English
Key Documents:
Intent, Implementation and Impact statement - Reading
Intent, Implementation and Impact statement - Writing
A parent's guide to book bands
Phonics and Spelling
The systematic teaching of phonics has a high priority at Guiseley Primary School. We use a synthetic phonics programme called ‘Rocket Phonics’ which uses a range of engaging resources and texts to help children become fluent, resilient readers.
Below are a couple of useful documents that will breakdown how we teach phonics and also provide you wind some handy hints and tips on how you can support your child at home.
English - Aims and Aspirations
We aim to develop a love of books so that our children want to read for pleasure and to gain knowledge and understanding. We aim that our children learn to read with independence, fluently and with expression. Children have access to our amazing library on a weekly basis where they can relax with a book, which they are able to borrow and return the following week, or renew if they have not quite finished with it.
We aim to produce writers, who can write for different purposes, in a clear, legible handwriting, using Standard English, a wide range of punctuation and accurate spelling. We use our own bespoke writing process, which enables our children to fully immerse themselves in the genre before putting pen to paper.
We aim that our children can express themselves orally to a range of audiences and can listen and respond to the views of others.
We aim that our children can appreciate literature; we introduce them to a variety of authors and reading material.
The school follows a carefully levelled range of books designed to meet the needs of the children as individuals and the requirements of the National Literacy Strategy. Our children choose their own reading books from the appropriate level.
Reading
At Guiseley Primary School we believe reading to be fundamental to your child's learning. Our aim is that every child, on leaving, can read for enjoyment and educational value. We ask that parents play an active part in supporting their child's reading skills. Please encourage your child to practise reading their books daily at home, as directed by the teacher.
All classes are exposed to a daily class novel, for pleasure, to excite and engage the children, and to expose them to new and varied vocabulary. All books shared with children are age appropriate and matched to the level of the class.
Great care has been taken to provide children with a wide range of texts that have been selected with a number of criteria in mind.
In EYFS and Key Stage 1 children will experience texts that feature:
- Traditional tales
- Different cultures
- Diversity
- Personal, Social and Emotional development
- Developing a greater understanding of the world
- Numeracy
Moving through into Key Stage 2, texts have also been chosen that showcase tolerance and diversity along with deepening children's knowledge and interest in a particular classroom topic. However additional books have been chosen that broaden the children's reading diet and challenge them to try something new.
These books feature:
- Archaic language
- Non-linear time sequences (Stories where time flows back and forth, not just one direction)
- Complex narratives (Some books have more than one narrator telling the story or non-human narrators such as the horse who tells the story in Black Beauty)
- Complexity of story
- Resistant elements (Stories that make the reader have to assemble meaning around nuances, hints, uncertainties and clues)
You can see the whole list of texts each year group uses here - GPS Reading Spine
What else can you do to help your child?
Sharing a book with your child is a valuable experience so make sure that you:
- are both comfortable
- are sitting so that you can both see the pages of the book
- are undisturbed
- let your child choose the book
- make use of the school and public library
If you are unsure which books you should share with your child please have a look through our 'recommended reads' document for your child's year group. These quality texts have been picked out to introduce your child to a wider range of both fiction and non-fiction titles that are pitched at the right level for them to access.
Showing how much enjoyment can be gained from reading is very important for your child. Parents are welcome to come into the school to help with reading. Please ask your child’s teacher or if you would like additional advice, or would like to be more involved.