Phonics
Read Write Inc. is a systematic synthetic phonics scheme which, through consistent teaching and routines, enables children to achieve high levels of reading success. At Kenley Primary School we believe that reading is the key to all learning and we are fully committed to making sure that every child is a reader by the end of KS1.
We have a dedicated team of Teachers and Learning Coaches who trained in delivering RWI. They are passionate about achieving success and take part in regular meetings for coaching and training purposes. The scheme is overseen by the Phonics Lead, who monitors RWI sessions and ensures that all teaching is high quality and that children are focused and engaged.
Links to Sound Mats can be found below.
Reading
We are relentless about promoting a love of English literature and language for all of our children, whatever their age, ability or interests. We are very proud of our library, which was relaunched in January 2025, thanks to our PTFA (KENCo), ABC Book Club and Head of School. This fantastic resource contains a huge range of fiction and non-fiction books to motivate and capture the interests of our children. It is also an area where the children can enjoy a calm environment to enjoy reading for pleasure, right at the heart of Kenley and is open during some lunchtime.
Our teachers deliver daily class reading sessions to children, through whole-class, fluency and read-aloud time. These focus on a wide genre of texts. Where possible, these are linked to the current class topic. In our weekly “celebration assembly”, teachers reward individual readers who have stood out for their participation, not simply their achievement, in reading activities. It can be a hotly contested event!
Find out more about our Reading via the links below.
Parents and carers can also support their children in learning spellings. Children are regularly assessed in reading, writing, grammar and spellings to identify both their progress and their development needs.
Handwriting
At Kenley, our aim is that children will develop handwriting which is neat, legible and correctly joined (from Year 1).
Cursive joined handwriting is taught using our bespoke scheme.
Spelling
Spelling in Key Stage 2 is taught using the Spelling by Phoneme scheme which teaches the children spelling rules and strategies to help them learn their spellings. Spelling practise is a part of weekly homework in all year groups and we have high expectations for application of spellings within all works of writing in school. Just let your class teacher know if there are ever any concerns.
To find out more about High Frequency words, Common Exception Words and National Curriculum Spellings lists, click the links below.
Grammar
The grammar elements of the National Curriculum are planned for and embedded within English lessons. Children are given opportunities to practise their grammar skills within short burst writing before applying them to final pieces of writing. An overview of the National curriculum expectations can be found below.
Writing
Literacy Tree is a complete, book-based platform that covers all requirements of the English curriculum. The books chosen help children at Kenley to grow ideas and expand their minds. Teaching is usually done in blocks of work that last between 1 – 3 weeks and provide opportunities for children to produce purposeful and engaging writing outcomes.
It starts at the roots. Literacy Tree provides book-based planning sequences, Writing Roots, which embed all aspects of the literacy curriculum and engage our children to write with clarity and purpose.
You can read more about the Literacy Tree statement of intent and how it covers the National Curriculum below.
