English

Oracy

‘Oracy can be defined as the development of children’s capacity to use speech to express their thoughts

and communicate with others in education and in life, and talk through which teaching and learning

is mediated. Teachers recognise that oracy can represent both learning to talk and learning through

talk.’ Oracy-state of speaking report.

It is crucial that the four strands of oracy [physical, linguistic, cognitive, and social and emotional skills]

are taught in order to enable successful discussion, inspiring speech and effective communication.

In order to achieve this, teachers and other adults will:

Take every opportunity to encourage pupils to speak in full sentences;
Routinely make pupils aware of what makes good listening and demonstrate this during whole-class and smaller group discussions;
Ensure the use of talk partners is embedded and pupil talk in this context is focused and purposeful [discussion points are open-ended];
Plan regular opportunities for high quality talk in every lesson;
Discretely teach key vocabulary that becomes increasingly complex over time;
Use sentence stems, where appropriate, to scaffold pupils’ talk;
Display and refer to discussion guidelines [or equivalent] in-order to support group discussions;
Model good language in and out of the classroom;
Take every opportunity to praise and reward pupils’ oracy [as outlined in the Behaviour Policy];
Use a wide range of stimuli for talk [e.g. talking points, images, multimedia];
Carefully consider pupil groupings [such as pairs, trios, larger groupings] so that they are appropriate to the task;
Ensure that pupils are encouraged to learn from each other during group and paired dialogue sessions;
Provide pupils with opportunities to self and peer-assess talk;
Provide opportunities for pupils to take part in events that develop oracy skills beyond their school e.g. the poetry competition and GLC Literary Arts Festival.

See Appendix 1

See Appendix 2

Section 3: Reading

Being able to read skilfully and for enjoyment at an appropriate stage for their age is critical for academic success and a successful life ahead. Pupils are taught to read effectively and for pleasure using the Read Write, Inc phonics programme, through structured reading lessons, sharing stories and by creating good conditions for home reading.

The GLC recognises that in order to become a skilful reader, pupils will be taught to:

Develop their phonological awareness so that they can ‘tune in’ to hear individual words, beats and whether words rhyme;
Develop their phonemic awareness so that they can hear, identify, blend and segment orally before ‘reading’;
Have a good phonic awareness in order to decode;
Be able to read increasingly difficult texts fluently with expert prosody;
Have a good bank of vocabulary that grows on a daily basis;
Understand the meaning of words in context using the 5 phase approach;
Be able to retrieve information quickly and accurately;
Be able to use their knowledge to infer information;
Develop the ability to summarise and evaluate authorial intent;
Read a range of fiction and non-fiction texts that are chosen for them [to ensure breadth] and that they choose for themselves [to foster a love of reading].

See Appendix 3

3a The GLC Reading Journey

Read Write, Inc Phonics

Pupils will be initially taught to decode and read fluently using the Read Write, Inc phonics programme. The programme is for:

a) Pupils in Year N to Year 2 who are learning to read and write;

b) Any pupils in Years 2, 3 and 4 who need to catch up rapidly;

c) Struggling readers in Years 5 and 6 who follow Read Write Inc. Fresh Start.

Pupils will be taught to:

a) Decode letter - sound correspondences quickly and effortlessly, using their phonic knowledge and skills;

b) Identify the letter sounds within unfamiliar words;

c) Read ‘tricky’ (red words) on sight;

d) Understand what they read;

e) Read aloud with fluency and expression.

Pupils will be taught to work effectively with a partner to explain and consolidate what they are learning. This provides the teacher with opportunities to assess learning and to pick up on difficulties, such as poor articulation, or problems with blending or alphabetic code knowledge.

Pupils are grouped homogeneously, according to their progress in reading rather than their writing.

This is because it is known that pupils’ progress in writing will often lag behind progress in reading,

especially for those whose motor skills are less well developed.

In Year R (or in Nursery if appropriate) the emphasis is on the alphabetic code. The pupils rapidly learn sounds and the letter or groups of letters they need to represent them. Simple mnemonics will be taught rigorously to help them grasp this quickly. This is especially useful for pupils at risk of making slower progress. This learning is consolidated daily. Pupils have frequent practice in reading high frequency words with irregular spellings – ‘red words’.

See Appendix 4- Phonics Sound mats

Staff will ensure that pupils read books that are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and the ‘red words’. This is so that, early on, they experience success and gain confidence that they are readers. Re-reading and discussing these books with the teacher supports their increasingly fluent decoding.

Reading lessons

In order to develop vocabulary, a love of reading and the development of comprehension skills, teachers read and provide opportunities for pupils to read a wide range of stories, poetry and non-fiction to pupils during daily reading lessons and Storytime. The GLC has a reading list with a range of texts that have been selected by teachers:

In response to pupils’ interests;
To widen pupils’ experience and vocabulary;
To ensure progression from Nursery to Year 8.

Teachers carefully select activities to develop reading skills and understanding at an appropriate stage

for each pupil.

During reading sessions, pupils will be given the opportunity to explore texts, guided by an adult. A

range of strategies should be deployed in order for pupils to develop an understanding of the text as a

whole:

To develop fluency: paired reading, echo reading, reading aloud, performance reading, teacher modelling (these need to be planned and purposeful opportunities that take consideration of the texts, the needs of the cohort and pupils individually (QLA’s);
To develop comprehension: when planning to teach comprehension, it is important that all domains in reading are covered throughout the year; however, it is essential that the three key domains are covered (retrieval, inference and finding the meaning of a word in context) throughout the week. Both written and verbal sessions should include a range of question stems and layouts should reflect formal testing techniques (see appendix 3d);
To develop vocabulary: the five-phase approach should be used to support pupils’ understanding of unfamiliar words.

Home Reading

Pupils will be provided with a reading journal in which to log their reading and explore themes of the texts by completing short activities. Each week, pupils will have the opportunity to share their journal with an adult, and their peers, with model logs being celebrated. When pupils are learning to read they will take a book home that is matched to the RWInc book they are reading and a book they choose which will be monitored by the teacher.

When they are reading fluently pupils will read at least 2 chapter books per half term; 1 class book [teacher’s choice during reading sessions] and 1 book chosen by the teacher that is at an appropriate level for the pupil. Pupils are then able to choose their own books/ reading materials e.g. newspapers.

Storytime

The GLC acknowledges the importance of being read to with fluency and prosody as a tool to develop pupils’ reading confidence and author’s voice when reading independently. All pupils will have the opportunity to be part of storytime, on a daily basis, where high quality texts will be shared. In KS1, the model and planning to be followed is based on Talk Through Stories. The GLC book list, in the storytime section, references which books need to be covered (you may supplement this with your own

choice). These texts have been selected to ensure there is a broad balance of social, moral and cultural genres.

Handwriting

The Letter - join handwriting programme is taught every day in teacher led handwriting sessions. Pupils access instructional video clips to help warm up their muscles in order to be ready to write and are then introduced to a letter, punctuation mark or spelling pattern. They practise joining patterns and parts of words before being asked to write full words.

The correct formation of both upper and lower case letters, including clear ascenders and descenders must be in place before moving on to joining. This will begin in the summer term for most pupils in Year 1. Handwriting is a cross-curriculum task and will be taken into consideration during all lessons.

https://www.letterjoin.co.uk/LJOverview.ppsx

Milestone 1
(Year 1 & Year 2)

Milestone 2
(Year 3 & Year 4)

Milestone 3
(Year 5 & Year 6)

To read words accurately

• Apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words.

• Respond speedily with the correct sound to graphemes (letters or groups of letters) for all 40+ phonemes, including, where applicable, alternative sounds for graphemes.

• Read accurately by blending sounds in unfamiliar words containing GPCs that have been taught.

• Read common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word.

• Read words containing taught GPCs and –s, –es, –ing, –ed, –er and –est endings.

• Read other words of more than one syllable that contain taught GPCs.

• Read words with contractions (for example, I’m, I’ll, we’ll) and understand that the apostrophe represents the omitted letter(s).

• Read aloud accurately books that are consistent with phonic knowledge and that do not require other strategies to work out words.

• Re-read these books to build up fluency and confidence in word reading.

• Read accurately by blending the sounds in words that contain the graphemes taught so far, especially recognising alternative sounds for graphemes.

• Read accurately words of two or more syllables that contain the same graphemes as above.

• Read words containing common suffixes.

• Read common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word.

• Read most words quickly and accurately, without overt sounding and blending, when they have been frequently encountered.

• Read aloud books closely matched to their improving phonic knowledge, sounding out unfamiliar words accurately, automatically and without undue hesitation.

• Re-read books to build up fluency and confidence in word reading.

• Apply a growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (etymology and morphology).

• Read further exception words, noting the spellings.

• Apply knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes.

(Note: this should be through normal reading rather than direct teaching.)

To understand texts

• Discuss events.

• Predict events.

• Link reading to own experience.

• Join in with stories or poems.

• Check that reading makes sense and self-correct.

• Infer what characters are like from actions.

• Ask and answer questions about texts.

• Discuss favourite words and phrases.

• Listen to and discuss a wide range of texts.

• Recognise and join in with (including role-play) recurring language.

• Explain and discuss understanding of texts.

• Discuss the significance of the title and events.

• Make inferences on the basis of what is being said and done.

• Draw inferences from reading.

• Predict from details stated and implied.

• Recall and summarise main ideas.

• Discuss words and phrases that capture the imagination.

• Retrieve and record information from non-fiction, using titles, headings, sub-headings and indexes.

• Prepare poems and plays to read aloud with expression, volume, tone and intonation.

• Identify recurring themes and elements of different stories (e.g. good triumphing over evil).

• Recognise some different forms of poetry.

• Explain and discuss understanding of reading, maintaining focus on the topic.

• Draw inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence.

• Predict what might happen from details stated and implied.

• Identify main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph and summarise these.

• Identify how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning.

• Ask questions to improve understanding of a text.

• Recommend books to peers, giving reasons for choices.

• Identify and discuss themes and conventions in and across a wide range of writing.

• Make comparisons within and across books.

• Learn a wide range of poetry by heart.

• Prepare poems and plays to read aloud and to perform, showing understanding through intonation, tone and volume so that the meaning is clear to an audience.

• Check that the book makes sense, discussing understanding and exploring the meaning of words in context.

• Ask questions to improve understanding.

• Draw inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence.

• Predict what might happen from details stated and implied.

• Summarise the main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas.

• Identify how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning.

• Discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader.

• Retrieve and record information from non-fiction.

• Participate in discussion about books, taking turns and listening and responding to what others say.