English

Click here to read the National Curriculum programme of study for English

Our Intent

At Robert Mellors we believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion. Through the teaching of English, we aim to promote our core values of compassion, focus, respect, resilience and teamwork. We aim to inspire an appreciation of our rich and varied literary heritage and a love of reading widely and often. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening, using discussion as a tool to further develop their education.

Our curriculum is delivered over a 2-year cycle. Cycle A and Cycle B split the curriculum so that all children access all learning as outlined in the National Curriculum.

The cycles link to the following academic years;

2024-2025     Cycle A
2025-2026     Cycle B
2026-2027     Cycle A
2027-2028     Cycle B

Teaching spelling at Robert Mellors Primary Academy

The teaching of spelling at Robert Mellors is done in a very logical and systematic way. Children begin by using their phonic knowledge to spell new words. Alongside this the children are also taught the ‘tricky’ words separately which are the words that cannot be spelt phonetically and don’t follow a spelling rule. Gradually other spelling rules are introduced so that the children can learn the rules and apply them when spelling new and unfamiliar words.

We follow the requirements of the National Curriculum and children’s weekly spellings are based on the words and spelling rules from the National Curriculum. Children bring spellings home to learn on a weekly basis. It is important that children learn their spellings not just for a test but to apply and use them in their independent writing.

There are many strategies that are used to teach children how to spell. We will always remind children to use their phonics knowledge and skills in their written work and when tackling the spelling of an unknown word.

Look, cover, write and check

We use this strategy in school. Children look at the word noting its shape, say it out loud, write it down and check to see if it is correct. This process is the repeated

Rainbow spellings

Some children find it helpful to write the words out in different colours repeatedly as a way of remembering them.

Segmenting

Breaking a word down into memorable chunks e.g.

in   de   pen   dent   ly

Mnemonics

A saying to remember words that don’t follow a spelling pattern

Eg because

big elephants can always understand small elephants

Learn the spelling rule

Children will be given spellings that follow the same rule. Once they have learnt the rule, it is easier to remember the spellings.

Phonics at RMPA

High quality phonics teaching is the prime means by which we teach children how to read and spell.

At Robert Mellors Primary Academy, we use Pearl Phonics. This is a DfE validated scheme of learning for phonics.

Pearl Phonics

The Pearl Phonics programme provides a comprehensive step-by-step method for teaching reading, handwriting and spelling. Author Carl Pattison guides the teacher, and consequently the children, through a series of carefully designed phonics routines to master the complex English Alphabetic Code.

Each session is rich in content, providing phonics instruction and exercises with cumulative code (grapheme-phoneme correspondences-GPCs), words and short decodable texts. The children will develop their language comprehension and build up their knowledge of new vocabulary and spellings. Tricky words are also woven into the programme so that children can progress through the comprehensive set of Big Cat L&S Decodable reading books.

Pearl Phonics

• Provides systematic and rigorous phonics teaching and practice with a rich vocabulary
• Teaches handwriting linked to the English Alphabetic Code and the Alphabet
• Applies and extends phonics to reading within the Launchpad Reading lessons and/or one-to-one reading
• Involves and engages the learner.

Throughout Early years and Key stage One phonics is taught in a systematic way following the Pearl Phonics validated programme. It aims to build children’s speaking and listening skills, as well as prepare children for learning to read by developing their phonic knowledge and skills. It sets out a detailed and systematic programme for teaching phonic skills for children starting in Reception, with the aim that all children will be readers by age Seven. The dedicated phonics programme works alongside the decodable books which allow pupils to apply and practise their phonic knowledge.

The children learn phase 2-4 in reception and then delve into the complex code, Phase 5, within year 1. In Reception, children experience a taught daily phonics session Five times a week as well as being immersed in phonics throughout other subjects. We teach 4-5 new phonemes (letter sounds) per week and have a focus on reading and writing it each day. Alongside this, we incorporate high frequency words (tricky words) in which we learn to read and recognise them. There is also time planned in to consolidate learning and further embed skills and knowledge.

In Year 1, the children have a taught daily phonics lesson five days a week in a whole class approach. The Pearl Phonics programme provides daily progression and ensures children are able to build on prior learning each week. The children are introduced to a number of new graphemes alongside common exception words (tricky words) that they are encouraged to both read and write in a variety of different ways.

We strive to create fluent, able readers who are confident and show a love of reading. To help us to achieve this, we use decodable reading books throughout EYFS and Key stage 1. These are closely aligned to the letters and sounds phonics lessons that are delivered daily and are designed to allow children to read using the sounds and phonemes that they already know.

When a child reads, if they struggle decoding words and cannot read fluently, then comprehension is lost. The decodable books allow pupils to practise the sounds that they already know whilst building confidence, understanding and fluency. Through reading these, all children achieve success and this in turn builds enthusiasm and a love of reading. The books are a combination of fiction, non-fiction and poetry to allow pupils to a wide range of genres and to broaden their reading library.

Alongside the decodable and book band texts, pupils book, which they choose purely for pleasure. Until they can read it for themselves, they will explore the pages and have it read to them. This aims to develop the love of reading but also enables pupils to widen their vocabulary and understanding of different texts. Pupils can self-select from mini libraries for their key stage as well as the classroom book corners, where there is a wide range of genres including fiction books, comics, and graphic novels, as well as non-fiction books, magazines and newspapers.