English

“The more that you read, the more you will know, the more that you know, the more places you will go”

Dr Suess

Just one of the many inspirational quotes you can see up around our academy.

At Edward Worlledge Ormiston Academy we place reading and writing at the heart of all lessons. Children who read and write for pleasure every day are happier in school and tend to develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of the world around them. One of the great benefits of a child being able to read is watching how this impacts on their growing imagination and when a child really engages in a book, this sets a sound foundation for writing. 

Our Aim 

We understand that all children need to learn to read and write so they can function as an adult and access opportunities that will enhance their lives. 

Think of how often you use your own reading skills in everyday life; letters, contracts, forms, signs, labels, and the messages on your phone, too. 

The same goes for writing. Nowadays, even phone calls have given way to instant messaging and text-based communication, making the ability to read and write even more important. 

But beyond the functional level, literacy plays a vital role in transforming students into socially engaged citizens. Being able to read and write means being able to keep up with current events, communicate effectively, get support and understand the issues that are shaping our world. 

At Edward Worlledge Ormiston Academy, children will learn to read with confidence, fluency and understanding, providing them with the skills required to achieve a lifetime of enjoyment through reading. 

Our reading aims are: 

  • To promote reading for pleasure. 
  • To promote confidence and positive attitudes to reading through access to a wide range of literature. 
  • To develop phonetic skills which lead to blending and reading accurately and fluently. 
  • To broaden pupil’s vocabulary. 
  • To develop comprehension skills which enable children to analyse what they read and to participate in discussion and debate about texts. 
  • To encourage good home/school partnerships. 
  • To monitor each child’s progress using a range of assessment strategies.  
  • To support those children who require additional support with reading. 

Our reading curriculum links closely with our writing curriculum; we use a text-based approach that enables us to create opportunities for reading, discussion and writing within English and reading lessons. Teachers read to the children on a daily basis in every year group, as we believe this is vital in developing the children’s imagination, expanding their understanding of the world and promoting a culture of reading for enjoyment.  

In EYFS and KS1 reading is taught through daily phonics lessons following the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised SSP. Please see more information on our phonics provision on the phonics page of our website.  

Once children are confident in phonics and are able to decode texts with increasing fluency, there is a greater focus on comprehension within reading lessons.  

Reading lessons at Edward Worlledge follow a sequence of teaching and modelling VIPERS skills, partner tasks for children to practice using skills taught and independent tasks for application. VIPERS is an acronym of the 6 reading domains, they are the key areas which we feel children need to know and understand in order to improve their comprehension of texts. 

To encourage the children to read, we celebrate pupils’ reading successes and regularly share with our friends some of the brilliant books we have read. Our class reading journeys are recorded as part of part of our Book Nooks in class. Daily reading time with a class book ensures a wide exposure to different texts and authors. 

Writing is based on the ‘Power of Reading’ which encourages a love of literature. Children are immersed in a quality text whereby they have the opportunity to explore new writing genres within the context of a book, prior to independently writing. They are also taught the features of the genre and the grammar needed for their level of development. In addition to this, your child will be taught the fundamentals of spelling i.e., spelling patterns, spelling rules and common exception words. 

Throughout the year, the children participate in a variety of writing experiences in addition to their daily lessons. We hold an annual Shakespeare Week whereby children as young as Y1 explore the works of William Shakespeare through drama. We have had success in Young Writer competitions and have also entered internal OAT competitions as well as others such as the 500-word stories.

VIPERS stands for; 

Vocabulary – Explaining the meaning of vocabulary in context.  

Infer – Drawing inferences based on evidence in the text. 

Predict – Predicting what might happen next based on what has been read. 

Explain – Explaining your thoughts on the text and the choices of the author. 

Retrieve – Retrieving key information from the text. 

Sequence or Summarise – Sequencing key events and summarising the key themes. 

We are fortunate enough to have an Academy Library which is filled with high quality and interesting texts, a comprehensive phonics section and a large section of Accelerated reader books. 

Log in to Accelerated Reader

Each class has a weekly dedicated library slot, where they can choose and change books. 

Recommended Reads 

BBC Bitesize 

Learn and revise every aspect of literacy, including grammar, spelling, punctuation, reading and writing. 

ENGLISH CURRICULUM MAP – waiting for updated map