Our Literacy Curriculum
Our English curriculum is well sequenced, progressive and ambitious. We aspire for all our children to leave Knowles as confident, thoughtful and creative readers and writers; equipped with the tools they need to be successful.
Our reading and writing curriculum is mapped from EYFS – Year 6 meeting the aims of the Early Years Framework and National Curriculum. Phonics, reading and writing is supported by expertly written resources. These resources empower teachers with the subject knowledge they need to deliver high quality reading and writing lessons and supports teachers’ workload and wellbeing.
Early Reading
From foundation, children learn to read and write following our systematic synthetic phonics programme; Read, Write, Inc. Children experience rapid success and once they have secured their first 16 set 1 sounds, begin to read books carefully matched to the phonics they learn and write key words. Phonics lessons are timetabled daily across Key Stage 1, delivered by our highly trained staff. Children are assessed termly and set in homogenous phonics groups ensuring that phonics teaching is well matched to children’s abilities and supports them to make rapid progress.
In KS1 and beyond, children requiring additional support in reading benefit from expert intervention delivered by our Reading Leader enabling them to catch up and make progress in line with their peers.
Reading
When children have secured their phonics knowledge and can read fluently, they exit Read, Write, Inc. From Year 2, they are taught to be confident, enquiring readers through guided reading lessons following the Collins Big Cat book scheme. Reading is promoted and highly valued throughout the school and children have access to two well stocked libraries, class book corners and are read stories and poems daily by teachers from our comprehensive reading and poetry spines.
Our KS2 reading leaders champion our reading culture here at Knowles and regularly read with our KS1 children to develop their confidence, lead on whole school reading events and ensure that our libraries remain well cared for and stocked with books that children are eager to read.
Writing
Once children have gained confidence in early reading and writing, they begin to access The Literary Curriculum Literacy lessons that support them to craft sentences, stories and extended written pieces from a rich variety of high quality stories and poems from published authors. From EYFS through to Year 6, children are taught valuable speaking, listening and writing skills through our Literary Curriculum and writing pathways ensuring that children are taught the grammatical skills and narrative features required to become confident writers.
Our curriculum meets the aims of the National Curriculum and we follow The Literary Curriculum from EYFS – Year 6 to structure our Literacy lessons. If you would like to see these writing pathways in more detail please explore the documents below.
Our high quality plans and resources, written by experts, empower teachers with the subject knowledge they need to feel confident teaching phonics, reading and literacy and supports teachers’ workload and wellbeing.
Phonics lessons happen daily, our reading leader works alongside all staff to ensure that phonics teaching is high quality and consistent across the school. Children are assessed termly and set in homogenous phonics groups ensuring that phonics teaching is well matched to children’s abilities and supports them to make rapid progress. Children in the bottom 20% benefit from additional speed sounds lessons recapping the sound of the day and fast track tutoring to ensure they close the gap and make rapid progress in line with their peers. Our aim is for all children to leave KS1 able to read confidently and access the rest of our curriculum. For children that need it, additional phonics lessons run in KS2 to support learners.
From Year 2, children access daily guided reading lessons. These lessons use Collins Big Cat books that are carefully matched to the curriculum and levelled through to Year 6. Teachers’ subject knowledge is supported with expertly written plans that match the books shared with children.
Reading is promoted throughout the school. At Knowles we aim for all children to become confident, fluent readers who are passionate about sharing books. Children have access to two well stocked libraries and in KS1 they take home a book from Read, Write, Inc that they can read confidently and is matched to the sounds they learn and also a book from our whole school ‘Big Cat’ books scheme which they should be able to read with adult support. In KS2 children will take home a library book and a ‘Big Cat’ reading book closely matched to their reading level. Children are also read to by our wonderful staff from our Spine Books and poetry spine books, have traditional stories shared in assembly times and explore stories and poetry through our Literary Curriculum Literacy lessons.
Literacy lessons happen daily, we follow the Literary Curriculum as our Literacy approach. Written by experts, the Literary Curriculum uses high quality books that offer opportunities for empathy, aids enquiry and develops the spoken language requirements of the National Curriculum through debate, drama and discussion using the issues raised through, and within, the text.
Using books as a stimulus, they provide context to the National Curriculum and offer children the opportunity to have real reasons to write. Whether to explain, persuade, inform or instruct and that where possible, this can be embedded within text or linked to a curriculum area. Writing in role using a range of genres is key to our teaching approach and we always model the tone and level of formality, leading to strong outcomes.
