Reading, Writing and Phonics

At Downton C of E Primary School, our vision for reading and writing is to inspire children by exposing them to a wide range of high-quality texts from diverse authors and cultures. We aim for every child to become a fluent, confident reader who enjoys exploring different genres and forms of writing. Through regular opportunities for shared reading and discussion of these books, alongside time dedicated to reading for pleasure, we foster a passion for reading. This, in turn, sparks creativity and ambition in our young writers, encouraging them to express themselves confidently and imaginatively.

We aim for children to be informed readers, listeners and thinkers by exposing them to a wide range of texts. As a staff team, we have identified key texts which every child should experience on their journey through Downton. By developing critical reading and thinking skills, children will gain knowledge of the world and understand the power of language. Click here to see the progression of reading at Downton.

At Downton C of E Primary School, we want every child to be an author and be equipped with the necessary skills to develop a love for writing. We feel the ability to communicate effectively underpins our curriculum and provides key skills which enable Downton children to fulfil their dreams. Across all subjects, we provide a forum for children to develop the skills necessary to communicate their thoughts, ideas, decisions and feelings successfully. We aim to develop children's use of wide and purposeful vocabulary, which provides them with the tools to express themselves both verbally and through their writing. We strongly believe that in order to write successfully, children must first have something to write about. With this in mind, our teachers engage children with active experiences based on high-quality texts at the beginning of a writing unit and plan a wide variety of rich experiences, including visits and trips, that not only enhance children’s knowledge but also ignite their creativity and inspire their writing. Click here to see the progression of writing at Downton.

We aim for each student to leave primary school empowered with the language skills they need to advocate for themselves and others, as well as express their opinions. By fostering independence in reading and writing and encouraging reflective, respectful dialogue, we empower our students to participate fully in society and approach future challenges with resilience, empathy, and insight.

At Downton, children are empowered to make their own choices surrounding reading for pleasure. We have lunch time story stop club in our library where children are encouraged to borrow and read books. We are fortunate to have two reading sheds (one for EYFS and KS1 and one for KS2) full of wonderful books for our children to enjoy at lunchtimes and breaktimes. Our Early Years and Key Stage One classes visit our library weekly to borrow picture books and our Key Stage Two children visit termly.

Our carefully selected 100 top pick reads are launched each year with the children receiving a bookmark of the books chosen for their year group. These books are available in our library, the local library in Downton and may be found in our classes. Once the children have completed their bookmark, they receive a sparkly star badge for their year group.

Click below to see our Downton top picks for each year group:

We encourage our children to develop a love of reading through sharing books with adults at least five times a week. Children who have read frequently throughout the week or have shown great improvement in their efforts have the opportunity to be awarded Reader of the Week. Each term a name is drawn from the weekly winners and one child from each class is awarded Reader of the Term. They are then invited to join a special trip to the Rocketship Bookshop in Salisbury to choose a book of their choice and to listen to a story. After, they get to go to Boston Tea Party for a hot chocolate.

The impact of our English curriculum at Downton is evident in pupils’ achievement and progress. A higher-than-average percentage of pupils meet or exceed age-related expectations in reading and writing at the end of Key Stage 2 which is consistently evidenced through internal assessments and national tests. Moreover, increased parental engagement in reading initiatives reflects the community's support for the English curriculum. Events such as reading-focused open classrooms, and our top pick reads, foster partnerships between school and home, enhancing pupil learning. Our English curriculum also enhances pupils' cultural awareness and understanding. Through exposure to diverse texts and authors, pupils develop empathy and appreciation for different perspectives, contributing to broader educational goals. In essence, through the delivery of reading and writing, Downton C of E Primary School creates an enriching, inclusive, and effective learning environment that develops pupils' literacy skills and inspires a love of language.

Useful websites and apps to support English:

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home (A free site to access over 250 ebooks)

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/parents/ (A site with helpful tips on learning to read/write)

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/topics/zhrrd2p (Information about spelling and grammar rules)

https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/ (You will need to sign up but the computer version is free)

Phonics

At Downton C of E Primary school we follow the Ruth Miskin Read, Write, Inc Scheme. It is a fun, multi-sensory approach to phonics which incorporates pictures, rhymes and Fred Talk to help support children with the acquisition of sounds.

Here is a link to a ‘top tips’ section on their website-

Parents and Carers - Ruth Miskin Literacy

Spelling

From Year 2 to Year 6 our children follow Read, Write, Inc. Spelling a comprehensive, daily spelling scheme which develops children’s knowledge of word families, suffixes and prefixes as well as providing mnemonics to help remember tricky spellings and rules.