Primary Curriculum

Phonics Scheme

At The Bemrose Primary Phase we follow the Read, Write Inc phonics and spelling scheme. Read Write Inc. provides a structured and systematic approach to teaching literacy. It is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers.

Each Read Write Inc. programme meets the higher expectations of the National Curriculum and uses effective assessment to accelerate every child’s progress and prepare them for the National Curriculum Tests.

Oracy

Spoken language lies at the heart of our curriculum at The Bemrose Primary School. We understand that a good spoken language education is central to children’s academic achievement, as well as their wider opportunities. We recognise the importance of spoken language in pupils’ development across the whole curriculum- cognitively, socially and linguistically.

We aim for children to become competent in speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate. Children are given opportunities throughout the school day to communicate clearly, allowing them to articulate their thoughts and ideas, and enabling them to be confident when speaking in a variety of contexts.

Reading

At The Bemrose Primary School, we are committed to developing fluent readers, who have a good understanding of what they read. We have a wide range of reading materials on offer to develop a love of reading in all our pupils- there is something for everyone! Each class gets to visit the library every week and they can choose a library book to enjoy alongside their reading scheme book. Every child in school is heard read by an adult at least once a week.

We encourage parents to read with their children at home and pupils to change their reading books as often as possible. We praise and reward reading at home through our ‘Reading Heroes’ initiative, the children can achieve badges and certificates for the number of times they read at home. Home Reading Diaries are checked weekly across the school.

We teach Guided Reading daily for 30 minutes. During each session, we use the ‘Reciprocal Reader’ strategy to develop reading, listening, and talking skills. Wherever possible, cross-curricular links are made with the texts we use for Guided Reading, to ensure children are exposed to subject-specific vocabulary at every opportunity. The texts our pupils read, and study are chosen carefully to offer challenge, to engage and to deepen knowledge and understanding. We also ensure that the children are exposed to a variety of texts including, fiction, non-fiction, poetry and plays.

We follow the VIPERS acronym across the school to ensure we are covering all the reading content domains. Planning is also guided by the National Curriculum to ensure complete coverage of the statutory requirements. Children are given opportunities to complete an ‘Unseen Text’ independently, so they can apply the skills they have learnt.

Each year group has a reading spine; this is a collection of texts for each half term, linked to the creative curriculum. Each class enjoys a 15-minute story time together daily before home time. The teacher explicitly models the skills of a proficient reader including reading with fluency and expression.

Spelling

At The Bemrose Primary School, we encourage our children to think and write creatively, use a wide range of vocabulary, and to write with a clear purpose and for pleasure. To achieve this, it is essential that our children learn to spell accurately. Children who can spell feel more confident and enjoy writing for pleasure. We want our children to be equipped with a range of strategies for learning to spell and be able to apply these when spelling words independently.

We have devised our spelling scheme for Years 2-6 that has been created to meet the higher demands of the National Curriculum, which links closely to the RWI phonics scheme we use in EYFS and Year 1. Children who do not pass the phonics screening check in Year 1 continue to access phonics interventions until they have achieved the required fluency and skill required.

Spelling is taught through sounds and syllables which allows children to apply their understanding of phonics to develop their spelling skills.  Alongside this, we use a variety of visual memory spelling strategies to ensure every child in our school is able to spell. A new spelling rule is taught weekly, we teach children the rules and common patterns, as well as teaching exceptions to these rules. Spelling is taught for 20 minutes daily. The children are given the opportunity to apply what they have learnt across the week through a dictation activity. Each week, year groups send home 10 spellings, all of which will be a revision of spelling patterns previously learnt.

Writing

We aim to develop fluent, creative, and confident writers at The Bemrose Primary School, who write clearly and accurately for a range of purposes.  Writing is taught daily and planning is aligned to the 2014 English National Curriculum and mapped out for each year group in a long-term plan. Knowledge and skills from the National Curriculum are planned into every writing sequence of learning. Children then have the opportunity to showcase that they can independently apply these to their own piece of writing. Teachers plan to ensure coverage of skills throughout the year, ensuring that these are revisited across many genres and text types. In terms of medium-term planning, teachers plan at least 2 sequences of writing resulting in 2 opportunities for independent writing, each half-term. Short-term planning is in the form of a ‘LYNX’ presentation which teachers use to scaffold their teaching

Our writing planning is inspired by a core text that is studied in depth; this provides stimulus for our writing. The first part of any writing unit consists of immersing the children in the text. During this phase, the children explore the book they will be focusing on. This allows the children to engage with the text and learn new vocabulary linked to the text. It provides a base for all writing.

Teachers choose specific elements of grammar and punctuation that are taught to suit each genre, these are in line with the National Curriculum and taught explicitly. For every piece of writing, we look at a ‘model text’, similar to what the children are planning. The children will learn about the structure, vocabulary, and grammar aspects of the genre.

Children then begin to plan for their own piece of writing, applying everything they learnt during the unit. The final part of each writing unit consists of drafting, editing and writing up neatly.

Handwriting

We have adopted the ‘Achieving Excellence in Handwriting’ policy to teach handwriting at The Bemrose Primary School. We recognise that good handwriting needs self-discipline, skill, and quality teacher input.

We follow a systematic programme of lessons; the handwriting style is clear and simplistic.  Handwriting is taught for 10 minutes daily; we believe that doing it little and often is the key to success.

When taught effectively, handwriting is where children will see the biggest change and fastest improvement in their work; and progress they can see, feel and enjoy. We believe that good handwriting boosts children’s self-esteem and motivation levels rise, influencing children’s attitudes to learning in other subjects. We aim to make handwriting an automatic process that does not interfere with creative and mental thinking. We hold a high regard to the presentation of work at The Bemrose School and this is something we prioritise.  However, we also recognise that many children face barriers when learning to write neatly. We provide wider opportunities in the day for these children to support their fine motor skills. Including active hands and physical literacy interventions.

Multiplication Table Check (MTC)

In Year 4 the children are required to complete a Multiplication Table Check. It is an assessment that the children will complete in June each academic year. It became a statutory requirement in 2021/2022.

The MTC is an online test where the pupils are asked 25 questions on times tables 2 to 12. For every question you have 6 seconds to answer and in between the questions there is a 3-second rest. Questions about the 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12 times table come up more often. The questions are generated randomly based on the rules of the MTC.

At The Bemrose School we have a calculations policy in place, within the policy it makes it clear the progression of learning timetables and what the expectations are for each year group. As the children move into Year 4, time is dedicated to using the MTC app and practicing the skills to complete the check online.

For more information about the Multiplication Table Check please click on the link below;

Multiplication tables check: information for parents – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Learning times tables is a skill that the children use throughout the maths curriculum. We encourage the children to practice their times tables at home, we believe it is a skill they will need and use in life. We use TTrockstars as a great tool to practice times tables both at school and at home. Your child’s log in details are in their reading record. Please use the link below to login in and take a look:

Times Tables Rock Stars: Play (ttrockstars.com)