to read regularly for pleasure.
  • Recommended book lists for each year group are shared with parents and children as well as being displayed in classrooms. These can be found by clicking the photo

Phonics

Phonics is taught daily in EYFS, Year One and Year Two using a nationally accredited scheme called Little Wandle.

A parents support page can be found by clicking the image below.


Reading Schemes

At Kirk Ella St Andrew’s Primary School, we have a range of reading books that have been combined to make our reading scheme. In Early Years and KS1 the children’s reading books are matched to the phonics they are learning. Subsequently, the reading books are colour banded to show progression. The colour banded books include fiction, non-fiction and poetry which are carefully selected to match reading levels and interests.

Reading at home

Children are encouraged to read aloud to an adult at home at least four times a week. Parents are key partners in children’s learning and are requested to discuss the book with their child and to write a comment in the Reading Record.

Leaflets to help you support your child with reading at home

 

For further details on how the English curriculum is put together please click on the links below

Effective Safeguarding: Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with well-trained staff who know the pupils and community well, reporting concerns in a timely manner and working successfully with external agencies to support pupils and their families.

Ofsted

Reading Focus: The school has prioritized developing a love of reading among pupils, creating a literature-rich environment and supporting pupils to become confident, fluent readers.

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Caring Environment: Staff care for pupils well, providing an ambitious learning environment where pupils feel safe and supported by trusted adults.

Ofsted

Comprehensive Personal Development: The school offers a comprehensive personal, social, and health education curriculum that includes opportunities for pupils to explore life in modern Britain.

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Positive Attitudes: Pupils are eager to learn and have positive attitudes towards their lessons, with a calm and purposeful atmosphere evident in classrooms.

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Effective Mathematics Curriculum: The recently refreshed mathematics curriculum is well-planned, helping pupils build their understanding with regular opportunities to recap knowledge and address misconceptions.

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Supportive Leadership: Staff are positive about the school’s leaders and the professional support they receive. Governors and representatives of the local authority know the school well and bring valuable skills to their roles.

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Ambitious Curriculum: The school offers a broad and ambitious curriculum that helps pupils deepen their knowledge and prepares them well for the next stage of their education.

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Empowered Staff: Subject leaders are knowledgeable and passionate, inspiring teachers and delivering exceptional physical education where pupils engage in precise learning activities and enjoy success in inter- and intra-school events.

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Strong Early Years Provision: The early years curriculum is well-planned, supporting and challenging children’s interests, with a clear focus on personal, social, and emotional development.

Ofsted