English

Learning English is given our highest priority at Harris Primary Academy Kent House. The New National Curriculum (September 2014) provides the framework around which the teaching of reading, writing, speaking and listening is planned.

We provide opportunities for children to view reading as an enjoyable and meaningful activity as well as enabling them to develop their comprehension, inference and thinking skills.

English at our Academy

The children at Harris Primary Academy Kent House are creative and motivated writers and are provided with a wide range of opportunities for writing. They are shown how to structure and present their written work effectively and are taught grammar and spelling as a vital means of enhancing their writing ability.

Teachers assess children's writing regularly and children work on achieving specific targets that the teacher has set for them. Speaking and listening are part of an integrated programme of language activities which encourage children to communicate confidently in many different situations and to a range of audiences.

Phonics at our Academy

We believe at Harris Primary Academy Kent House that phonics should be taught in an engaging and systematic way, using a multisensory approach. The Read Write Inc programme enables us to do this. In order to accelerate pupil’s progress we deliver workshops that specifically target parents and carers. This enables them to support their children at home by listening to their children read their home reading book daily, practising reading and spelling of high frequency words.

The Read Write Inc Programme

The Read Write Inc. programmes combine into a complete literacy programme rooted in the new national curriculum for children aged five to eleven. They are designed to stimulate and challenge children’s thinking and create enthusiastic, life-long readers and writers.                

Please follow this link to learn more about the Read Write Inc programme:

https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/

 

Catching up for the lowest 20% of our pupils

At Harris Primary Academy Kent House if a child is not meeting the standards expected in reading, we ensure they receive daily reading support and that they are heard read aloud each day, to ensure that they get the enhancement and practice of the strategies required to become fluent and independent readers. 

 

Reading in Class

All teachers at Harris Primary Academy Kent House read to their classes aloud for 15 minutes each day. This models a love of reading and helps all children develop a connection with a shared class text.

 

Reading Homework

All children at Harris Primary Academy Kent House are expected to read for 10-30 minutes at home every evening. Parents are supported to deliver this through workshops we offer termly.

 

The documents attached detail how English and reading are taught and can be supported in each of our Year groups from Year 1 to Year 6.

 

Handwriting

Children take part in regular handwriting practise. Handwriting is a practised skill that they take part in during the early morning sessions and during English lessons. Using the start from the line method children practise the set of patterns by copying the joins from the IWB before moving on to forming words using these joins. At Kent House we use an online programme called Letter Join that is interactive and engaging for the children. Joins are introduced following on from RWI handwriting lessons. Handwriting and presentation is a big focus for all our children and they are encouraged to take pride in their work. The use of Letter Join also ensures our handwriting practice is progressive across the year.

Literacy lessons

High Quality Texts

At HPAKH we teach children writing skills through a range of vocabulary rich texts that have been carefully selected. Each year group follow a comprehensive plan that ensures clear progression through texts and genres. By the end of Year 6, each child will have been exposed to a comprehensive range of writing styles and genres from four key purposes – Writing to Entertain, Writing to Inform, Writing to Persuade and Writing to Discuss. Within these, guidance is given to teachers to ensure that a variety of genres are taught and revisited regularly. These ensure that a variety of fiction, non-fiction and poetry is explored. Each year group focuses on one text per half term and teaching is supported by the reading of the texts. Throughout all lessons, there is a focus on the impact of the reader. Although SPaG is taught and revised weekly, grammar and punctuation are embedded into our English planning to ensure children are able to make links between the authors intentions and the impact on the reader. We are developing a culture of talk to support our writing. Our English progression document outlines the core texts, genres of writing and the grammatical focus for each writing unit to ensure these builds on children’s prior knowledge.

Promotion of Oracy

In order to become immersed in the subject matter, teaching sequences may cover speaking and listening or drama activities. These ensure that children are able to listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers, ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge and use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary. Children participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates in order to develop their speaking skills.

From speaking and listening activities, lessons will focus on immersion in the genre, using high quality models to ensure that children are able to become confident to produce their own piece of writing in the required style.

Writing

Planning, re-drafting and editing are all key parts of the writing process before a final writing outcome is produced.
A typical writing structure would look like: 

• Immersion in the text / genre (reading, vocabulary, text deconstruction)
• Practicing applying key grammatical or punctuational skills that the model text has used.
• Modelling – shared writing and exploration
• Planning (scaffolding)
• Practice
• Editing and improving
• Independent writing

Kent House Recommends

Each year group have a set of high quality, age recommended books in their classroom, available for the children to access. The aim is for the children to read all 12 recommended books by the end of the school year.