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Drew Primary School

English

At Drew we teach Literacy in daily lessons across the school, with discrete phonics lessons being taught in the Foundation Stage, Year 1 and Year 2.

Talk 4 Writing

In EYFS and KS1 we use Talk 4 Writing to support our English lessons.

Talk for Writing is powerful because it enables children to imitate the language they need for a particular topic orally before reading and analysing it and then writing their own version. It builds on 3 key stages:

  • Children begin the ‘Talk for Writing’ process by internalising a text. This is done in a range of ways including text maps, inventing actions for parts of the text and drama. The children learn the text by heart. They are able to identify key features of the text, sometimes independently and other times as a group or class.
  • Following on from this, the children then have to imitate the text they have learnt. They may make simple changes to the original text to alter it slightly. Once they have internalised the reworked text, they then have to ‘box up’. This simply helps them to organise their ideas and acts as a plan for their writing towards the end of the week.
  • The final part of the Talk for Writing process is ‘innovation’. Over the previous weeks the children will have been equipped with the skills required for inventing their own text from beginning to end. They will come up with their own ideas and be able to box them up. They will then be able to produce an independent piece of writing showcasing their text.

Read Write Inc: Literacy and Language

From Year 3 through to Year 6, Drew uses a literacy programme called Literacy and Language. This builds on from EYFS  and KS1’s RWI phonics programme; it ensures continuity and consistency for children’s learning.

Literacy and Language is in line with the new national curriculum. It is designed to develop reading, writing and speaking. It is taught using fun and creative tasks to engage the pupils.  We incorporate drama opportunities to allow children to gain a deeper understanding of the text, to build rich vocabulary and to become articulate speakers.  The input, along with structured writing tasks, allows children to use their new ideas and vocabulary to create final written outcomes. The teaching of spelling and grammar is incorporated throughout the units.

Read Write Inc. Literacy and Language works because we:

  • Ensure every child has a deep understanding of what they read: our complete texts by leading authors are introduced using our three-step approach
  • Teach grammar in context, allowing children to use it with understanding: grammar banks are provided to support teacher knowledge
  • Grow children into articulate speakers: they learn how to present and debate, to reason and justify their answers
  • Engage children with drama and discussion: Literacy and Language children write confidently because they have something to say.

Read Write Inc: Phonics

Read Write Inc. Phonics is a highly successful literacy programme created by Ruth Miskin and published by Oxford University Press.

The four Read Write Inc. programmes are carefully matched to the new curriculum, giving your children the best chance of success in the national tests. They show teachers, teaching assistants and parents step-by-step how to teach all children to become fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers.

Read Write Inc. Phonics is used by over a quarter of the UK’s primary schools. It is a comprehensive literacy programme, weaving decoding, comprehension, writing and spelling together seamlessly. Ruth Miskin developed the programme during her time as a headteacher in Tower Hamlets. She believes that in order for a school to be successful, every headteacher needs to adopt a consistent whole-school approach to teaching reading, writing and spelling. Fidelity to the teaching programme, rigorous assessment, tracking and one-to-one tutoring ensure that schools guarantee progress for every child.

For information and tutorials on how to support your child learning to read go to:

www.ruthmiskin.com