English
Here at Heatherside Junior School, books are at the heart of our curriculum and the Library is at the heart of our school. During their time at Heatherside, children will study books from a range of authors; analysing and imitating their writing styles. Through carefully sequenced lessons, children will produce ambitious writing outcomes inspired by the texts that they have read. The blend of author studies; Let's Think in English lessons; creative writing lessons and non-fiction studies, result in children being reflective writers with a broad vocabulary.
Here are our 2022 World Book Day Book Doors!
Phonics
The majority of our children join us with good phonic knowledge and are working at Stage 6 or above based on Letters and Sounds expectations. Where we have identified gaps in children's learning when they join us in Year 3 we use a mixture of whole class sessions and individualised/group teaching. From2022 we will follow the phonics programme (Twinkl Phonics) now being delivered at Heatherside Infant School (as this is our main feeder school). We receive the children's phonics level from their infant school, then plan, teach and reassess throughout the Autumn term. We have a range of phonetically decodable books which match the phoneme rule that the children are being taught. By the Spring term, we aim for any whole class phonics teaching to be phased out, but we may continue to deliver small group or individual phonics interventions using Read, Write, Inc. These specific interventions may continue throughout the school for children with SEND. To suit the phase that the child is working at we have purchased phonetically decodable books suitable for children aged 7 - 11 to help ensure the content is more in line with the child's age.
As a school, we are working in partnership with our Infant colleagues and the development of Phonics at Key Stage 2 is part of our School Improvement Plan.
Writing Curriculum Statement
INTENT
Our aim is for children to immerse themselves in high quality, challenging texts. Through this immersion they will develop an adventurous vocabulary and an ability to give their writing a purpose and target audience. We will provide writing opportunities that children will enjoy. We intend for all children to be reflective writers who can analyse and deconstruct their own work, as well as the work of others.
IMPLEMENTATION
The English curriculum is taught by studying a high quality text where writing opportunities are derived from this. Each week, the children are taught to develop an understanding of the texts through reading comprehension - exploring the key themes, events, vocabulary and plot. Pupils are taught the National Curriculum grammar objectives within the study of these texts. Year 6 will receive some additional punctuation and grammar lessons. Spelling rules are taught weekly and are discussed during shared writing. Children then progress to plan, write and re-draft a written piece which is fit for purpose and audience.
Year group teachers plan together as a team. Teachers plan purposeful cross-curricular writing opportunities; writing is produced as a result of children’s engagement in the stimulus. A big emphasis is put on editing as this promotes opportunities for children to recognise their strengths and weaknesses, thus becoming conscious writers. Shared writing and modelling are used as tools to improve editing skills. Let’s Think in English lessons and pedagogies are used as a driver to promote discussion and deep thinking in English.
IMPACT
Children at Heatherside Junior School will be reflective, conscious writers. Through a focus on studying high quality texts, authors and vocabulary, children will be using key performance indicators and become good or better writers. Summative assessment is used to mark children against key performance indicators, whilst formative assessment is used to monitor their progress. Leaders analyse the writing data to look for trends and areas of concern or success – this is supported through lesson observations, book looks and pupil progress meetings.
Children take great pride in their work and are driven to produce their best writing for their teachers, parents and themselves.