We actively encourage children to read for pleasure as this is an essential part of education. Reading for pleasure provides wide and significant educational advantages across the curriculum. We deliver the teaching of reading through the CUSP curriculum. This allows daily teaching of reading skills based on rich and engaging texts. As with every area of our curriculum, vocabulary is a vital part of this, as is the regular revisiting of skills to make sure they are embedded. Our reading curriculum ensures coverage of a range of texts including:

  • Continuity of author
  • Hertitage text
  • BAME author or protagonist
  • Strong female role model
  • Specific social, ethical, moral issue

One of our collective worships each weeks also uses a high quality text to give children opportunities to learn about current affairs, other cultures and diversity.

Twinkl Phonics

A full systematic synthetic phonics programme, DfE validated. It covers preschool up to Year 2, with interventions for KS2 and has been written and created by experienced educators. The programme is supported by Rhino Readers, which is a whole-school reading scheme, and a training programme which provides  in-school training in the delivery of phonics. 

Please visit the TWINKL Phonics YouTube channel to listen to the correct pure sound associated with each phoneme. It's really important that children hear, and are encouraged to use the correct sound associated with each phoneme. 

https://www.youtube.com/@TwinklPhonics/videos

Spelling

The CUSP Spelling curriculum is organised into 2-week blocks, with each block covering a particular set of key concepts, including spelling patterns, etymology and morphology and reasoning about spelling. These blocks are made up of three lessons per week: 2 x 15 minute (minimum) discrete Spelling lessons and 1 x Spelling starter for the final Writing lesson of each week.  Systematic revisiting and incremental progression is inherently written into the long term sequence, both within and across year groups. Years 2-6 have 16 x 2-week blocks, leaving a small number of weeks for flexible content. This could include revisiting, assessment or enrichment. Year 1 has 6 blocks, which can be delivered during the Summer term to begin to build on pupils’ strong grasp of phonics at this point.

We use Accelerated Reader in our school to raise the expectations, progress and attainment in reading. Regular STAR reading tests are taken to closely monitor the children's progress and to make sure their ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) level is accurate. This level gives the children a range in which to choose their reading books, empowering them to know what will be a challenge for them or what will be the correct level for them. We encourage children to read for pleasure by providing a wide range of texts for all ages. The children regularly change their reading books and are guided by their ZPD level. We have a well-stocked library- full of both fiction and non-fiction- which children can access for a wide range of reading experiences.

Writing

We deliver writing through the CUSP curriculum. Children are taught to develop both stamina and skills in writing as they progress through the school. They are taught to write at length with a heavy emphasis on vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and imagination! We weave these skills into many different genres (such as autobiographies, newspaper reports, balanced arguments) which we then revisit later in the year to make sure those skills are embedded. Please see the Box folder below for our coverage of writing genres throughout the school.

Please refer to the Long Term Planning Sequence to see when each unit is taught and progression within the subject. 

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