At St Joseph’s we aim for excellence in English achievement throughout the school. We aim to develop pupils’ abilities within an integrated programme of Speaking & Listening, Reading & Writing. Pupils will be given opportunities to develop their use, knowledge and understanding of spoken and written English within a broad and balanced curriculum, with opportunities to consolidate and reinforce taught literacy skills.

Pupils at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School will leave Year 6:

• reading and writing with confidence, fluency and understanding;

• using a range of independent strategies to take responsibility for their own learning including self-monitoring and correcting their own errors;

• with a love of reading and a desire to read for enjoyment;

• with an interest in words and their meanings;

• developing a growing vocabulary in relation to grammatical terminology;

• understanding a range of text types, media types and genres;

• able to write in a variety of styles and forms appropriate to the situation;

• using their developing creativity, imagination, inventiveness and critical awareness;

• having a suitable technical vocabulary to respectfully articulate their responses in any discussion.

English lessons at St. Joseph’s are organised as follows:

Early Years Foundation Stage

• Daily discrete phonics lessons using the Read Write Inc. programme.

• Opportunities to develop a love of reading.

• Develop word level and comprehension skills.

• Opportunities to develop their communication, language and literacy skills on a daily basis in both adult-led and child-initiated activities.

• Encouraging opportunities to write and mark make through use of role play areas, outdoor learning and child initiated activities.

• Early letter formation is taught through Read Write Inc.

Key Stages 1 and 2

• Daily phonics/early writing lessons continue (using the Read Write Inc. programme) until children achieve the required standard
• After completion of the Read Write Inc. programme, children are taught English lessons within mixed-ability classes; for Years 2 (from January) to 6, these sessions are planned and mapped using Jane Considine’s The Write Stuff, to ensure full coverage of the English curriculum (please see Planning Overview documents)
• Children take part in class, guided and individual reading sessions and have regular story times/share a class reader to develop comprehension skills and a love of reading
• The ‘Whole Class Guided Reading’ system is used from Year 3 onwards to allow all children access to a teacher-led reading lesson once a week
• The Reading Plus programme is used to teach reading fluency, stamina, vocabulary, comprehension and motivation in KS2 during 3 or 4 thirty-minute sessions a week
• Writing is taught using The Write Stuff and through modelled, shared and guided work that is focused on rich, precise vocabulary; sentence construction and text structure
• Children are expected to complete extended independent writing within English lessons (at the end of each The Write Stuff unit of work) and across the curriculum  
• Spelling is taught from Years R-2 using Read Write Inc. Spelling, which is an interactive spelling programme, teaching spellings in a fun and engaging way
• In Years 3-6, children begin exploring a range of spelling rules and strategies. These rules and patterns are taught in weekly dedicated spelling lessons and words are tested the following week
• In Key Stage 1, the teaching of Grammar and Punctuation is embedded within English lessons; full coverage is ensured through the use of the Read Write Inc. programme
• In Key Stage 2, children receive one discrete Grammar and Punctuation lesson per week, focusing on one element of the National Curriculum requirements for their year group. Further coverage is achieved through the use of The Write Stuff programme (coverage is shown in the Key Stage 2 Planning Overview documents)
• Literacy skills are taught, practised and developed across the curriculum
• Provision is made for children who require extra support through differentiated class teaching; targeted teaching groups in English lessons and through intervention groups
• Children are taught basic letter formation through the Read Write Inc. programme in Reception and the Autumn/Spring terms of Year 1
• Continuous cursive handwriting is taught from the Summer term of Year 1 onwards. We use the Handwriting Rescue Scheme, initially to teach continuous cursive handwriting (in Years 1 and 2) and subsequently to practise and refresh skills (in the Autumn term of Years 3-6). In the Spring and Summer terms of Years 3-6, children practise their continuous cursive handwriting daily 
• All children work their way up our Handwriting/Presentation Success Ladder during their time in school. This awards their progress with licenses for using pen, red pen for underlining and finally a fountain pen. The ladder refers to confident use of continuous cursive handwriting and also to careful use of the DUMTUMS system (Date, Underline, Miss a line, Title, Underline, Miss a line, Start) for presentation in books.

Handwriting and Presentation Goals: These are the books of children who are members of the Red Pen Club!

Writing at St. Joseph's