English Narrative

At Bure Park Primary School we intend to give our children a secure understanding of phonic knowledge and the ability to apply it. We aim to inspire a genuine love of reading and the motivation and resilience to become an independent writer. For us literacy is more than being able to read and write. It is about having the cultural literacy, fluency and enjoyment of words that allows them to operate at a high level and engage fully in the world around them.

We offer a broad, exciting and creative curriculum which places English at the very heart. Reading and writing are taught on a daily basis, both in discrete English lessons and then embedded throughout the curriculum.

Phonics

Reading and writing can only grow from a secure understanding of phonics. Phonics demonstrates the relationship between the sounds of a spoken language (phoneme) and the letters or groups of letters of the written language (graphemes). Children are taught phonics daily from Nursery to Year 3 using Read Write Inc. and then further support is given as needed in Key Stage Two.

Reading

Storytime: a session at the end of every day is dedicated to the teacher sharing a high-quality class book with the children.

Guided Reading: from Years 3-6 the children take part in whole class guided reading sessions. These focus on developing vocabulary and comprehension skills through a range of exciting and creative tasks. In Years 1 and 2, once the children have come off the comprehensive Read Write Inc scheme, they will partake in daily reading and phonic sessions in line with KS2 which includes developing their reading and vocabulary skills.

Reading Scheme: from Reception, children are given reading books that closely correspond to the phonic sounds that they are currently working on. As children move through the school they continue to work through this scheme-bringing home a book that matches their reading level. We have ensured that there is a variety of texts and genres available to engage every reader. Pupils are encouraged to read at home every day and record this in their reading record. Research shows that parents who read with their children at home improve the reading ability of children significantly. Children’s individual reading successes are celebrated in weekly reading raffles.

Writing

All writing at Bure Park is topic based and begins with a high-quality text. This text is interrogated by the children to find the purpose for writing it and the techniques used to achieve this. The children are actively involved in creating a working wall which guides them through the writing process of explore, plan, draft and edit. The children’s writing always leads to an outcome which is published and celebrated.