North Frodingham Primary School

To promote the importance of reading within the school we have a book banded reading scheme that includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry titles and have a fantastic and varied library.  A ‘Reading Spine’ for each class has been introduced which includes a range of high quality classic and modern stories for children to read.  Children are encouraged to read independently and regularly to develop and encourage their enjoyment in reading. Reading is taught through Guided Reading sessions and Whole Class Reading sessions where reading comprehension skills are practised and consolidated. 

Children have a wide range of opportunities to develop their writing skills from Reception to Key Stage 2.  As a school we have adopted “The Write Stuff” by Jane Constantine to bring clarity to the mechanics of writing. ‘The Write Stuff’ follows a method called ‘Sentence Stacking’ which refers to the fact that sentences are stacked together and organised to engage children with short, intensive moments of learning that they can then immediately apply to their own writing. This approach makes sure that all of our children are exposed to high quality texts that stimulate quality responses to reading, high quality writing and purposeful speaking and listening opportunities. Our curriculum ensures that all children have plenty of opportunities to write for different purposes. We encourage writing through all curriculum areas and use quality reading texts to model examples of good writing. Children are given the chance to edit and improve their writing just like a real author by choosing better vocabulary, correcting grammatical errors and improving sentence structure or length. We believe that children need lots of rich speaking and drama activities to give them the imagination and the experiences that will equip them to become good writers. 

As a school we want our children to leave school with a broad and enhanced vocabulary.  Vocabulary is taught in discrete sessions and within the English lessons where it is explored as part of the class text through the eyes of the reader or writer.  Children are also encouraged to question what words mean when they come across a word that is unfamiliar during reading, class work or any other area.  Key vocabulary is introduced at the start of a lesson or topic to ensure pupils understand the meaning of these words. 

We have developed a range of extra activities which are used to promote English within the school including Roald Dahl Day, World Book Day, Shakespeare Week, recommended reads and author and poet visits.