Churchfields

At Churchfields, we are committed to fostering children's natural enjoyment of reading and sharing books, using language as a means of communication. The needs of all children and the objectives of the National Literacy Strategy are met through well- planned and stimulating teaching which aims to develop and extend the children's literacy skills. T... his focused approach ensures progression and continuity from Key Stage 1 to 2 and the transition into Key Stage 3. Speaking and Listening skills are developed through specific activities and also through integration with other subject areas. We have a rich range of reading resources, both for individual and guided group reading, covering a variety of genres from stories, plays and poems to non- fiction texts. Teachers also use 'Big Books' or multiple copies of a text to teach children about the structure and language of different styles of text. Children are taught how to analyse a text, to look at the author's choice of vocabulary and to identify its particular features. As part of our Home- School Reading Scheme, children regularly take home books to read. Key Stage 1 classes are taught to recognise and use sounds to help decode when beginning to read and as a tool for early writing. As they progress, children learn to write in a variety of styles for different purposes and audiences, developing skills of sentence construction, spelling, punctuation, grammar and handwriting. We encourage creativity whilst teaching children how to edit and redraft to improve their work. As part of this process, spellings are taken home to practice on a weekly basis for testing in class.Read More