English

Literature is at the heart of everything we do at Co-op Academy Princeville. Our curriculum centres around rich core texts that are carefully selected at every stage of education here at Co-op Academy Princeville.

At Co-op Academy Princeville, we provide a high-quality education in English which teaches our pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others. Through reading in particular, we ensure that all children develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually.

We provide every opportunity for our children to develop their love of reading and provide varied contextual opportunities for them to see the impact of their written work.

At Co-op Academy Princeville we want our children to have the skills and the confidence to flourish as they move on to the next stage of their education with the confidence and skills to access the whole curriculum, in its fullest.

When I read great literature, great drama, speeches, or sermons, I feel that the human mind has not achieved anything greater than the ability to share feelings and thoughts through language.
James Earl Jones

At Co-op Academy Princeville, we aim to teach the skills of writing and a love for writing so that our children:

develop enjoyment and pleasure in writing
have opportunities to write for a range of real purposes and audiences
understand the skills and processes that are essential for writing: drafting, editing, reading aloud and re-reading their work to check for fluency and that their meaning is clear
when spelling, have opportunities to both practise using their phonics knowledge and develop independent spelling strategies
when writing, form their letters correctly and confidently, writing with a fluent joined style
know, understand and implement grammatical terminology to be able to talk about their writing and how correct grammar and punctuation help a reader to understand and enjoy what they have written.

Reading and Writing in Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Key Stage 1 (KS1) Phonics

The school uses phonics materials from the Read Write Inc (RWI) programme to teach reading and writing in EYFS and KS1.

The Read, Write Inc phonics programme is introduced in Nursery and continued throughout the Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and into Key Stage 2 (for those children identified with gaps in their phonics knowledge). The programme covers National Curriculum objectives as if focuses on phoneme/grapheme recognition, the strategies of blending to read and segmenting to spell, as well as the importance of reading fluently and with comprehension.

These materials provide a rigorous, systematic framework in which to teach children to hear and read the 44 English speech sounds, blend them together into words and segment words into sounds for writing. Children read daily, accessing books that are closely matched to their developing phonic ability.

The children quickly build up to writing every day, rehearsing out loud what they want to say, before spelling the words using the graphemes and ‘tricky’ words they know.

They practise handwriting regularly: sitting at a table comfortably, aiming to learn correct letter formation and how to join letters speedily and legibly.

Children’s composition (ideas, vocabulary and grammar) is developed by drawing on their own experiences and talking about the stories they read.

Foundation subjects are taught via a thematic approach, which is centred around a high-quality core text.

Find more information about how we teach phonics here

Writing in Key Stage 2 (KS2)

For those children identified with gaps in their phonic knowledge or reading fluency, Read Write Inc Phonics is employed in Key Stage Two. This ensures that all pupils quickly gain sufficient reading fluency and comprehension to access National Curriculum objectives in word reading and reading comprehension, writing transcription and composition alongside vocabulary, grammar and punctuation.

A broad selection of books – appropriate to each year group, and each term within that year group – is used to ensure adequate coverage of different writing genres. For each writing genre, teachers carefully plan a number of writing outcomes and the purpose of each piece.

A modelled example – what-a-good-one-looks-like (WAGOLL) is then written by the teacher based on the main writing outcome.

Subsequently, a series of lessons is planned and delivered based on the key features of the WAGOLL in accordance with the following three distinct phases:

Reading Phase: children are immersed in the text and provided with various speaking and listening opportunities, in the first instance. The writing outcome is shared with pupils, and the purpose of their writing. Throughout this phase, children will include work on key features of the genre, reading comprehension questions linked to both the text and the WAGOLL, prediction, sequencing and key vocabulary.
Toolkit Phase: children are taught the specific skills that they will require in their extended pieces. This phase includes spelling, grammar and terminology exemplified in the WAGOLL.
Writing Phase: includes planning, writing, redrafting, editing and publishing. This takes place over several sessions and includes teacher modelling, shared and guided writing, discussion with peers and teacher, as well as editing. The focus is on children producing a fluent piece of writing which works well as a whole and engages the reader, as well as achieving the purpose set out in the reading phase.

Within the majority of English lessons, differentiated reading, writing, speaking and listening opportunities will be planned to meet the needs of all children, including children with SEND, working in mixed ability classes. However, also within each class children will be given opportunities to work in mixed ability groups, so they can share ideas and learn from each other. Taking into consideration cultural capital being the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours, and skills that a child can draw upon and which demonstrates their cultural awareness, knowledge and competence; providing all children access to a wide range of reading and writing opportunities is one of the key ingredients a pupil will draw upon to be successful in society, their career and the world of work

In addition, we have discrete timetabled sessions to work on:

Spelling: A new spelling rule will be introduced and taught each week, allowing children time to practise spelling using a range of strategies.

Handwriting: The school aims to promote high standards in the presentation of children’s handwriting and will use materials from the Letter-join programme to ensure a consistent, schoolwide approach.