English
At The Richmond School it is expected that by the end of Y6 our children will be ready for secondary school, and beyond.
We want all children to be able to confidently communicate their knowledge, ideas and emotions through their writing and reach their full potential. Children will write as readers with the ability to differentiate between different genres/audiences. At The Richmond School we want to produce the authors of the future. The children will be inspired to write through experience days and will develop their writing stamina. Children will develop a rich vocabulary through a love of reading and will replicate this language within their own work. Children will develop word consciousness. They will develop an explicit awareness that words are richly connected, exist in families and exhibit common patterns. Children will connect spelling to the meaning of words
At The Richmond School writing is taught daily using Jane Considine’s ‘The Write Stuff’ in Y1-Y6. Foundation stage begin the program at the beginning of summer 1 once their phonics and fine motor skills are at a suitable level. Each year group’s writing unit is based on a high-quality text and lessons are delivered in three modes: sentence stacking, experience days moving to independent writing. The experience days provide children with the vocabulary, background knowledge and understanding needed to access the text and write in a meaningful way. The sentence stacking lessons support children with structuring their ideas and to use an extensive vocabulary. Children then complete an independent writing unit in which they apply all of the skills they have been taught.
Writing is also a focus in topic lessons and children are encouraged to apply their English knowledge in different contexts.
We want all children to be able to confidently communicate their knowledge, ideas and emotions through their writing and reach their full potential. Children will write as readers with the ability to differentiate between different genres/audiences. At The Richmond School we want to produce the authors of the future. The children will be inspired to write through experience days and will develop their writing stamina. Children will develop a rich vocabulary through a love of reading and will replicate this language within their own work. Children will develop word consciousness. They will develop an explicit awareness that words are richly connected, exist in families and exhibit common patterns. Children will connect spelling to the meaning of words
At The Richmond School writing is taught daily using Jane Considine’s ‘The Write Stuff’ in Y1-Y6. Foundation stage begin the program at the beginning of summer 1 once their phonics and fine motor skills are at a suitable level. Each year group’s writing unit is based on a high-quality text and lessons are delivered in three modes: sentence stacking, experience days moving to independent writing. The experience days provide children with the vocabulary, background knowledge and understanding needed to access the text and write in a meaningful way. The sentence stacking lessons support children with structuring their ideas and to use an extensive vocabulary. Children then complete an independent writing unit in which they apply all of the skills they have been taught.
Writing is also a focus in topic lessons and children are encouraged to apply their English knowledge in different contexts.
Spelling
From Y2 classes follow RWI Spelling which is a progressive spelling scheme. Through exploring spelling patterns and rules, we aim to create confident and proficient spellers.
Handwriting
It is paramount that children are rigorously taught correct letter formation from the very beginning of their time in school. During the foundation stage at The Richmond School, the children are taught the correct posture for writing, how to hold a pencil correctly and they are taught letter formation in RWI phonics sessions. In KS1 and KS2 we use Letter-join to develop a joined, legible handwriting style. Teachers are expected to model the school’s handwriting style at every opportunity.
Book Chat
Book Chat is the informal interaction that accompanies quality reading to and with children, developing children’s language and comprehension and nurturing a love of reading. The films model this relaxed interaction through the use of open questions, comments and prompts to initiate Book Chat and enable parents and children to share the pleasure of reading together. This is even more important whilst families cope with a post-pandemic world. Please have a look at the appropriate video, below, for your child's age.