READING & PHONICS
We use the Twinkl Phonics Scheme to teach synthetic phonics.
At Key Stage 1 there is great emphasis on the teaching of phonics and reading. In Reception, daily Phonics is taught and in KS1 Phonics is taught three times a week. Phonic intervention sessions, named Codebreakers, run to accelerate progress. These interventions continue into KS2. More information about Phonics can be found on the Phonics pages on this website.Throughout the school, we have a clear focus on Reading for Pleasure. Our Reading Council, made up of children from across the school, lead this by running our school library. They regularly refresh the books we have, finding new and exciting choices that they order online. They also run 'Read for Fun' sessions on a Monday, when children can come along to the library to pick any book and read. At these sessions, the Reading Councillors will help children choose books by making recommendations and will also read with younger children who attend.
The school's reading spine determines the high-quality texts that each class studies throughout the school year. These texts have been chosen by teachers due to the impact they will have on children's learning, as well as their relevance to the year group's curriculum.
CMS resource
WRITTEN ENGLISH
A child's writing journey at Radnage starts from the moment they enter the school. In Reception, we have created a vocabulary-rich environment to ensure children spend as much time as possible talking with their peers in a constructive and well managed way. Staff are highly trained to facilitate learning conversations through effective use of open questions and sentence stems. They then learn how to form their letters, and are able to write sentences of their own which can be read independently of the child. This development of early language is essential to help create the writers of tomorrow.
At all stages of the writing process, we put a huge emphasis on the use of quality models to inspire and extend children. These may take the form of: a high-quality text; a piece of a child's writing; a shared piece of writing or a creation by the teacher.
A range of writing is introduced in KS1, including story writing, writing recounts, explanations, instructions, reports and poetry. In KS2 story writing is further developed to include plays, journalistic writing linked to argument, persuasive writing and extended narrative. Poetry, writing biographies and autobiographies are also included.