St. Thomas Aquinas

ENGLISH

‘By following in the footsteps of Jesus,

we are making the heart, mind and spirit soar’

Our actions and words of today are the footprints of our future.

Spellings

Following extensive research, and to ensure continuity throughout the school, we implemented a spelling programme from Year 2 to Year 6 called Read Write Spelling in 2019. It has allowed us to raise standards and support all pupils to be more confident through fun and engaging daily spelling sessions. Underpinned by phonics, each unit is introduced with a short video which will help pupils to learn spellings with common patterns, rules and exceptions. Read Write Spellings follows from Read Write Phonics and complements Read Write Inc. Literacy and Language, both of which we use here at St Thomas Aquinas. This means that we do not set weekly spelling homework. It has been shown that weekly testing homework is not effective and does not mean that spellings are always applied in lessons. Our approach will support your child to become an independent and confident speller, which will help them to become a better writer.

To support your child at home with their spellings you will find below an overview of all the spellings your child will be taught this year in the different weekly units. This way you can see which spellings your child has been focusing on and discuss what they have been learning and which strategies they have been using. Also below are the Red and Orange word lists – these show the National Curriculum list of spellings for spellings taught in Key Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2 Red word list), Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4 Orange word list 1) or Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 & 6 Orange word list 2).

Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5	Year 6
Red word list	Orange word list 1		Orange word list 2

Autumn Term Updates

The Library

This term staff have been busy renovating our school library!

At the moment each class has boxes of books in their rooms on loan from library whist construction is underway but we are excited to reveal the new look and the new books to you soon. Special thanks to Mrs. Wiggins, Miss Sherratt, Mr. Moorhouse and Mr. Washington who have helped Miss Lovatt with the changes and to Hanley Library Services for their kind donation of shelves.

Whole School Big Write

This term Upper Key Stage 2 challenged all the classes to write a speech inspired by Parliament week and Antibullying week.

Coming soon... photos of our work!

INTENT

By the time children leave our school, we intend for our pupils to build their vocabulary to communicate through speaking and listening, reading and writing, with increasing confidence, fluency and understanding. By the end of primary school, we aim to provide children with the combination of essential literacy strategies and increase the depth and breadth of their knowledge and skills. This will enable our children to apply these to a variety of audiences and purposes and when communicating with the world at large.

We intend to make every effort to foster an enjoyment of literature and a love of reading and writing!

IMPLEMENTATION

In the Foundation Phase, children are immersed in language-rich experiences and activities. They are given a wide range of opportunities to enjoy reading, mark-making and writing experiences from Nursery.

At Key Stage 1, learners build on the skills, knowledge and understanding acquired during the Foundation Phase. The achievement of progress is continued through KS1 and into KS2 through an integrated programme of Speaking (spoken word), Listening, Reading and Writing. Learners are presented with experiences and opportunities that inter relate the requirements of the skills and range of sections of the Programmes of study. They become competent readers and writers, writing clearly and coherently in a range of forms and for a range of audiences and purposes.

English is predominantly taught through:

Read Write Inc Phonics
Read Write Inc Comprehension
Read Write Inc Literacy and Language
Text Based Units

Click on the link above to learn more about Read Write Phonics.

We use research based evidence to support our teaching of English and use some of the recommendations outlined by the Education Endowment Foundation.

Click here for EYFS Recommendations

Click here for KS1 Recommendations

Click here for KS2 Recommendations

IMPACT

To develop pupils’ confidence in themselves as skilled communicators, to make relevant contributions and learn how to listen attentively to others
To enable pupils to adapt their speech to a widening range of circumstances and demands
To develop pupils’ interest and pleasure in reading, so that they can read independently, understand the meaning and express preferences about their reading
To ensure that pupils read with fluency, accuracy and understanding across a range of texts, both fiction and non-fiction
For pupils to enjoy writing and to see the value of it
To provide stimulating opportunities for pupils to be creative writers of text and to express themselves, in writing, with confidence
To enable pupils to become independent writers of texts, which are accurately spelled, punctuated correctly and which communicate meaning in narrative and non-narrative forms
To be able to write for a range of purposes and audiences.
To develop pupils’ understanding that writing is essential to thinking and learning across all curriculum areas
For pupils to be confident in using the writing process (planning, drafting, sharing, evaluating, revising, editing and publishing) to improve their written work and sustain their writing for a range of purposes and audiences.
To enable pupils to develop legible handwriting in both joined and printed styles with increasing fluency and speed
To enable pupils to use non-fiction and non-literary texts in order to access information for themselves including computer based information texts
For pupils to be able to use computing as an effective means of communication and an effective tool for learning
For pupils to be well challenged and for pupils to be supported to overcome any potential barriers to learning.

It is our view that the pupils in our school should be taught in a safe, secure and stimulating environment enabling each and every child to achieve their potential in the areas of English and Literacy.

We wish to make every effort to foster an enjoyment of literature and a love of reading and writing!

MASTERY IN ENGLISH

At St Thomas Aquinas, we have recently adopted a mastery based approach to the teaching of English through a skills-based curriculum. Key genres and key writing skills to be 'mastered' in each year group (year 1-6) have been mapped out to ensure progression across the school. We aim to increase the depth and breadth of our pupils' knowledge through a focus on fewer skills and genres per half term so that they can become embedded and 'mastered'. Children are provided with opportunities to revisit, use and apply skills to a variety of audiences and purposes and within a range of contexts across the curriculum.

We promote mastery in English by extending and deepening children’s reading, writing and speaking and listening skills across challenging contexts. Mastery in English is demonstrated through independence, confidence and flexibility . Teachers aim to deepen children’s understanding further through the use of questioning, problem solving and thoughtful discussions showing enquiry and inquisition.
Year 2 editing and revising their work against their key writing skill.