English
Early Reading and Phonics
At East Herrington Primary Academy, our shared vision is that every child learns to read quickly and continues to read – widely and often; and for pleasure.
We aim for all of our pupils (readers) not just to meet the statutory requirements, but to develop an enjoyment of reading which will stay with pupils as they move on to the next stage of education and life. We are proud to offer the pupils a text rich learning environment where imagination and creativity can be fuelled.
Through our rigorous phonics curriculum (Read Write Inc) beginning in Nursery, we ensure pupils develop the skills and knowledge they need to develop as confident readers. We understand that reading enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. We also understand that the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society; only pupils who learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are able to effectively participate in wider society. To achieve this, we ensure that there is a sharp focus on ensuring that younger children gain the phonics knowledge and language comprehension skills necessary to read.
Reading
At East Herrington Primary Academy, we believe that the teaching of reading is integral to a child’s understanding and appreciation of the world around them; a platform that allows our children to see beyond what they know, share in cultural experiences and develop the vocabulary they need to effectively express themselves. Our reading curriculum strives to foster a lifelong love of reading. We cultivate the behaviours that they will need to be discerning readers as they read frequently and widely and discuss what they read. This curriculum is delivered through synthetic phonics, a linked approach to whole class and guided reading, home reading, reading across the curriculum, opportunities for independent reading and hearing quality texts read aloud every day. All of these are essential components as they offer the range of opportunities needed to develop fluent, enthusiastic and critical readers.
It is important that children are motivated to read at home regularly; when their reading opportunities increase, so does their fluency and stamina which in turn increases their enjoyment of reading. Therefore, the link between children’s motivation to read and reading for pleasure is reciprocal. Furthermore, we know that reading pleasure is beneficial not only for not only reading outcomes, but for wider learning enjoyment and mental wellbeing. Thus, we work hard to foster a love of independent reading and build communities of engaged readers. We understand the significance of parents and carers in supporting their children to develop both word reading and comprehension skills so we endeavour to build a home-school partnership which enables parents and carers to have the confidence to support their children with reading at home.
Reading is at the very heart of our curriculum. We are committed to promoting a love for reading and not only giving children opportunities to read in English lessons, but in the wider curriculum too.
Writing
All children at East Herrington Primary Academy (EHPA) will become confident, creative writers who take pleasure in writing and can communicate effectively across a range of genres. Children are given opportunities to write independently across the wider curriculum, with a clear focus on both audience and purpose. All children will build skills to independently plan, write, evaluate and redraft their work – they see writing as an ongoing process where they build on prior learning and continue to develop themselves as writers.