Reading and Writing at Heathbrook

At Heathbrook we are passionate about creating a language rich environment in which children’s literacy can thrive. We use creative approaches to teaching literacy, putting quality children’s literature at the heart of all learning.

‘pupils across the school are enthusiastic about books and read regularly for pleasure’ [Ofsted]

Reading and Writing is underpinned by a whole school commitment to oracy. We have worked closely with the Communication Trust to further enhance staff skills and communication-friendly learning environments. To further support children with speech and language difficulties we buy in a Speech and Language Therapist, alongside an intervention teacher who delivers group work to improve children’s speech and language skills. In addition to this, we also have a reading teacher who works throughout KS1 and KS2.

Please read our Intent, Implementation and Impact statement.

Read Write Inc

We start teaching the RWI programme in our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and continue this in KS1. In EYFS, all children will learn how to ‘read’ and ‘write’ sounds from Set 1 and Set 2, learning how to blend them into words. Fred the Frog helps the children to blend the sounds together, which is known as ‘Fred talk’. 

We assess all children on the scheme regularly, to ensure that they are placed in the correct group for their reading ability.  This also allows us to quickly identify any children who need extra support to access the learning. If this arises, we provide one-to-one tutoring for the child in accordance with the Read, Write Inc scheme to help individuals make rapid progress and once again be at the level of their group.  

Children also begin to read stories in their Read, Write Inc sessions. The storybooks correlate to the sounds the children are learning, whilst simultaneously being exposed to ‘red words’ (irregular words that are not phonetically plausible.) 

You can read more about the programme here https://www.ruthmiskin.com/

Complete Comprehension

At Heathbrook, we follow the ‘Complete Comprehension’ scheme: a whole-school programme designed to support children’s application of reading skills, including word choice and meaning through analysing the language choices used; prediction of texts; comparison of phrases/texts; inference; retrieval and summarising skills. Children are exposed to various fiction and nonfiction, high-quality texts, allowing them to draw comparisons between texts confidently. 

First News

First News is provided for homework at Heathbrook. First News is the UK’s only newspaper for young people. The provider aims to create fresh and innovative news content that speaks directly to young people with articles refreshed on a weekly basis. It provides:

✔️ Improved oracy: through engaging discussions on current events and global news.

✔️ Boost reading for pleasure: with captivating stories and news.

✔️ World knowledge: helping them to understand the world whilst developing their critical literacy.

✔️ Support beyond the classroom: resources that support student development both inside and outside of the classroom.

✔️ Fun and different: news-based, non-fiction content that is both educational and entertaining.

Reading Wise

ReadingWise is a reading intervention used in KS2 at Heathbrook. ReadingWise is designed to cover phonics, decoding, comprehension and vocabulary activities. The online intervention uses algorithms and adaptive lessons to deliver content to optimise a child’s learning.