Reading Curriculum

Intent 

The Leigh Academy Oaks' English curriculum prepares children for the future by giving them the essential skills needed to be successful in primary school, secondary school and in the workplace. Children develop into internationally minded individuals who have a love of reading, writing and speaking about the world around them. Our Phonics lessons teach children the skills they need to decode words as well as read tricky high frequency words they will encounter when reading a range of high quality texts. Phonics is linked closely with spellings in order to give children the skills they need to spell words based on sounds. Reading lessons not only help children develop an understanding of different text types but it also instils in them a love of reading. Children are given opportunities to delve into a range of genres and pick out key vocabulary and messages authors have left and there is a strong emphasis on inference and comprehension skills.

Implementation 

Teaching the life skill of reading at Oaks begins as soon as they walk through the school gates. In Nursery, Reception and Key Stage 1, Phonics lessons take place both in specific lessons (using Phonics International) as well as “in the moment” teaching. The consistent structure of Phonics International lessons is continued throughout the school in interventions and provides children with the skills they need. Children are taught how to spell words using the sounds in the word as well as the HFW. Rules (and exceptions!) are taught in short, sharp daily spelling lessons and supported by Spelling Shed - an interactive online game which encourages healthy competition. Weekly spelling tests are conducted as well as close monitoring the application of spellings when children are writing. 

Enthusing children with a love of reading comes from the class texts read with each class, access to a well-stocked library and Reading Rainbow lessons. During these lessons, children will listen to the expression and intonation an adult uses when reading aloud and choose up to three main aspects of the text to write about. These aspects range from the feelings of a character to the setting of the story to the key themes and messages the author is trying to relay. Inference and comprehension skills are taught by using a selection of high quality passages from Reading Vipers which focus specifically on 6 key areas of reading. 

Impact 

The Leigh Academy Oaks' English curriculum teaches children the crucial reading and writing skills they need to be successful in the future. Through the PYP, these skills are applied in a range of different ways across a range of subjects and inquiries. Children build their stamina for writing and are taught the key skills of spelling, punctuation and grammar. Because of the consistency and high quality teaching of phonics, a high percentage of children enter Year 2 being able to decode and blend real and nonsense words. This gives them a firm foundation on which to become confident readers who can recognise common exception words and decode unfamiliar words. This in turn, is applied when writing as children use the same skills when spelling. Teaching children how to read, unlocks a passion for reading - children can often be found in the school library at lunchtime, curled up in a beanbag reading a book! They become enthralled by the class book which sits alongside their inquiry and beg to read the sequel!