Curriculum
At Weaverham Forest Primary School all children have a right to a broad, balanced and relevant education which provides continuity and progression and takes individual differences into account. Work in Weaverham Forest Primary School is planned to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum 2014.
This year, we will continue to use the Cornerstones Curriculum to support our creative curriculum. The topics each class will cover during the year can be found in the document list below. More detailed information can be found in the objective maps below and on the class pages.
You can view the Curriculum Policy on our Policies Page.
Reading
Thank you to the large number of parents who replied to our reading survey – your input was both appreciated and invaluable. If you know Weaverham Forest, you will know a love of reading and books is a thread throughout our school. We have spent an enormous amount of thought, energy and money promoting a love of reading over a long period time. This letter will detail what we do in school, but also what we need you to do at home.
What we do….
Nursery
Children are encouraged to develop a love of reading through: Books throughout the environment
Books are shared (fiction and non- fiction) with the children during keyworker time and during continuous provision.
Engage in conversations about stories, learning new vocabulary Language rich environment
Nursery rhymes, action songs and songs are learnt, shared and enjoyed. Role play stories
Talk for Writing is used to encourage children to retell stories
Helicopter stories are used to encourage children to tell their own stories Phonological awareness is developed through activities
Reading for Pleasure books available to take home
Reception and Year 1
In Reception, your child will be heard read 1:1 by the teacher/Teaching Assistant to allow staff to monitor children’s independent reading skills, suitability of the book or readiness to move forwards.
The children in Reception and Year 1 are exposed to a ‘print-rich’ environment of signs, labels, books, key words, display and role play that all give opportunities for reading
Book areas where children can enjoy sharing books, listening to stories and reading Children are taught daily Phonics through the ‘Sounds Write’ programme
Children will take home an individual reading book matched to the Phonic Phase they currently work on in school, in order to match the child’s individual reading ability
Children will take home an additional banded reading book Children will also take home a reading for pleasure book
Children will be listened to individually by the class teacher or TA on a three week rolling programme
Revisiting books with an adult allows for repetition which leads to greater acquisition of new vocabulary because children pick up new information with each re-read Children will change their reading and reading for pleasure book once a week. Children also have an individual reading record where reading at home should be recorded. Adults read daily to the whole class, where possible, more than once a day
All English projects are linked to high quality texts
In Year 1, children access a weekly Guided Reading session with the teacher Reading volunteers support with individual reading
In Year 1, children will be listened to individually by the class teacher or TA on a rolling programme
Year 2
As above, but with a few age appropriate changes
Daily phonics continues, but as the year goes on children access Pathways to Spell (a progressive spelling scheme)
Additonal phonics for children who require some support
Children with gaps in their phonic knowledge will continue to receive reading books matched to their phonic ability
Once children have acquired the phonetic ability to read the Phase 5 sounds, they will move onto banded books
All children access a whole class reading session. These are followed up with group reading sessions.
Children choose their own banded books
Children will be listened to individually by the class teacher or TA on a three week rolling programme
Key Stage 2
By now many children are moving on to choosing their own books from the school library
Books in the library are by real authors and are a mix of fiction and non-fiction texts The children choose their own books from their band
There is a broad range of new and current fiction to provide breadth and depth of reading
There is a strong reading spine throughout the school in English and Reading sessions
Each English project is based on a high quality text, often a picture book Weekly whole class reading, followed by guided group sessions
Years 4 to 6 access Reading Plus to support the development of reading fluency Poetry is taught termly – the children access a variety of poems
Interventions for children who require additional phonics teaching Teachers read to children daily
Termly children are introduced to new recommended books
Teaching staff are able to make recommendations to new books and authors Volunteers invited to school to read with children who need to develop their fluency
Whole School
Engaging projects based on high quality texts. In the past we have used The Invisible, The Dot, The Day the Crayons Quit and Tribe of Kids – to name but a few! Many lessons such as PSHE and No Outsiders are based on a text or picture book Theme days such as World Book Day, Roald Dahl Day, National Poetry Day are celebrated each year
A yearly update of books to the library – this year’s focus will be the purchase of non-fiction
Termly books chosen by the staff to share with children Promotion of the Summer Reading Challenge
A significant investment in phonetically linked books to match the ‘Sounds Write’ phonic scheme
Each year the children take part in reviewing the books for the Kate Greenaway Award
Author/poet visits throughout the year
Project books ordered from the Education Library Service to match class projects Time for children to ‘just enjoy’ reading
Children have access to comics, children’s newspapers and magazines Prior to COVID ‘Reading Cafes’
Following your responses to the questionnaire
This letter should explain what we do in school. We think you’ll agree, it’s quite a lot! We are setting up a reading shed for parents to swap books from home
The purchase of more non-fiction books for the library
A sponsored read later in the year
What we need from you
Reading should be a daily habit.
We would like to insist that pupils engage with reading, with you or independently, for at least 10 minutes a day outside of school.
We will expect this recorded in their reading records. In KS1 and Year 3, parents should ensure a record is made in the reading record.
In KS2, we will expect pupils to keep a record and parents to sign for their child daily We intend to be as insistent as possible that this happens.
We recognise that there are many ways into reading and therefore from now on, when pupils are ‘learning to read independently,’ we will accept many forms of engagement in reading including: a child reading to their parent from a school library book; a child reading a non-banded book from home or school; a parent reading a book to their child. There are many ways in which you can help your child enjoy reading first and foremost, and secondly learn to read. All we would ask is that you record this in the reading record and aim to find a productive balance between other texts and our banded books; reading to them and having them read to you; reading pictures and reading text; talking about books and reading books.
Once pupils have become independent readers, we need them to maintain and grow the habit of reading and to broaden their experience of reading. We accept that children might read different texts through the week but are keen that, once they have a book that they enjoy, that they do work through it rapidly enough that they engage and maintain their interest in it. Please note our commitment to children’s reading has very little to do with narrow educational aims such as SATS and everything to do with your children developing a love of reading and learning!
We cannot stress enough that we all need to work together to make this happen. We thank you again for your continued support and look forward to seeing the progress towards every child reading every day.
Thank you for your support
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