At Keyingham Primary School, we follow the Read Write Inc. phonics programme. This link will take you to a helpful "parent information" site, if you wish to know more.  Alternatively, please ask your child's teacher to talk you through it. 

Children learn phonics every day in discreet sessions from FS1 to Year 1. The sessions continue into Year 2 when and where necessary. We aim for our children to be reading fluently and spelling accurately by the end of Year 2. In Key Stage 2, phonics continues to be taught implicitly through spelling and grammar activities. Some children will continue to receive phonics interventions in Key Stage 2, if required.  

Reading books in EYFS and Key Stage 1 are chosen so that the children can apply their phonics knowledge acquisition in their reading.  Whilst working through the RWI programme, pupils read 'Book Bag Books' (either via books they take home or access through the Oxford Owl e-book library with their personalised login details).  These books are matched exactly to their current and growing phonic knowledge.    

Our Reading sessions focus on developing a wide and rich vocabulary for all pupils through dialogue, discussion and investigation of age-related texts.  Children focus on close reading and take part in daily taught lessons.  There is explicit vocabulary teaching every week to support pupils in accessing age-related expectation texts.  Children collaborate in groups with a focus on embedding oracy skills and verbal reasoning together and also regularly record their developed responses in written format as they progress towards age related expectations of reading response.   

Reading lessons are supplemented by a mix of books and blended learning opportunities that match our pupils' stage of reading and ability from the Read Write Inc. scheme, the Oxford Reading Tree e-book library and the Reading Eggs programme where every child can access their reading record and log their progress.  This function allows staff to monitor regularity of reading and the progress the children are making.

In KS1 (and beyond, if necessary), all pupils' reading books are banded via the correct Read Write Inc. Book Bag Book colour and then the appropriate Oxford Reading Tree Level, with great emphasis being placed on ensuring the children in the early stages of reading have books which let them apply their phonics acquisition.   In our Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress programme, children read at ability appropriate lexile levels.  Click this link to read more about book band levels or ask your child's teacher to talk you through how we help your child to learn to read.. 

You can access the subject map by clicking here.

At Keyingham Primary School, we have adapted ‘The Write Stuff’ by Jane Considine to bring clarity to the mechanics of writing.  ‘The Write Stuff’ follows a method called ‘Sentence Stacking’ which refers to the fact that sentences are stacked together and organised to engage children with short, intensive moments of learning that they can then immediately apply to their own writing.  An individual lesson is based on a sentence model, broken into three chunks:  

1. Initiate section – a stimulus to capture the children’s imagination and set up a sentence.  

2. Model section – the teacher close models a sentence that outlines clear writing features and techniques.  

3. Enable section – the children write their sentence, following the model.  

Our writing curriculum is mapped through fiction and non-fiction genres to ensure progression in both composition and transcription skills.  You can access the subject map by clicking here.

During EYFS and Key Stage 1, our pupils learn and practice their spellings through daily Read Write Inc. lessons and 1:1 sessions.

During Key Stage 2, our pupils follow a spelling scheme that focuses on digraph recognition and progression.  They practice these rules in lessons every day, and we will share the spellings for each week with you in the class blogs.

You can access the spelling scheme we follow in Key Stage 2 below and you can support your child at home by practising the suggested words included or by using SpellingFrame or the spelling games on Reading Eggspress.  

Year 3 Spelling Overview

Year 4 Spelling Overview

Year 5 Spelling Overview

Year 6 Spelling Overview

Research shows that children who read (or are read to) for 20 minutes a day have a higher success rate in their studies throughout their school life.  We pledge to all our children and families that we will meet them half way and, above all other reading opportunities in the day, we take 10 minutes every day to just read and enjoy a story together in our classes.  We use this time to explore story themes, discover new vocabulary and to simply enjoy the thrill of a good tale!

Our curriculum ensures that all children have plenty of opportunities to write for different purposes. We encourage writing through all curriculum areas and use quality reading texts to model examples of good writing. Writing is taught through a number of different strategies. We believe that children need lots of rich speaking and drama activities, alongside experiences outside of the classroom to give them the imagination and the understanding to become excellent writers.