English at Riverside

At Riverside Junior School we aim to inspire all children to become articulate speakers, inspired writers and avid readers. We aim to develop inquisitive minds and we believe that all children can learn to become self-motivated, confident and capable readers and writers.

Our aims for English at Riverside

We aim to adopt a rigorous, systematic programme that includes well-conceived and structured approach to teaching reading.
We aim to develop children’s writing through a rigorous approach to the teaching of handwriting, spelling, punctuation and grammar.
We aim to make sure all children make sufficient progress to meet or exceed age-related expectations in reading and writing.
We aim to build a team of expert teachers who know and understand the processes that underpin learning to read and write, and draw on expert training, practice and coaching to achieve this.
• We aim to make efforts to involve families in supporting their children’s reading.
• We aim to develop a programme for reading aloud to children and regularly encourage a love of reading through a range of extra-curricular activities and visits.

What English looks like:

Daily guided reading sessions where children are encouraged to read in groups and independently.
Daily writing lessons where children are exposed to a range of texts, poetry and books covering a number of different themes.
Weekly spelling objectives and discreet grammar lessons linking to writing for the week.
Reading and phonics interventions for children throughout school from a number of trained practitioners.
Access to a wide range of texts in class, in the library and outside of school encouraging reading for pleasure.