English
A Love of Reading at Corpusty
We are determined that all our learners will develop a Love of Reading through their time at Corpusty, as we know that reading for pleasure is the key to successful learning in all areas of the curriculum and beyond throughout their lives.
In Reception we start off from their very first day, sharing stories and beginning their phonics journey. We have a reading area in Dolphin class which is well-stocked with many picture books, we also have a set time every day when we read stories together. We also make sure to include non-fiction books and rhyming or poetry books so the children can develop their own interests.
In KS2 this journey continues and again the children have a good variety of books to choose from in class. As a school we are committed to regularly refreshing our library with the latest titles.
We have class novel time not just in each class, but we split the classes up so children can enjoy age-appropriate stories that will challenge and excite them.
Phonics is taught through Floppy’s Phonics and the children move swiftly through the stages through Reception to Year 2. We have a copy of the Phonics code available in the KS2 class to assist the children with their spellings.
Alongside the phonics programme we also teach the skills of reading through our Reading Toolkit, so every child has the skills they need to make substantial progress. These skills include activating background knowledge, asking questions, visualising, making predictions, using inference, making connections, finding important words, and noticing meaning breakdown and reading back to correct it.
We very much encourage our children to read at home as we know the value of parental support on the reading journey. We have an excellently stocked library, and the children have regular opportunities to choose books to share at home.
A Love of Writing
To ensure the children also develop a love of writing, we teach our writing lessons through an excellent quality book often linked to the vehicle or one of our concept words. The children learn to write for different audiences and purposes often through the viewpoint of a character in the book. For example, they might write a letter in role to another character. Lessons are varied as we delve into the text, so the children are engaged and animated. We cover a variety of genres, and we aim to ensure the children are competent writers for when they leave for High School.
Alongside these lessons children are taught the handwriting skills necessary to write fluently; we teach joined handwriting as soon as the children can manage it. We also teach spellings alongside the Floppy’s Phonics programme in KS1 and in KS2 we build on these.
