Literacy Overview
At All Saints’ we have adopted The Literary Curriculum which has been developed by primary literacy specialists. It is a complete, thematic approach to the teaching of primary English that places children’s literature at its core. Children explore over ninety literacy texts and experience at least seventy-five unique and significant authors as they move through the school.
As a whole-school approach, it provides complete coverage of all National Curriculum expectations for writing composition, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary, as well as coverage of spelling, phonics and reading comprehension. Each unit of teaching leads to the purposeful application of key literacy skills within a wide range of different types of written outcomes.
Lessons also include explicit grammar objectives so that the grammar skills for writing are seen in context and can be applied within writing. These can be taught ‘discretely’ yet creatively, and are embedded firmly within the context of the book being studied. Spelling investigations and activities are also integrated within lessons, so that patterns and rules can be explored and then used purposefully within writing.
Built into each unit of teaching are a variety of shorter and longer writing opportunities that are purposeful and link to particular points in a book. Collectively, the sequences also enable our children to build a literary repertoire and develop their knowledge of significant authors; helping to prepare our Year 6 pupils for critical reading at Key Stage 3.
A summary of key learning targets for literacy in Years 1 to 6 can be found on our class pages and our Literacy Curriculum Map for Reception to Year 6 can be found below.
Reading and Phonics
At All Saints’ we aim to develop all children as readers who share a passion for books and reading. Reading is a lifetime learning skill which provides children with enjoyment and excitement and an opportunity to gain information about the world around them. From Year 1 to Year 6, daily guided reading lessons, alongside our text-based literacy curriculum are important ways we promote this.
The teaching of phonics begins in the Nursery, where children develop their listening skills and learn to distinguish one sound from another by joining in with rhymes and songs and by playing games. In Reception and Year 1, a discrete phonics lesson is taught daily but phonic skills and knowledge are also embedded within our daily teaching of literacy. We use a range of resources to teach phonic skills but draw mainly on two schemes; ‘Read, Write, Inc’ and ‘Jolly Phonics’.
Downloads
Please click on the links below to see our Literacy Curriculum Map for Reception to Year 6 and find out more about how we teach literacy in Early Years: