It is our goal for every child at Billingshurst Primary School to be a reader. Our curriculum encourages children to read for pleasure, to develop their interests and to support their independent learning across the curriculum.
To support our teaching of phonics, we use Read Write inc, which is a DfE accredited progression of teaching phonics and spelling. It teaches children the sounds in English, the letters that represent them and how to form these letters when writing. For more information on Read Write Inc., including helpful videos and examples of activities, please visit their website here:
Our approach to writing is based around writing for authentic purposes, both real and imagined, and for our children to see themselves as writers. Children immerse themselves in the 'world' of their writing, practising key grammatical techniques, building their vocabulary and planning their final pieces. Teachers facilitate this by providing a range of stimuli, from music, images, art, trips and visitors, all aimed at equipping our children to write well for their audience.
At Billingshurst Primary School, we adopt a cross-curricular approach, with reading and writing skills permeating throughout the curriculum. We have a wonderful school library with thousands of books to inspire our children and support learning.
We also believe that good readers become good writers, the richness, depth and breadth of reading determines the writers that they become.
Here at BPS we emphasise:
- The importance of reading quality texts and talking about them.
- The principles of oracy and the importance of shared writing.
- The importance of setting achievable next steps for children.
- The need for the children to reflect on their reading and writing in order to clearly understand what they need to do to improve.
- The need for children to be given opportunities to choose what to write about and how to present their work.
- The value of extended reading and writing sessions and the time given to developing a piece of writing.
At BPS we have high expectations for oracy, reading and writing across the curriculum.
You can find out more by clicking on one of the links below:
We use the Emile spelling scheme in our English lessons. See the link for more resources - https://emile-education.com/
