English Intent

Our vision for English at Ravens Academy is that all children will be able to access and enjoy reading. Every child should be given access to high quality texts, whereby they can be transported into magical lands and adventures. They will experience the world around them through rich vocabulary and a variety of text types. Teachers will give purpose to the children’s writing and engage them through exciting learning activities.

English Implementation

At Ravens Academy, we teach early reading skills to our youngest children through high quality teaching of synthetic phonics by following Little Wandle (a DFE approved scheme).

We have a culture of developing a love of reading across the whole school. Teachers share high quality texts with their classes daily as part of our “Book Club”. Our library is filled with non-fiction books to support every topic that is taught across the school curriculum and these books are taken into the classroom for the children to use to aid their learning. As you walk around our school, the corridors are decorated with brightly coloured displays that represent different books and authors. The children are excited to share their reading experiences. We also have lunch time books clubs for boys and girls that are run by teaching staff.

Children’s personal reading books are carefully selected to match their reading level. Children who are still learning phonics are given books that include the sounds they know. We introduce Accelerated reader from year 2. Accelerated reader is a reading scheme where the children choose books that are carefully selected to match their reading age. Once the children have read their texts and are confident, they take a quiz and can choose a new book.

We teach our English through our VIPERS and Literacy Tree scheme. This is teaching of reading and writing through comprehensive units that have been carefully constructed so the entire statutory curriculum for English is covered from EYFS to Y6. Literacy Tree provides high-quality teaching of reading and writing through high-quality literature. These detailed units of work focus on engaging, vocabulary-rich texts, with a wealth of writing opportunities.

Impact

The impact of a high quality English Writing curriculum will be:

  • Children will develop a love of writing and be well equipped for secondary school
  • Children make good progress from their own starting point
  • Children will acquire a wide vocabulary and use this across the curriculum both verbally and in written work
  • The impact on our children will be clear: progress, sustained learning and transferable skills.

Our Phonics Policy

As the children develop their reading skills and move through the school, we use VIPERS to provide age appropriate texts. Our planning is mapped out across the school to show progression and to ensure coverage of the reading objectives. Children’s personal reading books are carefully selected to match their reading level. Children who are still learning phonics are given books that include the sounds they know. We introduce Accelerated reader from year 2. Accelerated reader is a reading scheme where the children choose books that are carefully selected to match their reading age. Once the children have read their texts and are confident, they take a quiz and can choose a new book.

We have a culture of developing a love of reading across the whole school. Teachers share high quality texts with their classes daily as part of our “Book Club”. Our library is filled with non-fiction books to support every topic that is taught across the school curriculum and these books are taken into the classroom for the children to use to aid their learning. As you walk around our school, the corridors are decorated with brightly coloured displays that represent different books and authors. The children are excited to share their reading experiences. We also have lunch time books clubs for boys and girls that are run by teaching staff.