English (Reading, Writing and Spelling)

English at Mora

At Mora, English is an integral part of our curriculum. We aim for our children to become life-long learners, who love delving into books and the world. We want our children to develop a passion for writing and to be proud to share their work with others.

Reading:

The children participate in daily reading sessions.  We ensure that good quality texts are at the core of our curriculum and drive learning in all subjects. We deliver a high-quality, skill and discussion based reading curriculum which enables children to develop fluency, read widely with confidence across both fiction and non-fiction texts and have meaningful discussions about what they have read. All children are taught a range of skills in reading to ensure that they not only become fluent readers but also have a good understanding of what they have read.

To encourage reading for pleasure, all children will have the opportunity to choose a home reading book from our library or their book corner, which is changed weekly. In addition, each child has a book allocated online, through Collins Big Cat in Reception and KS1 and Bug Club in KS2.

Phonics and Spelling:

In the Nursery we concentrate on developing children's speaking and listening skills and lay the foundations for the phonic work which starts in Reception. The children begin to explore sounds in the environment around them and develop their listening skills.

In Reception and Year 1, the children are taught phonics in whole class sessions. The whole school follows Mora Phonics, a systematic phonics programme based on 'Letters and Sounds' and the National Curriculum. The children are taught individual sounds, how to blend these sounds together to form words, how to segment the sounds for writing and how to form each grapheme to begin handwriting.

From Year 2 onwards, the children are taught spelling patterns and rules. They have a weekly focus and are given lots of opportunities to practise these skills within the curriculum.

Writing:

We use a range of exciting and stimulating books to engage children with literature and ensure they become familiar with writing styles from a wide selection of authors. The children are asked to write in a variety of genres; whether this is their own version of Shakespeare's Macbeth or writing their own instructions for how to catch The Enormous Crocodile! We view vocabulary, grammar and punctuation as the mechanics of writing and these are interwoven throughout daily English lessons. Our lessons are planned to support the children develop a process for writing through discussion of modelled texts, drama, working together and planning, as well as giving them time to review and edit their writing before publishing.