Westmoor Primary School
English at Westmoor Primary Information
The overarching aim for the teaching of English at Westmoor Primary and in response to Government initiatives, as well as the National Curriculum, is to promote high standards of language and literacy. This is achieved by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature.
Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually, preparing them for life within our modern British society.
Reading & Spelling
We have a systematic approach to the teaching of reading and spelling. From Nursery onwards children are taught using the Read Write Inc programme. The children are taught to recognise sounds (phonemes) and letters (graphemes) in order to read and spell words. Click here to read more.
As soon as children are ready, they will bring home a reading book. All reading books are colour coded according to their level of difficulty. Children also have a regular visit to our school and local library.
Children in FS and KS1 will bring home two books. One book is phonetically decodable and colour coded according to levels from our RWI programme. The additional book is to promote reading for pleasure and may be a library book or a book from the PM scheme.
Once children are fluent, accurate readers and have completed the RWI programme, they can select a "free reader" reading book. Children in Year 5/6 who are free readers may bring a book of their choice from home.
Recommended reading minutes per year group.
Quality texts form the spine for all of our teaching and a varied selection of poetry, fiction and non-fiction is available in all classes. Click here for more information for reading at home. Our recommended supplementary reading texts Nursery, Reception, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6.
Click here to view more information about reading at home.
Writing & Handwriting
The development of writing skills is a key priority at Westmoor Primary. Children are taught to write for a range of purposes and audiences, not just within Literacy lessons but across all subjects, as part of our uniquely designed curriculum.
Digital Literacy is also a life skill of Modern Britain and again these skills are taught throughout the curriculum.
Standards of presentation are important and children are taught, from Nursery onwards, to develop their handwriting skills through a variety of games, activities, exercises and homework tasks. Individual letter formation is introduced in conjunction with the Read Write Inc programme. Click here for letter formation. Writing in pen begins in Year 5.