Learn from yesterday, seek today and aim for tomorrow
IMPORTANT: Please note that we are a nut-aware school. Nuts should not be brought into the building due to allergies.
Being a Linguist at Cayton
computing-at-cayton
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
Reading and writing are at the heart of Cayton School. We are committed to instilling a love and enjoyment of reading and writing in ALL children. Through immersion in literature, a culture of reading for enjoyment as a school and through our passion for teaching it, we aim to ensure that every child will learn to write and read to a high standard of fluency and understanding, regardless of their background, needs or abilities.
Here are some of the things which we strive for at Cayton School within our English lessons:
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A love of reading for pleasure and information across a range of genres and the opportunity to hear extracts being read aloud each day with an emphasis on the importance of building up ‘reading miles’ for children
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The ability to discuss with peers a wealth of high-quality books and ‘Lexile-appropriate’ extracts from fiction, non-fiction, plays and poetry collections through Whole Class Reading
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A building knowledge of extracts which include ‘non-linear’, ‘complexity of the narrator’, ‘resistant texts’ and diversity in the Reading Spine and of immersive class texts which the teachers and children enjoy together with some opportunities to vote on texts
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The ability to write clearly, accurately and coherently in fiction (including narratives) and non-fiction pieces, adapting their writing for both purpose and audience
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A desire to use figurative language explored in poetry for effect in writing and the opportunity to write for pleasure in ‘free-writing’
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Knowledge of how to independently find synonyms in a thesaurus, using them effectively, and correct spellings in a dictionary
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A desire to improve writing at emerging, expected and exceeding level through editing, re-drafting and orally rehearsing sentences, responding to self, peer and adult feedback and reading aloud examples of their work to the class
The Learning Journey
Early Year
In the Early Years, children’s love of reading and writing is fostered through exploring a range of diverse and (some) topic related fiction, non-fiction and poetry books (including poetry basket). Reading buddies with Year 6 is also an amazing way for younger and older pupils to share and recommend books together, developing a love of reading and genre. In writing, helicopter stories and other imaginative play are so beneficial, building oracy, fluency and writing skills in an encouraging environment. Through Twinkl phonics, children’s guided reading and writing also flourish and this will continue throughout school until the phonics assessment has been passed. Children receive daily phonics lessons which build on previous learning day by day to help them make rapid progress.
Key Stage One
In Key Stage 1, children develop their knowledge of basic punctuation as well as word classes, learning these crucial skills in order to write in full sentences in the beginnings of writing for different genres. After developing this in Year 1, they will go on to Year 2 writing for instructions, letters and many other different types of writing for purpose and audience. In Key Stage 1, children enjoy writing about personal experiences for them, such as baking or weekend activities, as well as taking inspiration from high quality and lexile appropriate texts such as Grandpa’s Island or Cinnamon. High quality texts from the Reading Spine will also be used in Whole Class Reading -introduced from Year 2- as well as diverse and engaging texts that pupils choose, plus other narrative linked to subjects such as history or geography.
Also, in Key Stage 1, children may learn and enjoy time with their reading buddies in the Forest Library and begin to appreciate the wonder and variation of a range of themes and genres. They will also be read a story or poem at the end of the day for pleasure, alongside their reading and writing immersion texts.
Lower Key Stage Two
Children will begin to, as well as reading a story or poem for enjoyment with their teacher at the end of each day, have further opportunities to discuss books in lessons including genres and preferences, voting on their favourite books and making comparisons between authors and characters. Pupils in WCR throughout school will learn how to explore and begin to analyse texts together as a class, sharing discussions of themes and comparisons of genre and character, focusing on etymology and vocabulary as well as summarising, making predictions, using much inference with characters and explanation of authorial intent. High quality teacher modelling of reading is essential- both the teacher and other peers are seen as readers, recommending, enjoying and appreciating texts together. Every Year group has a Reading Spine that they access throughout the year which includes different types of texts (including diverse authors and narratives). Pupils will also develop their writing for different purposes, taking inspiration from non-fiction and fiction narratives e.g. writing a letter based on characters in The Odyssey (Year 3 version) and develop their Whole Class Reading through this immersion. There will also be diverse novels, graphic novels, magazines and a range of other literature, some chosen by pupils, for all to enjoy.
When children are secure in their phonetical knowledge, they will progress onto the ‘recommended class reads’ starting at Level 7. Through reading interventions, reading with adults in school, as well as reading at home, children will work through our diverse range of recommended reads for each year group with high quality authors. All children, including the lowest 20% of readers, will be assessed to ensure they are on the correct level for them. They will work through Levels 7-11, in school and at home, with monitoring from the class teacher and other members of staff, as well as throughout activities to build fluency and oracy skills to ensure children are progressing. PIRA tests will measure progress in reading in a summative way at the end of each term.
Children will also learn to write for a range of purposes and audiences, learning grammatical terms such as prepositions and paragraphs in Year 3 and fronted adverbials and noun phrases in Year 4. Through linking grammar to the appropriate genre (using - for example- our grammatical knowledge organisers) and immersion in a text or topic, pupils will be inspired to write in more detail than previous years and build on their existing knowledge of sentence structure and punctuation.
Upper Key Stage Two
All children in school will be given the chance to learn poetry by heart- mainly through their study of Autumnal poetry such as ‘The Lost Words’- but, in Year 5 and 6, poetry study of figurative language becomes something to explore in more detail- with performances, analysis and discussion of themes and different contexts. Pupils will develop their fluency as they recite poetry together, such as Jabberwocky in Year 6, appreciating the rhyme and rhythm of poems and how they can be analysed in many different ways.
From archaic language to non-linear texts, pupils delve into discussions about genre and character in a much deeper fashion than previous years, making comparisons across texts and theme. Reading buddies and peer recommendations, as well as class discussions, continue to foster a love of reading together with writing for a range of exciting purposes based on these high quality and diverse texts. History and science will also foster writing for a range of audiences and purposes, from environmental issues to matters of politics and world issues. Debating, hot seating and drama will continue to inspire writing and reading a range of primary and secondary sources will provide further purpose for writing, such as the biography of Sir Winston Churchill or a letter from the House of Wisdom in the Early Islamic Civilisation. By Years 5 and 6, the focus is on a much deeper comprehension of texts and pupils should continue to apply what they have already learnt to more complex writing including a range of grammatical terms such as relative clauses. Children should be taught to recognise themes in what they read, such as loss, love or heroism. They should have opportunities to compare characters and differing points of view, within a text and across more than one text. Year 5 will be assessed in writing moderation with the rest of the school, as well as in their GAPS and PIRA tests which Years 1-5 will also be part of. In Year 6, pupils are assessed through teacher assessment of writing and will sit SATs tests in May, assessing their reading and grammar skills which- of course- are assessed alongside mathematical skills throughout the year.
