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English

We are delighted to have been accredited as an All Aboard Phonics hub school.

English Aims:

At St Anthony of Padua, we aim to promote a high standard of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.

We have placed English and literature at the heart of the curriculum. Using the teaching resources ‘Steps to Read’ and  ‘Read to Write’ our English curriculum uses high quality vehicle texts as the driver for each unit of work to ensure English is taught progressively, in context in a cohesive manner throughout each unit. We have also created a reading spine for our children so that they are exposed to a wide variety of texts through each year group to instil and develop a natural love of reading.

We believe in the importance of developing and teaching vocabulary across the curriculum, so that children have a deep and meaningful understanding of what they read in different contexts. Using the Opening Worlds curriculum for humanities and Haringey Science our children will be exposed to a range of challenging non-fiction texts which will develop their love of reading and breath of vocabulary within different contexts.

Phonics:

To teach phonics we use the systematic synthetics programme ‘All Aboard Phonics’ which has been verified by the Department for Education. We believe that phonics is the building blocks to the foundations of reading and writing, as a school we place phonics at the centre of our early reading journey so that children are able to decode words and blend sounds to build fluency in their reading.

All Aboard Phonics, enables teachers to teach phonics in a progressive manner building upon the phonemes and graphemes taught each day so that children can begin to decode and blend sounds to read words. All Abord Phonics books are used during the session for the children to begin to apply their learning in phonics to reading in short books. For home readers, we use Oxford Reading Tree books that have been banded and matched closely to the phonemes and graphemes that the children have learnt during the phonics session. The children then take these books home to further practice the skills they have learnt in school in context.

For children who struggle to grasp the phonemes and graphemes taught in the session there is a daily intervention programme designed to build confidence and accuracy before new learning is introduced the following day.

All Aboard Phonics – Parental Support

The All Aboard Home Reading App

The crucial first step for engaging with All Aboard as a parent is to download the app and create an account. You can then get your child doing daily sessions. You will find it is based around a series of games that activate the key skills needed for reading.

If your child’s school has introduced you to All Aboard, then you should get an invite from All Aboard to collaborate on your child’s school account. If you are setting up the app independently, then you will create your own team of learners on the system.

Here are the links for the app in the Apple and Android app stores:

Training Videos

Your role in helping your child learn to read is crucial, because your child needs to do 10-15 minutes of supported practice each day.

If your child’s teacher tried to do that with 30 children, it would take 5 hours each day! So clearly that is not an option.

We can guide you through to success with your child. Just check out our short training videos. In particular, if you follow our 6 Golden Tips to the letter, we are confident it will all go well:

Phonics Jargon

Phonics is full of terminology which can seem confusing at first but is really straightforward once you get your head around it! 

You may start to hear this terminology being used by your child’s school or cropping up in our other training videos. We recommend you take a quick look through our Phonics Jargon videos to become familiar with these terms.

Reading: Steps to Read

To teach Reading we place high quality, language-rich texts (Vehicle Texts) at the core of our curriculum using the Steps to Read approach. Whole class shared reading is taught through three carefully crafted units per year group to ensure that all aspects of word reading and comprehension are taught to the children using a range of high quality texts.

Steps to Read provides a clear teaching sequence to reading sessions that explicitly teach reading skills and strategies in a cumulative way through evidence-based approaches. These comprehensive units have been constructed so that the entire statutory curriculum for reading is covered from EYFS to Y6. 

Steps to Read places these key aims at the heart of our reading curriculum:

  • Is sequenced, coherent and progressive
  • Uses language-rich texts for vocabulary teaching
  • Includes all elements of comprehension, taught sequentially across an academic year
  • Has a clear focus on the skills and strategies needed to be a proficient and confident reader
  • Uses engaging texts to promote a life-long love of reading
  • Includes poetry, non-fiction and fiction that enhances knowledge learning across the curriculum

Teaching Sequence:

1.       Read (12 Minutes)

Read to children:

·       Activate Prior Knowledge

·       Share Anchor Questions

·       Vocabulary

·       Explore and Respond

·       Fluency

2.       Model (5 Minutes)

Model to Children:

·       Explicitly Model Strategies and Skills

·       Reference the Text

3.       Practise (8 Minutes)

Children Practise:

·       Children Explore and Discuss

·       Practise Taught Strategies and Skills

4.      Apply

Children Apply:

·       Evidence Anchor Questions

·       Verbal and Written Responses

·       Feedback on Learning

Reading to Writing

At St Anthony of Padua we teach writing through comprehensive units that have been carefully constructed so the entire statutory curriculum for English is covered from EYFS to Y6. Read to Write empowers teachers to provide high-quality teaching of writing through high-quality literature. Each unit of work centre on engaging, vocabulary-rich texts, with a wealth of writing opportunities within and across the curriculum and they also signpost wider curriculum enrichments.

Read to write provides a consistent approach to the teaching of writing across the school using these key features:

  • Clear Sequential Episodes of Learning
  • Example Texts (greater depth WAGOLL)
  • Vocabulary Learning
  • Contextualised Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation
  • Writer’s Knowledge Linked to National Standards
  • Sentence Accuracy Works Linked to National Standards
  • Progressions Documents with Year Group Expectations
  • Reflecting on Unit Outcomes: Planning for Next Steps
  • Example Planning Format
  • Wider Reading for the Wider Curriculum
  • A Wealth of Resources Linked to the National Standards
  • Explicit Links to the National Curriculum Read to Write is evidence-based teaching of writing.

Teaching Sequence:

1.       Immerse

·       Immersion in Vehicle Text

·       Enjoy, explore and respond

·       Determine, purpose, audience and form

·       Share example texts

2.       Analyse

·       Familiarisation with text structures

·       Familiarisation with language features

·       Knowledge for the writer

3.      Plan

·       Gather ideas

·       Plan

4.      Write

·       Model and guided writes

·       Application of writers’ skills and knowledge

·       Independent writing and draft, revise and edit.

 

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