Home Farm Primary School

Read, Write, Inc:

Pupils from Nursery to Year 2/3 (as necessary) are taught Read, Write Inc: a systematic, synthetic phonics programme. We teach 44 common sounds and use them to segment to spell words. It is taught daily in consistent, ability-based groups.

Read, Write, Inc. focuses on fast, confident decoding through keep-up, not catch-up, interventions using praise, pace, purpose, passion and participation to build fluency and comprehension.

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Accelerated Reader

Pupils from Year 1 to Year 6 have access to the computer program Accelerated Reader, through which teachers manage and monitor children's independent reading practice. Pupils select a book to read at their own pace and when they have finished they take a short computer quiz to assess their understanding of the text. At Home Farm we have a well stocked library which enables pupils to select books which are appropriate for their reading level but also interest them and make them want to read. 

The Power of Reading

At Home Farm Primary School we encourage a love of books and reading. We use The Power of Reading, which engages teachers and children in the literacy curriculum via the study of high quality books and very creative teaching.  The Power of Reading teaching sequences provide an approach to teaching the English curriculum which is creative, engaging and develops a love of reading and books.

Guided Reading

In KS2, guided reading lessons are delivered to the whole class. This can involve studying short texts/extracts or whole texts. This approach allows pupils to move faster through texts and benefit from the teacher's explanations, modelling, questioning and feedback. It also enables the integration of topic-related reading, reading as a stimulus for writing and reading a wide variety of genres.

At Home Farm, we have built a writing curriculum which ensures full coverage of the National Curriculum, develops learning and results in the acquisition of the knowledge and skills that enable children to be ‘effective’ writers. We engage our children in the writing process through a broad range of genres, authors and texts and exciting writing opportunities. Writing tasks are often linked to Power of Reading texts or are cross-curricular to develop and deepen understanding in foundation subjects.  Our writing curriculum is progressive and builds upon previous learning, with regular assessment to ensure each child’s needs are met to reach their full potential.

We have a very clear writing journey and pupils enjoy the process of starting with initial planning ideas then moving through the different stages of the journey to complete a thoroughly revised and edited piece of work. ‘Take One Sentence’ is now firmly embedded and focuses on ensuring pupils have a thorough understanding of what a simple sentence is: once children have acquired this they are able to efficiently extend sentences, apply their knowledge of punctuation and grammar and produce coherent pieces of writing. Pupils complete short-write tasks as well as longer, more detailed pieces of work and they enjoy sharing their work with different audiences.

Handwriting

Correct letter formation is taught in the Early Years through Read, Write, Inc. Cursive is introduced in Year 2. Handwriting in Years 1 to 6 is taught in discrete lessons.