In EYFS and KS1 we use the Letters and Sounds programme to teach our daily phonics sessions to teach early reading.
Each day, across the Koinonia Federation, we have a Drop Everything and Read session (D.E.A.R). This is an opportunity for the children to really get into reading; choosing books for their own enjoyment, promoting and developing a love of reading and books. Each day, during this allocated time, the class teachers work with a smaller group of children to focus on specific targets for progression in their reading.
We have also begun taking the children for regular trips to the local library. Each class has their own library card, which enables the children to sign out books that they would like to read during D.E.A.R sessions.
Across the campuses we have reading volunteers from the Beanstalk Reading Company. These volunteers bring in a selection of high quality texts to read with a few children from each class on a 1:1 basis. The children who read with these volunteers are chosen by the class teachers.
Please see below for a list of recommended texts for your child’s year group:
|Recommended reading list for EYFS|
|Recommended reading list for Year 1|
|Recommended reading list for Year 2|
|Recommended reading list for Year 3|
|Recommended reading list for Year 4|
|Recommended reading list for Year 5|
|Recommended reading list for Year 6|
At the end of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, all children across the UK will sit Standard Assessment Tests, more commonly known as the SATs. Reading is one of the areas that will be assessed in these tests, with the children having to sit an unseen comprehension test within a set time.
Please see below for a list of objectives that the children are expected to achieve at the end of each Key Stage.
Key Stage 1
Key Stage 2:
At the beginning of the year, each child is given an overview of the spelling tests for their year group. Each week, the spelling rules will be taught to the children and they will be given a chance to apply them throughout the week in their learning. They will then be tested on them.
The words and spelling rules and patterns in the lists have been taken directly from the National Curriculum. It is really important that children learn their spellings and apply them in their writing.
Each class’ spelling test will be on a different day, if you unsure of when your child has their spelling tests, please speak to the class teacher.
Please see below for the spellings for each year group.
|Year 1 spellings|
|Year 2 spellings|
|Year 3 spellings|
|Year 4 spellings|
|Year 5 spellings|
|Year 6 spellings|
GRAMMAR AND WRITING
Throughout the year, children will be given the opportunity to produce writing of different genres, for example, diary entries, letters, newspaper articles, stories etc. Each genre of writing has certain grammatical and language features that need to be included, such as using the correct layout and formal language when writing a formal letter. These features will be taught to the children throughout the writing process.
Please see below for the different genres of writing and the grammar foci that will be taught in each year group.
|Grammar Objectives for Year 2|
|Grammar Objectives for Year 3|
|Grammar Objectives for Year 4|
|Grammar Objectives for Year 5|
|Grammar Objectives for Year 6|
As with the reading, at the end of each key stage, the children will be assessed in their writing, and in their knowledge of Grammar and Spelling.
Children across the UK will sit a Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling test alongside their Reading and Maths SATs.
Currently, there is no formal test for the assessment of Writing. Instead, throughout the academic year in children and teachers in Year 2 and Year 6, will be compiling a portfolio of evidence in their writing books to showcase their abilities as young writers. This will then be used to make judgements about whether or not each child has achieved the expected standard or above for the end of the Key Stage.
Please see below for the objectives that the children will be expected to achieve by the end of each Key Stage:
Key Stage 1
Key Stage 2
Across the Koinonia Federation, we teach the children to use a formal cursive style of handwriting. This encourages the children to develop a neat, joined style of writing, which as they progress through the school, will enable them to write at speed.
Handwriting lessons are taught weekly and reinforced daily during lessons.