The teaching of Reading at Sir William Burrough school is rigorous and systematic. Children are introduced to letter sounds and formation through the Jolly Phonics programme during Reception and, where necessary, Year 1 and we do not allow any child to pass through the school without learning to read. From Year 1, children’s reading is expanded using the Oxford Reading Tree programme and their progress against that is monitored carefully. From Year 2 upwards, children are given vast choices of interesting and entertaining books in in-class libraries, which allow them to follow their own choices and desires in terms of their reading, encouraging a lifelong love of doing so. This is monitored through the Accelerated Reader programme from Renaissance Learning, where children take quizzes on the books that they have read and are rewarded for doing so. More formally, throughout the school, children are also exposed to a wide variety of class readers, increasing in difficulty as the children pass through the school, and are guided in their interpretation of texts and broadening their experiences and their vocabulary. These are often tied to the topics that are being studied. For a full list of the class readers that the children may encounter over their time in the school, broken down year by year, please click here.

The nuts and bolts of spelling, punctuation and grammar are taught all the way through the school as part of our grammar curriculum. We use the CGP Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar books to support this, but they are not the exclusive resource as teachers respond to the direct needs of the pupils in their class. The Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar programme is systematic and progressive, building their experiences year on year in order for the children to have a full and thorough understanding of the rules of English grammar. For a full breakdown of the Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation progression, click here.

Spelling rules are taught throughout the school and weekly spelling tests are set for all children, sometimes based on the topics and work that they are doing, sometimes on the demonstrated needs of the children at the time and always encompassing the National Curriculum guidelines on spellings that children should know at appropriate times in their learning. From Year 2, children are encouraged to learn spellings and be tested on them through the school Spelling Bee award, which tests 60 words per year group in accordance with the National Curriculum spelling guidance. For a list of our Spelling Bee words, please click here