At St Paul’s CE Primary Academy we aim to provide each child with excitement, challenge and the ability and confidence to meet the needs of an ever changing society. Their experiences in English will enable them to:

• Speak clearly, audibly and with confidence in ways which take account of their listeners.
• Listen with concentration in order to be able to identify the main points of what has been heard.
• Develop their abilities to reflect on their own and others’ contributions and the quality of language used.
• Develop their imaginative and expressive use of language by taking an active part in role play and drama.
• Read fluently and accurately, with understanding and enjoyment, a wide range of texts, using appropriate reading strategies.
• Develop their responses, both personal and critical, and enable him/her to evaluate and appreciate wider meanings within different texts.
• Be able to write in a range of genres, organising content, style and vocabulary appropriately.  Each pupil will be encouraged to develop a legible, joined hand writing style and become competent in their use of Information Communication Technology to support their learning in English.
• Increase the child’s ability to use planning, drafting and editing to improve their work.
• Apply their English skills to other curriculum areas.

Phonics

• At St Paul’s, we use the Sounds-Write scheme for teaching Phonics and Early Reading and Spelling.
• We start teaching this scheme from the beginning of Reception. Children at St Paul's Nursery are also given the opportunity to begin learning phonics when they are ready.
• The Initial Code is taught in Reception. This then progresses to the Extended Code in Key Stage 1.
• It is our aim that all children will have completed the full Extended Code by the end of Year 2 and be ready to move onto the spelling programme of study in KS2.
• If a child is not ready to start the spelling programme in KS2, then they will continue to be supported in working through phonic teaching.
• Phonics Tracker is used to track children's progress with Phoneme Recognition and Blending skills. All children in Reception and Year 1 are assessed. Children who need to resit the Phonics Screening Check are assessed to identify gaps until their phonic skills have sufficiently developed.

Phonics Screening Test

• At the end of Year 1, the children are assessed using the statutory Phonic Screening Test.
• Children that do not pass this are re-tested at the end of Year 2; these results are reported to the local authority.
• As a school, we continue to test the children in Phonics as appropriate in Year 3, but this result does not have to be reported to the local authority.

Reading in KS1

We use a systematic approach for teaching phonics from Foundation Stage to KS1 and in KS2 where necessary.

• A banded reading scheme is used until the child can read freely and select their own books from the school library or class selection. Reading records are signed when the pupil has read to an adult. Sets of guided reading texts are used within each class. We will read with the children on an individual, group and class basis.
• Reading books are fully decodable and matched to the child's phonic knowledge which provides them with plenty of opportunities to rehearse the sounds and spellings they are using in class.
• Our Phonic reading library is based around the Reading Planet books. We also provide every child with a password to access these texts online via eBooks.
• Children are encouraged to read daily at home.
• We encourage reading and help the children to develop an interest in books by reading and discussing a range of different text types across the Key Stages.
• We provide the children with access to a wide range of literature and the opportunity to read for a variety of purposes including ICT based texts.
• We endeavour to make our school an English rich environment to assist learning, understanding, communication, interest and enjoyment.
• We encourage the children to develop personal responses to the texts.

 Guided reading 

• In Year 1, guided reading takes place weekly from term one for those children that achieved a three at the end of the EYFS. Those who are not ready will continue to be heard read on a 1:1 basis weekly and will begin guided reading when they are ready.
• Year 2 children will have a weekly guided reading sessions as well as lots of opportunities for whole class shared reading which supports the transition into KS2 so they are ready for destination reader.

Reading in KS2

• In Key Stage 2, reading is taught through Destination Reader.
• There is a focus on reading skills as outlined in the national curriculum using a wide range of texts which develops the children’s love of reading and application of the skills required to become a competent reader. 
• It involves daily sessions incorporating whole class modelling prior to the children applying these skills through partner work and independent reading.
• Since September 2017, we have been implementing a new reading programme across the school called Destination Reader. 
• Destination Reader is innovative and was developed by the Hackney Learning Trust to target reading achievement and enjoyment. 
• It is now becoming fully embedded in Key Stage 2, having originally been trialed in Years 4 and 5.
• It focuses on teaching the children specific reading skills in a systematic way, and also teaches the children collaborative learning behaviours, supporting each other in reading conversations.

Accelerated Reader

• At its heart, Renaissance Accelerated Reader is simple. A pupil reads a book, takes an online quiz, and gets immediate feedback. Students respond to regular feedback and are motivated to make progress with their reading skills.
• Accelerated Reader gives teachers the information they need to monitor students’ reading practice through Key Stage 2 and make informed decisions to guide their future learning.
• A comprehensive set of reports reveals how much a student has been reading, at what level of complexity, and how well they have understood what they have read. Vocabulary growth and literacy skills are also measured, giving teachers insight into how well students have responded to reading schemes and class instruction.

Motivational quizzes

• Because students receive regular feedback from Accelerated Reader, teachers are given many opportunities to praise students for their successes and to discuss with them what they have been reading.