Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light.’

Vera Nazarian

Intent

At Woodford Valley, our intention is to promote a love of literature through widespread reading of books which capture the imagination and interest of children and unlock the door to a world of information. We aim to develop confident, independent readers and promote a love of a range of texts. We believe good literacy skills hold the key to all other subject areas. Our intention is for children to master the spoken word and written language which is crucial in allowing children to express themselves, communicate with others and develop imaginative and creative skills to cope with the challenges of our multicultural society. Through reading in particular, it is our intention that pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. We also believe in providing children with the opportunity to write purposefully and imaginatively, in a variety of forms, linking it to their class book, topic or personal experience. Our intention is for the children to be able to see themselves as valued writers. Furthermore, we aim to nurture and extend children’s communication and thinking skills through philosophy sessions.

Implementation

At Woodford Valley, we follow the National Curriculum but put our own creative touch and pedagogy to our delivery. We create stimulating reading environments for children in class and around school to help develop reading for pleasure and ensure there is scope for children to experience of a wide range of texts, including multi-media. Writing is also linked to: history, geography and science topics as well as current affairs such as National elections. We use ‘Quality First Teaching’ in our Literacy lessons and a clear sequence of teaching activities which enable children to develop the skills to master all types of genres. Exposure to modelling of different forms of writing regularly also helps with this. We ask children to present work in a variety of ways such as presentations, speeches, debates, written narrative, argument and script writing. We believe strongly in enriching our literacy curriculum so we arrange visits to theatres, invite productions into school, use visitors such as authors and drama specialists to deliver workshops; all of which enhance the work children have been undertaking in school. We hold an annual ‘Book Week’ where the whole school reads a particular book which we then link to our writing; we also take part in the annual ‘Pjamarama’ event to foster and promote a love of reading and celebrate World Book Day.

Impact

Children develop critical abilities, so as to reflect and comment on their own work and sensitively appreciate the work of others. Due to careful sequencing of work, children are able to build on their previous knowledge and skills and also really develop the tools that are needed to be able to write effectively in a particular genre. As teachers incorporate different styles of learning in their teaching, such as: whole-class reading, writing and discussion; focused grammar work, and guided group, paired or independent work, it ensures the children experience a variety of activities over the week. Our focus on reading for pleasure has meant children are introduced to a wide range of texts. There is plenty of scope in the Literacy curriculum for using multi-media and all children have access to the internet and laptop computers to aid work so children experience a variety of resources.  Through making links with other areas of the curriculum, children enjoy writing tasks which are purposeful and fun. Activities such as theatre trips, visits from authors and celebrations during Book Week and World Book Day further enhance the children’s literary experience at our school.

Literacy Subject Lead

January 2024