English and Maths at Astmoor

English

At Astmoor Primary School we believe that English is a fundamental life skill. Teaching English is more than just 'equipping children with the skills to speak, read and write'. We believe that English is the key to communicating with others and expressing themselves in all areas of their lives. All elements of our English lessons are designed to ensure that children leave our school being able to read fluently, speak properly (using a wide vocabulary) and to write to a good standard.

English is taught every day, during the morning, for approximately 1 hour. 

KS1 and Foundation Stage children follow the 'Read, Write Inc' scheme for phonics and reading. It is a very rigourous approach which aims to secure good reading (decoding) skills as early as possible in order to allow greater focus on reading comprehension further up school. As soon as your child enters our school in Foundation Stage, they will begin the Read, Write Inc scheme as part of their daily lessons. Once children have learnt the first set of letters, we will focus on blending them together to make words. At this point, they will begin to read very simple, decodable books and you will be able to support at home with this. All the children from Foundation Stage to Year 2, will be assessed each half term to see what progress has been made. The outcomes of these assessments will determine which group the children will be placed in. Where we feel a child is at risk of falling behind, we will implement 1-1 'keep up' sessions in order to address weaknesses. Support from carers and parents is vitally important to ensuring children make good progress and it is an expectation that all parents and carers support their children with reading activities at home.

From Year 3 upwards, children will participate in a number of whole class reading sessions each week with teachers. These sessions aim to improve the fluency of reading in order to ensure children have adequate skills to enjoy and understand what they are reading. Some children may also receive an additional small group, guided read where the teacher will support them to build on the reading skills. In addition to this, a small minority of children will receive more intensive 1-1 reading support.

Writing in both KS1 and KS2 is planned using a 'book led' approach. That means that teachers select high quality picture books that provide literary merit or link in some way to the curriculum theme or an aspect of the curriculum that is being taught. These books are explored and studied in depth leading to planned opportunities to learn about various writing structures and grammatical conventions. Extended writing opportunites are also planned to allow children the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and understanding.

All our teachers have a strong knowledge and love of children's literature - from classic literature to literature and books from new authors. All classes are read to frequently and are exposed to a wide range of rich and varied books. Each class has a selection of good quality books that children can read and take home for their home reading.

Once children move into KS2, they begin to follow a 'Read, Write, Inc' programme of spelling activities. These are short, daily lessons designed to support children in learning about the main spelling conventions we use. Children are also given a short word list to be practised at home, ready for a spelling test on Fridays.

Teachers ensure also that lots of opportunities are given to children for writing in other curriculum areas such as history, geography and science.

Handwriting is given high priority at Astmoor and there are regular, planned handwriting lessons and opportunities for practice. Our exercise books have handwriting lines that support children with spacing and sizing of letters. After each school holiday, greater time is spent focusing on handwriting to ensure children get back into good habits quickly.

Maths

At Astmoor, we follow the White Rose Maths scheme and have a practical approach to teaching maths. This is aimed at developing problem-solving skills and resilience from an early age. From Foundation Stage to Year 6, children communicate their mathematical understanding through concrete, pictorial and abstract recordings, developing their critical thinking and organisation over the years. Each year builds on the previous one with the development of skills and models to support new learning and new thinking. Where classes are mixed ages, these skills have been planned out to be taught coherently and effectively for these groups.

Our teaching of maths encourages children to reason mathematically and engage a keen sense of curiosity about the subject. Children are encouraged to seek out answers, question their own understanding, search for efficient strategies and develop independence. Key mathematical vocabulary and language is an essential part of this, with all children being encouraged to speak mathematically and share their ideas using technical language from a young age.