English
Reading
At Ripon Cathedral School we believe that the secret to developing good readers is developing reading for pleasure. We recognise and teach the two dimensions of reading - word reading and comprehension through a carefully planned and dynamic curriculum. Phonics is emphasised in early teaching of reading and throughout school where children are encouraged to read widely and to develop a love of reading.
We teach phonics using a systematic teaching programme called Little Wandle which involves teaching children all 44 sounds of the English language in a particular order. The programme uses a synthetic approach to teaching phonics. It’s called synthetic for the word synthesis – putting together – because children are taught to blend individual sounds together in order to read the word.
Alongside the discrete teaching of phonics, pupils’ comprehension skills are developed through questioning focusing on developing key reading skills including retrieval, prediction, understanding vocabulary and making simple inferences. We also develop pupils' prosody skills to help them read aloud with expression.
From Year 2 pupils receive daily whole class guided reading lessons, where pupils are immersed in vocabulary rich texts. Pupils are encouraged to develop their prosody and comprehension skills through a range of activities to enable them to fully understand a text and discuss what they have read to build confidence and enjoyment in reading.
If you would like more ideas on enjoying reading with your child at home, please try this website:
Bella Learning - how to read with your child through primary school
Writing
Our teaching of writing starts with immersion in quality texts. We believe that it is essential that children see what good writing looks like. If they love reading it then children are more likely to want to write it! We use a range of techniques here depending on the learning outcomes. For example, children could be detectives hunting for an aspect of grammar, or they could become one of the characters in a drama activity.
Children are taught specific skills throughout this stage of the writing process but also take part in discreet lessons to teach them grammar or punctuation skills. Children are then taught how to plan and write their own texts using the specific skills taught. Teachers will model and scaffold the writing to help children write independently.
Children are given a range of opportunities to apply their writing knowledge across the curriculum, every lesson can be an English lesson!
“Literacy is probably the single most important part of education. Without literacy all other learning is impossible. At Ripon Cathedral School we endeavour to develop pupils’ reading skills so they can be confident in accessing a range of texts and develop a love of reading.
We expose pupils to a wide variety of authors and writing styles to inspire pupils to write with passion and clarity, because everyone can be an author.”
Mrs Linkins, English Lead
Long term plans
Long term plans outline the progression in learning across all year groups from Early Years through to Year 6
Year group plans
Year 1 English Curriculum Overview
Year 2 English Curriculum Overview
Year 3 English Curriculum Overview
Year 4 English Curriculum Overview