English

Below you will find information about Reading, Phonics and Writing at our school. For further information, please refer to the documents at the end of this page, including our English Policy which details our approach in full.

We are a reading school

Therefore we:

Promote a love of reading and books at every opportunity. Our displays reflect this and are evident in classrooms and corridors. Our children regularly access the school library and are encouraged to join their local library. Our staff read to children regularly – they are advocates for reading.
Have a rigorous and a consistent approach to phonics and it is taught using the Read Write Inc program. Staff receive regular CPD to inform good practice and to ensure that the teaching of phonics is consistent. We aim to ensure pupils master the phonic code through a whole school approach to teaching early reading and writing, designed to ensure progress for every child.
Have a consistent approach for children who fall behind. Assessment is done regularly within the Read Write Inc sessions and teachers also assess against the Devon County objectives for Years 1- 6 (fully inline with the National Curriculum). We ensure children only move up book bands when they are ready.
Have a ‘read it and understand it’ approach in Early Years and KS1. We plan comprehension activities as much as phonics because we understand that children need both skills to be an effective reader.
Use VIPERS to promote children’s articulation of the key reading skills.
Use a rotation timetable between guided sessions with differentiated texts and whole class shared reads with differentiated activities.
Use a variety of high quality texts and resources so that children are exposed to a rich and varied vocabulary
Keep detailed records which have comments linked to the reading competencies being taught. We have a consistent approach to reading records/guided reading books. Reading records are used to promote regular reading at home and to share feedback with parents and children to support home reading.
Link our reading explicitly to writing skills (this may be through displays, learning journeys and follow up activities which promote writing based on reading).

Reading in EYFS and KS1

From entry into Reception and through to the end of KS1 children will progress through their set 1, set 2 and set 3 sounds in phonics. The progression in phonics for a typical child can be seen at the bottom of this page.

When considering whether your child is ready to move up to the next Read Write Inc book colour (and set of taught sounds), we consider their word reading (6 weekly cycle of phonics assessments, decoding) and their comprehension skills. This includes their ability to answer questions within their Read Write Inc book and their ability to answer VIPERS questions within whole class and small group guided reading sessions. Reciprocal Reading roles are introduced in EYFS when the children are ready, in preparation for their continuing reading journey through KS1 and into KS2 at Copper Valley Junior Academy.

Read Write Inc games, resources and VIPERS reading comprehension documents can also be found at the bottom of this page.

Reading is the one ability, that once set in motion, has the ability to feed itself, grow exponentially and provide a basis from which possibilities are limitless.'

Michael Morpurgo

Progression in Phonics in Read, Write, Inc.

Early Reading

It is crucial that children develop a life-long love of reading and this starts in the early years. An enticing well-stocked book corner, plenty of shared stories, nursery rhymes and songs, and the early introduction of phonics in a fun and interactive way are some of the ways we support early reading and encourage a passion for stories. This begins in our Nursery and continues through to Year Two. Our children also have the opportunity to tell their own stories and listen to each others ideas.

Reading in KS1

Daily phonics and taught reading, weekly guided reading sessions and high quality engaging texts for English lessons enable our children to develop their reading skills. A well stocked library with books to share at home gives our children access to an even wider range of fiction and non-fiction books. Daily shared stories and poems read by class teachers and teaching assistants help kindle a love of stories and inspire budding storytellers. We have a well-stocked library with a larger selection of high-quality picture books and non-fiction titles.

Author/Illustrator of the half term

As a further measure to expose our children to wide range of authors, illustrators and stories we focus on an author/illustrator of amazing picture books each half term. We display their books in the KS1 library and record videos of staff members reading these books. Children are able to scan a QR code to enjoy listening to the story on an ipad. We also post these videos on our Facebook page so that children can enjoy these stories at home. Our intent is that this will introduce pupils to a wide range of authors over the year and continue to deepen their love of reading and hearing stories.

Our Spring Term 2 author and illustrator is Lauren Child.

Writing at Copper Valley Infant and Nursery Academy

We believe that the fundamental skills which are taught in the Early Years Foundation Stage are essential for becoming a successful writer. In Foundation Stage and Year 1 the teachers are following Greg Botterill’s 'Drawing Club' and 'Curious Quests' approach to writing which provide children with engaging scenarios and purposes for their writing.

The programmes of study for writing at key stages 1 and 2 are constructed similarly to those for reading:

-transcription (spelling and handwriting)

-composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing).

The teaching at Copper Valley Primary Academy develops pupils’ competence in these two dimensions. In addition, pupils are taught how to plan, revise and evaluate their writing. These aspects of writing are incorporated into the National Curriculum programmes of study for composition. This is also reflected in our ‘Bridge Schools Writing: Guidance and Recommendations Document (2024)’ which details how units of writing are planned from Year 2 to Year 6. A copy of this document can also be found below.

In Year 1, the children follow the suggested units of planning, learning these skills through the 'Curious Quests' approach to build on the 'Drawing Club' work of EYFS. These skills are then further built upon in Year 2. in line with the mapped units and genre coverage. All texts have been chosen based on their literary merit in line with national curriculum objectives.

Writing down ideas fluently depends on effective transcription: that is, on spelling quickly and accurately through knowing the relationship between sounds and letters (phonics) and understanding the morphology (word structure) and orthography (spelling structure) of words. Effective composition involves forming, articulating and communicating ideas, and then organising them coherently for a reader. This requires clarity, awareness of the audience, purpose and context, and an increasingly wide knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. Writing also depends on fluent, legible and, eventually, speedy handwriting. As a school we have developed a curriculum map which uses high quality texts and ensures a thorough coverage of genres, (from Year 2) to stimulate quality responses to reading, high quality writing and purposeful speaking and listening opportunities. We ensure that each unit has a Learning Journey. Our curriculum ensures that all children have plenty of opportunities to write for different purposes. We encourage writing through all curriculum areas and use quality reading texts to model examples of good writing. Writing is taught through a number of different strategies. We believe that children need lots of rich speaking and drama activities to give them the imagination and the experiences that will equip them to become good writers.

The skills and knowledge being taught in each unit are displayed visually for the children on the ‘Learning Journey’ in their books and in the classroom. The mapped skills and knowledge are taken from the National Curriculum and are assessed regularly against the progression of skills exemplified in the Devon LA Planning and Assessment materials.

Handwriting

We teach handwriting discretely using the Letter Join scheme, which is used at school and on a digital platform which is accessible as home learning. Teachers refer to handwriting in all subjects, to ensure high standards of presentation across the curriculum.

Spelling, vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and glossary

The two statutory appendices in the National Curriculum – on spelling and on vocabulary, grammar and punctuation – which provide an overview of the specific features that should be included in teaching the programmes of study, inform our teaching at Copper Valley Infant and Nursery Academy. The school follows the Read, Write, Inc. planning which gives the pupils opportunities to spell words linked with phonemes.

Opportunities for teachers to enhance pupils’ vocabulary arise naturally from their reading and writing. Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary is also taught specifically across the curriculum. As vocabulary increases, teachers show pupils how to understand the relationships between words, how to understand nuances in meaning, and how to develop their understanding of, and ability to use, figurative language. They also teach pupils how to work out and clarify the meanings of unknown words and words with more than one meaning.

Pupils in Reception and Y1, who are following 'Drawing Club' and 'Curious Quests' are exposed to high-quality Tier 2 vocabulary with each book/animation studied. The children are taught actions for each word to help them to understand it's meaning. Teachers use this vocabulary when discussing books/animations and this supports children to use this, high-quality, vocabulary correctly.

Pupils are taught to control their speaking and writing consciously and to use Standard English. They are taught to use the elements of spelling, grammar, punctuation and ‘language about language’ listed in the statutory appendices. These do not constrain or restrict teachers’ creativity, but simply to provide the structure on which they can construct exciting lessons. The school follows the definitions provided in the non-statutory glossary in the National Curriculum.

Throughout the programmes of study, teachers teach pupils the vocabulary they need to discuss their reading, writing and spoken language. Pupils therefore learn the correct grammatical terms in English and these terms are integrated within teaching.