Literacy

Intent:

At St Paul’s Way Primary School, we recognise the importance of studying Literacy. Improved performance in reading, writing, and spoken language will enable our pupils to express their thoughts and ideas more fluently, accurately, and, ultimately, to their greater satisfaction. This will also help them to deal more successfully with other curriculum subjects while enriching their lives beyond school.   The teaching and learning of language skills are, therefore, given a high priority in our school. Our overarching aim for Literacy is to promote high standards of language 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 aim for our pupils to: 

• Write easily, fluently and with good understanding 
• Understand the audience, purpose and features of writing
• Write for a range of purposes and audiences 
• Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information and use this to inform and influence their writing
• Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language 
• Appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage and use this to inform their writing
• Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences 

Core Texts

Nursery

Autumn 1 All About Me	Autumn 2 Communities and Celebrations	Spring 1 Journeys and Adventures	Spring 2 Amazing Animals	Summer 1 Growing and Food	Summer 2 Let's Imagine
Super Duper You	All are welcome	Choo Choo Clickety Clack!	The Three Little Pigs	Anywhere Farm	Three Billy Goats Gruff
Feelings	Real Superheroes	We’re Going On a Bear Hunt	The Very Hungry Caterpillar	Handa’s Surprise	Harold’s Crayon
Goldilocks	The Hospital Dog	Whatever Next	Boo! A Fishy Mystery	The Gingerbread Man	Stanley’s Stick

Reception  

Autumn 1 All About Me!	Autumn 2 Communities and Celebrations	Spring 1 Journeys and Adventures	Spring 2 Amazing Animals	Summer 1 Growing and Food	Summer 2 Let's Imagine
Who are you	This is a school	Naughty Bus	Not That Pet	Jack and the Beanstalk	The Gruffalo
Funny Bones	When you’re fast asleep	Mr Gumpy’s Outing	Rose Explores Life Cycles	Errol’s Garden	The Squiggle
Little Red Riding Hood	Welcome to our World	Astro Girl	Sea	The Gigantic Turnip	Nimesh the Adventurer

 Year 1

Autumn 1 Toys and Animals	Autumn 2 and Spring 1 I Live In London!		Spring 2 Castles	Summer 1 Where In The World?	Summer 2 Summer Holiday
Traction Man	In Every House, On Every Street	The Queen’s Hat	The Paper Bag Princess	Look What I Found At the Seaside!	Beegu
Lost in The Toy Museum	Last Stop on Market Street	We’re Going to Find the Monster!	Tell Me A Dragon	The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch	Gift for Amma

Year 2

Autumn 1 Voyages	Autumn 2 Fire, Fire!	Spring 1  Building and Beasts	Spring 2 and Summer 1 World Adventure		Summer 2 Nurses and Bodies
The Owl and The Pussycat	The Disgusting Sandwich	Billy and the Beast	Hansel and Gretel	The Day the Crayons Quit	The Proudest Blue
Coming to England	Mary and the Great Fire of London		Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain		Night Shimmy

Year 3

Autumn 1 The Stone Age	Autumn The Romans	Spring 1  Cites & Urban Areas	Spring 2 Rocks, Soils and Fossils	Summer 1 Plants & Gardens	Summer 2 We Are Astronauts
The Stone Age Boy	Romulus and Remus	The Iron Man	Stone Girl, Bone Girl	Stories from India	Blast off into Space with Mae Jemison
			A Rock is Lively		We are Here

Year 4

Autumn 1 The Anglo Saxons	Autumn 2 The Vikings	Spring 1 A Walk In Paris	Spring 2 The Water Cycle	Summer 1 and Summer 2 World War 2
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table	How to Train your Dragon	A Walk in Paris	Varjak Paw	Friend or Foe	Farther
					Animation Unit- The Piano

Year 5

Autumn 1 The Shang Dynasty	Autumn 2 The Ancient Egyptians	Spring 1 Rivers	Spring 2 Brazil	Summer 1  The USA	Summer 2 Early Islamic Society
Zita The Spacegirl; Cartoon Novel	Secrets of A Sun King	Journey to The River Sea	Animation Unit- Ride of Passage	The Boy at the Back of the Class	The Boy In The Tower

Year 6

Autumn 1 The Ancient Greeks	Autumn 2 Shackleton's Journey	Spring 1 Mountains, Volcanoes and Earthquakes	Spring 2 Migration and Journey's	Summer 1 Evolution and Discovery	Summer 2 Fieldwork and Fossils
Odysseus	Shakleton’s Journey	Shakespeare’s Macbeth	Clockwork	Animation Unit – Alma	The Arrival

Coverage of Non-Fiction Text Types

Literacy Implementation:

At SPWPS, we follow the Read, Write, Inc. phonics programme in the EYFS and Year 1. Children in these year groups also have weekly ‘Big Write’ lessons. By Year 2, many pupils are ready to progress onto our SPWP Literacy curriculum. At SPWP we have designed a unique Literacy Curriculum using a wide range of diverse texts specifically chosen to provide high-quality language and writing models. Texts are selected to link with other areas of the curriculum and to ensure children read texts in a range of genres and styles. Our curriculum teaches children to read and write both for enjoyment, and for real audiences and purpose. As well as high-quality Literacy lessons, children have regular Reading, Spelling, and Handwriting lessons, in line with our Progression Map for the ‘transcription’ skills. 

Our approach to literacy and writing is inclusive of all learners, with strategies designed to support students with diverse abilities and backgrounds. Teachers are required to adapt the Literacy schemes of work based on their pupils' needs and include scaffold and challenge strategies. These strategies include the use of a range of scaffold materials (widget symbols, stem sentences, writing frames, colourful semantics), pre-teach, 1:1 interventions, and writing conferences. 

At SPWP we invest in ongoing professional development for our staff, equipping them with the latest strategies and resources to deliver effective writing and literacy instruction. Teachers receive training on effective modelling, scaffolding, formative assessment, and explicit teaching of vocabulary. Moreover, all teachers have the opportunity to engage in internal and external writing moderation. This ensures that all teachers receive training in assessing their pupils’ writing effectively and this helps in aligning the assessment of writing with the school’s curriculum and educational goals, ensuring that the curriculum’s objectives are met. 

We implement a range of formative assessment strategies (use of mini-whiteboards, Think-Pair-Share and open-ended questioning), to monitor pupil progress and provide timely, constructive feedback to support growth and ensure each pupil reaches their full potential in literacy and writing. We prioritise ongoing assessment to track individual progress and adapt the learning accordingly.

At SPWP we leverage technology to enhance writing and literacy skills, integrating animation units in our schemes of work and providing access to online resources for research and reading.

We promote literacy skills across all subjects recognising that strong reading and writing abilities are fundamental to success in every area of learning. We have established the teaching of Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary in every subject and we deliver interventions to develop the understanding of new vocabulary. 

At SPWP we continuously evaluate and enhance our Literacy Schemes of work to ensure alignment with national standards and a comprehensive focus on various genres and writing styles. We utilise data to identify areas for improvement, regularly assessing the impact of our literacy and writing initiatives and making adjustments as needed. We also work closely with partnerships with local organisations and experts (Oracy Hub and THEP Partnership) in the field of literacy and writing that support us in enriching our programs and providing unique opportunities for all pupils.