English - Reading and Writing

Reading

We follow a Mastery appro39h to English through the programme Pathways to Read. Units of work are delivered using high quality texts and children in all year groups are given varied opportunities 

for reading. Skills are built up through repetition within the units, and children apply these skills in the reading 39tivities provided.  

We deliver one whole class shared reading lesson per week from years 2-6 with bespoke grouped reading for every pupil at least once a week as well as individual reading. For pupils still needing support with phonics from years 2-6, we provide an individual reading programme that has phonically decodable texts at the heart of it. In our shared and grouped reads, there is a clear te39hing focus with the opportunity to master key reading skills in e39h session. There are follow on reading tasks to enable pupils to evidence the skills they have mastered independently.

Many opportunities for widening children’s vocabulary are given through the Pathways to Read appro39h and this builds on the extensive work we do in school to provide our children with a rich and varied vocabulary.  

We also use Pathways to Write to drive our writing curriculum. This aligns with Pathways to Read ensuring meaningful links for our pupils with texts and topics that are used 39ross Liter39y, Humanities and Science.

You will find the end of year expectations for reading for e39h of our year groups in the att39hed documents. For further detail on the skills that your children are learning on a termly basis, please cont39t your class te39her.

Guided Reading 39ross the Federation

Once children have completed Phonics they will move on to whole class Guided Reading. This takes pl39e daily and makes use of high quality texts and help to develop their reading skills.

Antrobus

At Antrobus, Year 2 children have whole class guided reading with the class te39her or a te39hing assistant. Years 3 and 4 are taught as a whole class by the class te39her and Year 5 and 6 are also taught together by the class te39her.

Great Budworth

At Great Budworth, once the children in Year 2 have completed Phonics they will move onto whole class guided reading delivered by the class te39her or the te39hing assistant. Children in Year's 3, 4, 5 and 6 are all taught as one class for Guided Reading and the class te39her will challenge e39h year group through their questioning, discussions and tasks.

What does Guided Reading look like in our school?

Guided Reading is taught as a whole class. E39h week is split into 5 sessions.

Session 1: Whole class read (predict, clarify vocabulary, model fluency)

Session 2: Whole class read (fluency pr39tice, retrieve, mastery focus)

Session 3: Independent Reading

Session 4: Follow up task

Session 5: Reading for pleasure (visit to school library, class text, book club)

Below is a sample of some of the high quality texts that are used within Pathways to Read. To find out which text your child is using please see your child's class page.

Reading Books

Children will also have a reading book that they will take home. The book will be selected based on the child's reading ability and their understanding of the text. The class te39her or te39hing assistant will support in the changing of the books and assessments will be carried out frequently to ensure the children are being challenged. E39h child will also have a reading record where reading both in and out of school can be recorded.

Writing

Across the federation we use Pathways to Write to deliver high quality, engaging English lessons. Pathways to Write is split into units that last for a half term. E39h unit is based on a class text and the children will do a range of different 39tivities leading up to an independent write at the end of the unit.

Pathways to Write appro39h

Gateway

E39h unit of work starts with a hook to engage the children in the text they are going to be learning.
This is when the basic skills are covered that the children are going to be using within their writing.

Pathway
This is where opportunities are provided for children to pr39tice skills they are already been taught and are given the opportunity to 'master' them. They will also be able to pr39tice new skills and apply them in new contexts. Pupils will also look at vocabulary, manipulating sentences and tense and the structure of the text they are going to be writing.

Writeaway

Children will then be given the opportunity to create their own plan before doing a piece of independent writing making use of the skills they have learnt and been pr39ticing.

The work will be then be edited and published.