Intent

At Offham Primary School we believe that a quality Literacy (English) curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion. One of our priorities is helping children read and develop their all-important comprehension skills. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and who can use discussion to communicate and further their learning.

 We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge-base in Literacy, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum. We believe that a secure basis in literacy skills is crucial to a high quality education and will give our children the tools they need to participate fully as a member of society. 

The CUSP literature spine is broad, rich and agile. Its core purpose is to expose pupils to a range of high-quality literature that gives every child a mirror in which to see themselves and offers a window to children to see a world beyond their own. This has also been reflected within the supporting texts and the thematic mapping is designed to communicate where specific moral, social and ethical issues are indicated or addressed.

Implementation

Decoding (word reading) 

Children use their phonics knowledge from EYFS and Year 1 as a foundation to build and develop their decoding skills. Children use books from our reading scheme in order to develop fluency and speed while reading. Some children may need further support with phonics in Year 2 or above, which is conducted in small groups or individually as appropriate.

Reading for pleasure 

Children are encouraged to read for pleasure. This could involve sharing a book with an adult if they are not able to fully decode the book themselves. Each class has a well-stocked book corner with carefully selected literature including classic novels, graphic novels, poetry. Reading ambassadors promote reading at lunchtimes.

Story time takes place in every classroom. Teachers carefully choose the reading book to share in these sessions to develop a love for reading and expose children to a wide range of topics and ambitious vocabulary.

Comprehension (understanding)  

Reading comprehension is taught to ensure that children understand what they are reading. This happens informally when hearing individual children read and through class discussion in all subjects. This is taught through explicit vocabulary instruction, retrieval, inference, prediction, explaining and summarising.

Reading Lessons

Reading lessons are taught through both a core text and shorter supplementary texts designed by our CUSP curriculum. These are carefully written for their ambitious vocabulary and literary content. The supplementary texts complement the core text in terms of theme, for example when reading Pig Heart Boy in Year 6, pupils may read a supplementary text discussing the ethics of organ transplantation, or an application letter for a job as a surgeon.

The core texts for each year group are:

CUSP Reading Spine

Impact

Our reading curriculum is of a high quality and ensures there is a clear progression. In order to measure the impact, we gather a variety of data to ensure learning has occurred and progress has been made. This information directly informs future planning and learning opportunities, allowing us to be responsive to the needs of our pupils. We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• Formative assessment in reading lessons;
• Improved reading fluency perhaps through reading age testing;
• Children are competent, fluent readers with a love for literature.