English at Hemington Primary School

We are passionate about inspiring our children to become confident and independent learners through continuous encouragement to discuss, share, celebrate and respect the foundations of our wonderful language.

Phonics

We prioritise the teaching of phonics and we aim for all children to master the phonetic code as quickly as possible. We teach phonics daily from year R to Year 2.

This is taught through a highly structured synthetic phonic approach. We follow a scheme called Read Write Inc. and the priority is that children develop their knowledge of the 26 letters in the alphabet, the 44 phonemes and 140 letter combinations.

Click the image for more information about our teaching of phonics:

Click the ear for the order our sounds are taught:

Following the Read Write Inc programme, children will read books matched to their phonics level. Click here for a progression of the book colours and the sounds that they cover.

Each year we hold a Phonics/ Early Reading Coffee Morning for our families to help them understand the school's approach to teaching phonics/ early reading. Please click here for our presentation. 

At the end of Year 1 the children undergo a statutory phonics screening check. Children who not yet met the expected threshold continue to receive phonics lessons. Click here to find out more information about the phonics screening assessment.

Recommended Apps to support phonics at home:

Spelling

At Hemington Primary we focus on regular discrete teaching of spelling. We use a range of methods to teach new spelling patterns and rules. Children are then expected to apply their learning to all aspects of writing.

We continue to regularly revisit previous phonics and spelling learning and systematically build upon this following the Read Write Inc Spelling progression.

Within each year group, children learn to spell National Curriculum common exception words as well as other high frequency words that we believe to be important for the children to learn to spell.

Click this link to find more about Read Write Inc Spelling and how to support your child at home

Reading

Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. 

Our overview for reading ensures that reading skills, vocabulary and comprehension are built upon progressively as children move through the school. Here are the links to our literature spines:

Hornbeams Preschool

Reception

Nightingale Class - KS1

Brunel Class - KS2

Reading books match children's phonetic knowledge. Through the Read Write Inc programme, the book a child is expected to read matches the phonemes they are currently being taught. Children re-read these books to develop fluency. Along with these phonetically decodable books, children also take home a book simply to enjoy. It is through sharing books that children’s vocabulary is broadened, cultural capital is built and a love of reading is nurtured.

When a child is ready, they are introduced to other reading books which build upon decoding skills, but also develop a repertoire of further reading strategies such as sight recognition, knowledge of grammar and picture cues. 

Whole Class Guided Reading

From Year 1, children participate in regular Guided Reading sessions. The aim, is for all children to benefit from exposure to a broad range of quality texts. This serves to expand their knowledge of the world and their vocabulary, so that no child is disadvantaged, irrespective of their starting point. Reading lessons are structured to cover skills including vocabulary development, retrieval, inference, prediction, explaining author choice and summarising.

Read Aloud

Importantly, every class enjoys daily story sessions, where an adult reads aloud a range of genres, enabling children to learn the disciplinary knowledge of characterisation, modulation and fluency. Texts are specifically chosen to expose children to a wide range of vocabulary and content.  

Reading with your child

Click on the book to download Top Tips for reading. 

Reading incentives

At Hemington children participate in the Reading Raffle. Parents record children’s reading at home in their reading diaries. If a child has three or more entries each week they are awarded a raffle ticket. Once a half term the raffle is drawn and the winning child can select a prize.

Recommended Reads

Click on the image below to access the latest booklists for children. 

Punctuation and Grammar

Children write every day and apply their knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar when writing across the curriculum for a range of purposes. Please see our phonics and spelling sections for more information about how these are taught.

There are lots of technical words that the children will learn throughout the school. Click the image for a spelling, punctuation and grammar jargon buster!

Handwriting

Children across the school have regular handwriting practise and fine motor activities.

Children learn to form letters as part of their phonics following the Read Write Inc scheme. Click the image below for a video on handwriting mnemonics for letter formation.

Writing

We develop confidence in our pupils to write creatively and for a purpose. Our overview for writing ensures that writing skills are built upon progressively as children move through the school.  

Writing at Hemington School is taught through The Write Stuff approach. This method allows pupils to improve their oracy and widen their vocabulary in every lesson, whilst deepening their understanding of choices for writing through the use of the shade’o’meter. Pupils make rapid progress in writing and enjoy sharing their independent writing at the end of each unit.

All our writing is taught through the ‘writing rainbow’ which provides a lens for the writer to focus through.  This ensures all writing is effective and engaging for the reader, whilst meeting the intended purpose. 

Writing Overview

Please see the document below which clearly outlines our writing approach at Hemington School: