In the Koinonia Federation, we strive to ensure that our children will leave our primary phase fully equipped with a secure foundation of literacy skills to enable them to successfully build upon their learning at secondary level and beyond. We aim to ignite a curiosity and passion for written and spoken language.
CLICK HERE to view the Koinonia Federation English Map.
READING
At our schools, nurturing a love of reading and a recognition of the importance of becoming a fluent, confident reader is paramount.
In EYFS and KS1 we follow Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised for our daily phonics sessions and the teaching of early reading. This is separate to the children’s English lessons.
CLICK HERE to view the Little Wandle parents workshop presentation
CLICK HERE to view the Little Wandle Phonics Programme Overview for Reception and Year 1
CLICK HERE to view Key Phonics terminology
To support the early teaching of reading, we provide the children with a range of books that they can take home to enjoy with their families. We have recently started to implement a book-banding system, where books are categorised and grouped by colour based on their level of difficulty. This enables the children and their families to visually see their progress in reading.
Each day, across the Koinonia Federation, we deliver sessions focussed on whole class teaching of reading. These sessions provide an opportunity for teachers to model specific reading skills, expose the children to a range of high-quality texts across different genres and to foster a love for reading; texts are chosen based on enjoyment and relevance to the children and/or current learning themes. Each day, during this allocated time, there is opportunity for staff to work with smaller groups of children to focus on specific targets to enable progression in their reading. Children study new vocabulary and word meanings, alongside the skills to decipher meaning, as well as practising key comprehension skills such as inference and prediction.
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:
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.
For more information on the end of key stage statutory requirements, please click here.
SPELLINGS
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, spelling rules and patterns in the lists have been taken directly from the National Curriculum. It is really important that children learn their spellings, spelling patterns and are able to apply them in their writing. Each year, we continue to revisit and build on spelling skills that have been previously taught.
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.
You will be able to find your child’s spelling list below and on ‘our classes’ page on our website.
| 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, literary 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, ensuring that grammar learning is contextualised and relevant. The writing process begins with introducing the children to a model example of the genre being taught, which they analyse. They then begin to write their own piece over a series of lessons, giving the children time to fully understand the linguistic skills that they are acquiring. Once they have edited and improved their writing, they then publish this to produce a final polished piece of work.
Please see below for the different genres of writing and the grammar 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. There is no test for writing. Instead, the children will be assessed using the portfolio of work that they have built up over the year. At the end of Key Stage 2, they will also be assessed in their knowledge of Grammar and Spelling.
Currently, there is no formal test for the assessment of Writing. Instead, throughout the academic year children 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 is working at a level above or below 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:
KS1 Writing Assessment Framework
KS2 Writing Assessment Framework
Handwriting
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 skills are reinforced daily during lessons.