New Wave English Hub Newsletter

WELCOME BACK to school in a year unlike any we have known! We hope you all managed to get some rest over the summer and that the first few weeks have gone as smoothly as they can given the current situation. As we all juggle staggered starts, hand sanitising, social distancing and bubbles, it is clear that six months of missed education risks having a lasting impact on some of our pupils and that prioritising the teaching of phonics and reading is more important than ever.

So what are the English Hubs doing to help? Across the country we are continuing to promote a love of reading and support schools to provide excellent teaching in phonics and early language.

At New Wave, this year we will be:

  • Continuing our work with the schools whose intensive support was cut short in March.

  • Running a series of training events online that are free and accessible to all schools.

  • Offering eligible schools early reading audits, a day where we deep dive into your reading provision, identify areas for development and co-write an action plan for improvement.

  • Running virtual showcases where we invite you to see how our approach and apply for funding.

  • Allocating funding of up to £6000 to eligible schools to purchase training and resources for the teaching of phonics and early reading.

If you feel that your school would benefit from our support, please complete a self-referral form and we will be in touch with you. Or if you have any questions about the English Hub programme, or any aspect of teaching reading and phonics please do get in touch and we will do our best to help. You can reach us on englishhub@newwavefederation.co.uk or 0208 103 5199.

Our 2020-21 Offer

Who are our target schools?

We are here to support any school who can demonstrate a need for support with their provision of early reading and phonics in the aftermath of Covid-19. Priority will be given to schools meeting any two of these criteria:

  • Lower than the national average results (below 82%) in your phonics screening checks in 2017, 2018 and/or 2019.

  • Higher than average number of pupils not meeting age expectations for reading.

  • Higher than the national average (22.9%) proportion of pupils eligible for PPG.

  • Ofsted RI or Inadequate.

  • A high proportion of hard to reach groups, e.g. Travellers.

  • Schools referred by local partners, e.g. local authorities, NLEs, Opportunity Areas Teams etc.

Online Training

You can now log-in to training from the comfort of your own classroom or home without taking out unnecessary time to travel at the end of a long school day. We are offering a broad range of webinars this term that you can join, all free and available to any school. These sessions can be joined by individuals or teams and provide you with a wealth of information, but also time to reflect and ask questions. Sign up by clicking on the links here.

Audits

Copy of Phonics Audit Flyer.png

Are you in need of fresh pair of eyes to help you see the strengths and areas for development in your provision of early reading and phonics? Would you like some advice from a colleague who understands the realities of working in schools? Are you passionate about improving outcomes for your pupils?

If so, we could be in a position to help if your school meets any two of the eligibility set out above.

If you are not sure, please get in touch or complete the self-referral form and we will contact you.

Virtual Showcases

If you or any schools that you know are yet to access support from the English Hub programme, then please sign up for our virtual showcase this October. We will talk you through our approach to teaching reading and phonics and show you some of our teachers in action. As well as giving you a great overview of our offer, it will also fast-track you into the programme if you meet the DfE criteria. There is even up to £160 available to pay for cover for eligible schools if your head teacher attends.

Virtual showcase 20.10.20.pdf

The Book Corner

Best EYFS Book

Best KS1 Book

Best KS2 Book

Best Teachers' Book

A wonderfully simple story to help children understand their worries and learn how to deal with them. Especially useful in the current climate, it will become a go-to reassuring text for your Nursery and Reception children.

Shinsuke Yoshitake is a Japanese author and illustrator whose quirky books really capture children's imaginations. In this book, he considers what it means to be unique in a way that is thought-provoking, humorous and visually appealing.

A laugh-out-loud read featuring a brilliantly observed East London Pakistani family and a central character who wins our hearts despite not speaking a word for most of the book.

Everything you need to know to get you started with developing a Reading for Pleasure culture in your school. Please also check out the Research Rich Pedagogies' fantastic website: https://researchrichpedagogies.org/research/reading-for-pleasure

Q & A

Q: How can we provide differentiated phonics teaching in bubbles?

Given the huge gaps that have grown out of school closure, it is imperative that we teach children at their level in order for them to make rapid progress, but how can we make sure that we provide the differentiated, targeted teaching that pupils require?

Here are some suggestions:

  1. If your school is big enough, you can group within the year group and adults from other year groups can come and teach.

  2. Run phonics at different times of the day.

  3. Teach two separate lessons at different times of the day with both adults running a group.

  4. Teach children on track in one best-fit group and prioritise focus group for teaching for those children in need of additional practice.

For advice tailored to your individual school, please contact us!

Q: Can we send books home?

Absolutely! Home reading is a really important part of how children become more confident and fluent as well as develop a love of reading. Just make sure you have a quarantine box for returned books to be kept in for 72 hours before being used again.