English

Reading

Throughout the school, we place a strong emphasis on children being exposed to a range of high-quality stories. Regular storytimes occur in each class, helping to develop a love and enjoyment of reading. Through regular story time, we want children to build up an extensive and rich vocabulary.

Read Write Inc in Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and beyond

We are passionate about children being able to read and we strive to help children develop a lifelong love of reading.

At Wilcombe we use the Read Write Inc programme to help children begin to learn to read. Most children begin the programme in Reception where they learn single letter phonemes through a fun and purposeful way. Sounds are taught in a specific order using visual aids, mnemonics and actions. The children are taught in discrete groups with a Read Write Inc teacher. Children learn to blend sounds, enabling them to read words, with the help of Fred Frog!

Children quickly progress on to reading level appropriate books with a partner, with the aim of becoming fluent and able readers.  The programme is a high impact and children progress quickly, through high-quality teaching and regular assessments. Most children complete the programme by the end of Year 2.

RWI Parent support materials

Parent RWI PowerPoint

Parent_Booklet_01.indd (oxfordowl.co.uk)

https://cdn.oxfordowl.co.uk/2017/09/20/10/26/27/731/rwi_RPhO_PIB2.pdf

Accelerated Reader (AR) in KS2

AR is a reading program that helps teachers support and monitor children’s reading practice. At Wilcombe, children begin this program when their Read Write Inc journey is complete. Each term, children take a diagnostic test, which assesses individual children’s reading ability and generates a ZPD (level) based on this data. Children pick a book at their own level and read it at their own pace. When finished, children take a short online quiz to measure how much of the book they understood. The children are awarded points and can track their own progress. The children in are enthusiastic about this reading program, developing their comprehension in reading through a range of stories and books.

Whole Class Reading

Once children have completed the Read Write Inc program, they are taught to read using Whole Class Reading. This is where a particular, age approriate text is used for the whole class, supported by the teacher. Children may read alone, in pairs, to the class or as echo reading. Children’s reading skills are developed using VIPERS (V=Vocabulary, I=Inference, P=Prediction, E=Explanation, R=Retrieval, S=Sequencing/Summarising), which ensures that children are successful in being able to answer questions about what they have read. 

Writing

All children at Wilcombe learn to write through a cross curricular approach.

Writing lessons are text based and texts are carefully selected by teachers linked to the classes cross curricular subject. 

Children are taught how to create different pieces of writing with a focus on purpose and audience. Vocabulary, spelling and grammar are taught within these blocks of writing, creating cohesive diary entries, narratives, reports and many more!

Take a look at our wonderful pieces of writing:

World Book Day 2023

This year, every class used the story The Story by Jospeh Coelho as their inspiration for World Book Day. Each class shared the story with their teachers, discussing their likes and dislikes. Children then took part in some drama activities, acting out parts of the story. Some classes even wrote their stories based on the book. Children also enjoyed a variety of art activities, creating their own tower blocks or tree people.

Children were also invited to dress up as their favourite book or book character. There were some wonderful costumes!