Literacy, Reading, Writing, Spelling, Handwriting, Speaking and Listening

Writing
Foundation Stage
In Nursery the children focus on developing fine motor skills working towards pencil control and mark making through a wide range of activities. In Reception, alongside phonics, children begin to form letters and further access independent writing and fine motor skills activities. Handwriting is practised on a weekly basis using dough disco to support. Children are encouraged to spell phonetically beginning with initial then end and middle sounds. These skills are practised in the weekly news writing lesson.
Key Stage 1 and 2
The school uses the the Big Write model to teach writing in Key Stages 1 and 2. This programme works on two main principles:
The development of the key skills of vocabulary, sentences openers, punctuation, and connectives (VCOP)
That in order to be good writers children need to be good talkers who can construct correct sentences, use a wide range of vocabulary and clearly explain their ideas through oral rehearsal
In class, pupils either complete a piece of big writing each week based on the genre they are currently studying, or they practise a genre already covered, when producing a piece of writing based on another area of the curriculum, usually RE or topic work.
Prior to this lesson children are set 'talk homework' which is an opportunity, at home, to orally develop their ideas for their writing. No written outcomes of this homework are expected. Evidence shows that children who complete this homework are far more confident and therefore successful in their writing endeavours in school.
On Big Write day children spend a session between 10 and 45 minutes before break, practising one of the basic skills, learning to improve their ideas through written or oral 'up levelling activities', orally rehearsing their writing with a talk partner and producing a quick plan. After break children spend between 20 minutes and an hour with increasing independence, writing in silence, with only limited support from staff.
Children are given the opportunity to produce writing in a full range of fiction and non-fiction styles and for different purposes and audiences. Writing in all areas of the curriculum is important and as such children are expected to produce their best writing in all areas of the curriculum.
Foundation Stage
In Nursery the children focus on developing fine motor skills working towards pencil control and mark making through a wide range of activities. In Reception, alongside phonics, children begin to form letters and further access independent writing and fine motor skills activities. Handwriting is practised on a weekly basis using dough disco to support. Children are encouraged to spell phonetically beginning with initial then end and middle sounds. These skills are practised in the weekly news writing lesson.
Key Stage 1 and 2
The school uses the the Big Write model to teach writing in Key Stages 1 and 2. This programme works on two main principles:
The development of the key skills of vocabulary, sentences openers, punctuation, and connectives (VCOP)
That in order to be good writers children need to be good talkers who can construct correct sentences, use a wide range of vocabulary and clearly explain their ideas through oral rehearsal
In class, pupils either complete a piece of big writing each week based on the genre they are currently studying, or they practise a genre already covered, when producing a piece of writing based on another area of the curriculum, usually RE or topic work.
Prior to this lesson children are set 'talk homework' which is an opportunity, at home, to orally develop their ideas for their writing. No written outcomes of this homework are expected. Evidence shows that children who complete this homework are far more confident and therefore successful in their writing endeavours in school.
On Big Write day children spend a session between 10 and 45 minutes before break, practising one of the basic skills, learning to improve their ideas through written or oral 'up levelling activities', orally rehearsing their writing with a talk partner and producing a quick plan. After break children spend between 20 minutes and an hour with increasing independence, writing in silence, with only limited support from staff.
Children are given the opportunity to produce writing in a full range of fiction and non-fiction styles and for different purposes and audiences. Writing in all areas of the curriculum is important and as such children are expected to produce their best writing in all areas of the curriculum.

SPELLING
In Key Stage 1 phonic lessons play a key role in the development of spelling key, phonetically decodable spellings and other key sight vocabulary, known as tricky words, that cannot be phonetically decoded.
In addition to this, children from Years 1 to 6 use the Nelson Spelling scheme to learn key spelling patterns and rules. In Key Stage 2 the rules covered in these lessons then form part of the children's weekly spelling homework list, which contain; a family of words based on a spelling rule, key vocabulary, topic words and more challenging extension vocabulary. Children throughout Key Stage 2 continue to revisit phonic knowledge from Phases 5 and 6 on a weekly basis using the LCP Phonics to Spelling programme.
In Key Stage 1 phonic lessons play a key role in the development of spelling key, phonetically decodable spellings and other key sight vocabulary, known as tricky words, that cannot be phonetically decoded.
In addition to this, children from Years 1 to 6 use the Nelson Spelling scheme to learn key spelling patterns and rules. In Key Stage 2 the rules covered in these lessons then form part of the children's weekly spelling homework list, which contain; a family of words based on a spelling rule, key vocabulary, topic words and more challenging extension vocabulary. Children throughout Key Stage 2 continue to revisit phonic knowledge from Phases 5 and 6 on a weekly basis using the LCP Phonics to Spelling programme.
HANDWRITING
Presentation and handwriting are given a high priority at St Catherine School. Children have at the very least a weekly handwriting lessons. In Key Stage 1 children write in pencil, then in Year 3, when children can show consistent neat, joined handwriting they are awarded a Pen Licence. Pens are then used throughout the rest of the school.
Children start with basic letter formation in Reception and move to letters with 'tails' - the pre-cursive (joined) stage- in Year 1. By the end of year 2 children are working on joined or cursive handwriting.
Presentation and handwriting are given a high priority at St Catherine School. Children have at the very least a weekly handwriting lessons. In Key Stage 1 children write in pencil, then in Year 3, when children can show consistent neat, joined handwriting they are awarded a Pen Licence. Pens are then used throughout the rest of the school.
Children start with basic letter formation in Reception and move to letters with 'tails' - the pre-cursive (joined) stage- in Year 1. By the end of year 2 children are working on joined or cursive handwriting.
SPOKEN LANGUAGE
Speaking and listening opportunities are provided for the children through a number of different activities across the curriculum. These include; hotseating characters from history or stories, debating geographical and historical issues in theme lessons, discussing ideas in P4C (Philisophy for Children), performing poems or plays in English, reading in class assemblies and whole school masses, taking part in Christmas, Easter and end of Year performances and listening to and appraising different forms of music in music lessons. Most significantly, all children across the school take part in the Hillingdon Borough Competition, Look Who’s Talking. Children are asked to recite a poem by heart, give a talk on an object or subject that is special to them and answer questions about their talk.
Speaking and listening opportunities are provided for the children through a number of different activities across the curriculum. These include; hotseating characters from history or stories, debating geographical and historical issues in theme lessons, discussing ideas in P4C (Philisophy for Children), performing poems or plays in English, reading in class assemblies and whole school masses, taking part in Christmas, Easter and end of Year performances and listening to and appraising different forms of music in music lessons. Most significantly, all children across the school take part in the Hillingdon Borough Competition, Look Who’s Talking. Children are asked to recite a poem by heart, give a talk on an object or subject that is special to them and answer questions about their talk.