At Barton Moss, our curriculum is meticulously designed to address the specific context of our school and the barriers to learning that many of our pupils face. Our coherent literacy spine, which spans from EYFS to Year 6, is central to this effort. It prioritises the identification and bridging of gaps in literacy, with a focus on enriching children’s vocabulary and exposing them to high-quality grammar and language models.
The primary goals of our literacy curriculum are:
- Comprehensive Literacy Development: Our literacy spine incorporates a diverse range of texts, including traditional tales, which provide ample opportunities for reading and writing. This systematic approach is particularly beneficial for our pupils with limited vocabulary, especially our EAL (English as an Additional Language) students who may join us during KS1 and KS2.
- Reading as a Gateway: We emphasize the critical role of reading across the curriculum, recognizing its importance in shaping children’s future life opportunities. Author studies and author visits serve to inspire pupils and showcase writing as a viable career path.
- Structured Literacy Progression: Our curriculum features a defined sequence of literacy development, deliberately exposing children to various text types and ensuring clear progression throughout the year groups.
Early Reading and Phonics:
- In Nursery, teachers will implement Phase One phonics sessions focused on developing sound discrimination skills.
- In Reception and KS1, we follow the Read Write Inc systematic phonics scheme to teach phoneme-grapheme correspondence and blending skills. Children will be grouped by their phonic decoding abilities for daily sessions structured around “teach, review, practise, and apply.”
- Children will have access to decodable books that align with their classroom phonics lessons, allowing them to practice skills learned in school.
- Reading sessions will be planned using our literacy spine, which aims to foster a love of reading, expose children to a variety of books, and enhance their comprehension and inference skills.
Through this comprehensive literacy curriculum, we aim to equip our pupils with the skills and passion for reading and writing that will serve them well throughout their education and beyond, fostering a lifelong love of language and learning.