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Reading
At Hurst Park, reading is the golden thread that weaves through our curriculum. This shows the importance and value of learning to read through stimulating and diverse texts that are linked to our Wider Curriculum. These texts allow pupils to meaningfully engage, share preferences, make personal connections and ask questions. We are committed to providing opportunities for all pupils to gain an enjoyment of reading and achieve the key early reading and comprehension skills needed to become a proficient reader and to ensure that these skills are transferred to all aspects of life and learning. We endeavour to ensure that our pupils develop a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards reading that will stay with them forever.
Pupils have frequent, regular and sustained opportunities to read and to talk together about the books that they are reading individually, in small groups and as a whole class. This helps the pupils to reach a shared understanding and build on their cultural literacy. We plan opportunities for all pupils to extend their vocabulary through a range of genres and subject related texts to consolidate their understanding.
Through our own LEO Whole Class Reading lessons in KS2, pupils explore a range of texts in more detail to develop their comprehension. They are taught a range of different reading skills such as retrieval, inference and prediction and practise applying those skills to a range of texts throughout the year. The children answer questions, called ‘VIPERS’, that help children to develop a greater understanding of a range of reading materials including fiction, non-fiction and poetry materials. VIPERS is an acronym which stands for: Vocabulary, Infer, Predict, Explain, Retrieve. All children work on VIPERS during class reading whether this is reading as a class, in a small group or one to one with an adult.
From Nursery to Year 2 the pupils have opportunities to explore, learn and perform poems on a weekly basis.
We believe that children should develop a love for reading which will inspire them to read for purpose and pleasure. This is supported by our school environment which excites and enthuses children to read throughout the day.
“Early reading is taught well. Children benefit from targeted and specific sessions to support their particular needs, helping them to develop quickly to become fluent and confident readers. Leaders promote a love of reading throughout the school, including the evolving library, classroom displays and the use of ‘reading sheds’ which start in the early years to foster a love of reading right from the word go.” - Ofsted 2023
Writing
At Hurst Park, we believe that learning to write effectively is one of the most important things that a child at primary school will learn. We aim to motivate children to become passionate and purposeful writers. Our focus texts have been carefully chosen to motivate, challenge and stimulate our pupil’s imaginations. They often link with our wider curriculum in order to bring greater depth and breadth to the writing process. These texts provide inspiration for a wide range of writing opportunities, allowing children to apply the language and writing styles they have been exposed to.
At each stage of learning, from EYFS to Year 6, children are taught the writing skills and grammar content that fits within their year group. In EYFS, children are encouraged to practise their pre-writing skill and explore mark making as a form of communication. As their skills progress, children begin to form letters and develop an understanding of how stories are structured. From Year 1 onwards, children then begin to write at greater length, building from simple sentences into longer pieces written for a purpose. At Hurst Park, children will focus on a range of writing purposes including, ‘to Entertain’, ‘to Inform’, ‘to Persuade’ and ‘to Discuss’. Through these purposes, they will explore a range of text types such as recounts, explanations, narratives and many more. Teachers use a variety of tools to develop children’s understanding of a text type including drama and role play, shared writing and using existing examples of a text to analyse and explore key language features. We ensure that all children have plenty of opportunities to follow the writing process from start to finish by developing their writing skills, planning, drafting, editing and finally publishing.
Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling (GPS)
At Hurst Park, the teaching of Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (GPS) is woven within our writing curriculum. The grammar content for each year group is taught in the context of our writing lessons, in order to provide opportunities for children to apply their skills in a purposeful way.
In addition to this, children will participate in discrete spelling lessons. Our spelling curriculum reinforces and builds on the phonics sounds that are learnt in EYFS and KS1. Children will have opportunities to explore, practise and apply a new spelling rule throughout the week, with opportunities also provided to revise spelling rules from previous year groups.
