Literacy at Bonneygrove

English At Bonneygrove 

Reading for pleasure underpins our curriculum at Bonneygrove as we broaden our children’s horizons building a lifelong love of books.  All children are exposed to a carefully selected range of high quality texts and whole book class reading takes place regularly throughout the key stages 

Oracy 

We believe that the art of speaking and listening, underpins the greater development of reading and writing. 

In English and across the entire curriculum, our Golden Threads give pupils the opportunity to take part in discussions, debates, role-play and public speaking. Being able to express ideas clearly and having the confidence to share and discuss with others is a skill we want our children at Bonneygrove to have when they leave us.  

Reading 

Our Guided Reading approach centres around developing pupil’s competence in word reading and comprehension. We ensure children leave Bonneygrove as fluent and accurate readers, who explore texts widely and often, for both pleasure and information.  

In EYFS and Key Stage 1, a love of books is supported by a variety of teaching methods, beginning with a structured phonics programme (Letters and Sounds) in the early stages of learning to read. Daily phonics lessons take place in Reception and Year 1. In Year 2, these lessons continue, but the emphasis is more on learning to read and spell words from specific word families, root words and spelling patterns. 

One-to-one reading in school is crucial to the support of the early development of skills and we value the supportive role of parents when reading at home. 

Children are provided with regular opportunities to read independently and within a group, to a skilled adult; fluency and comprehension skills are developed daily. Guided reading sessions are closely linked to daily phonics and learning is built on and consolidated at every opportunity.  

Progression in Key Stage 2 enables children with greater opportunity to appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage. During whole class teaching children are give opportunities to use a wide vocabulary. With use of speaking frames, children have daily opportunities to explore a text and engage in high-quality discussion.  

Writing 

Our English lessons are based around high quality texts. Over a week or more, children will be introduced to a book or extract. They look for the key features and structure of the writing to understand the genre, consider the writer’s use of language and work towards producing their own piece of writing. This reading into writing model is followed throughout the school. Work is drafted, proof-read, edited, improved and refined, through whole class, guided and independent work. The rules of Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling  are taught as part the lessons, in line with the curriculum for children in Years 1 to 6.  

At Bonneygrove we take pride in our handwriting and  the presentation of our work. From the very beginning, children are taught to form their letters in a cursive style and practise to perfect this skill regularly throughout their primary schooling.