100 books to try and read

• Years 1 & 2
• Years 3 & 4
• Years 5 & 6

Reading

Here at Pool, we want children to establish an appreciation and love of reading at all stages of their learning journey. We are committed to sharing high quality and vocabulary rich texts across the curriculum so that children may develop knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live.

Through our cornerstone Christian values, we aim to:
 

	Develop compassionate learners who read a wide variety of texts to learn about the lives and experiences of others. Pupils will develop an understanding of different families, religions, views and disabilities.
	Develop perseverance as pupils begin their reading journey in the Early Years. As pupils move through school, we encourage pupils to show perseverance as they read more complex texts and use their comprehension skills to answer questions about what they have read.
	Develop perseverance as pupils begin their reading journey in the Early Years. As pupils move through school, we encourage pupils to show perseverance as they read more complex texts and use their comprehension skills to answer questions about what they have read.
	Through reading we aim for our pupils to gain respect for people of different faiths, disabilities and ethnicities. Our reading curriculum and the range of books offered in our libraries, aims to be diverse to enable our pupils to develop respect for others.

Writing

At Pool we strive to inspire our children develop into articulate and imaginative writers, who are well-equipped with the basic skills to flourish into life-long learners. We aim to ensure all of our children develop a genuine love of spoken language and the written word through a text-based approach. In line with our reading ethos, we expose the children to a diverse range of genres, cultures and authors, with their independent writing mirroring this. Careful links are made across the curriculum to ensure that children’s English learning is relevant and meaningful: where possible linking our reading, writing and to the topic that we are covering.

Through our cornerstone Christian values, we aim to:

	Provide pupils with the skills to write texts that convey compassion and understanding for others. This is demonstrated through a wide range of genres that includes narratives, poetry, newspaper reports, recounts, balanced arguments and biographies.
	Support pupils in developing perseverance when writing, especially when they are finding an aspect of writing difficult. Through effective teaching and feedback, pupils are guided through the writing process and are encouraged to show perseverance to meet their writing target. Children are challenged and encouraged to take risks and view mistakes as a positive part of the learning process.
	Expose children to high quality texts that model excellent writing practises across a broad range of genres. Encourage pupils to share their knowledge and understanding through a range of writing genres with coherence and consistency.
	Foster pupils respect for others when sharing their writing work and ideas. Teachers model how to listen carefully and respond respectfully when writing is read out aloud.

• Pool Reading Policy
• Pool Reading Policy Appendices

• Y1 Reading Targets
• Y2 Reading Targets
• Y3 and Y4 Reading Targets
• Y5 and Y6 Reading Targets

As a school we committed to ensuring Reading is taught rigorously and that it instils a lifelong love of Reading for Pleasure. There is so much going on in school to promote this! Have a look at the newsletters to find out more!

• Reading Newsletter Feb '23
• Reading Challenge
• Reading Newsletter Oct '23
• Pawsome Decoding Strategies
• Pawsome Gang Skills
• Reading Newsletter Feb '22

March 2023 - During the week celebrating World Book Day, we welcomed author, Phil Earle, who thoroughly entertained and inspired us with his enthusiasm and passion for reading and writing!n

We are keen to show our pupils that the adults in school are readers too! Can you guess who is reading the different books?

We mark this special day in school every year, by celebrating our love of books and Reading!

Pupils in KS1 and KS2 enjoy 100s of books on loan from the Schools’ Library Service. Pupils are invited to make suggestions of titles, authors and genres and our Reading Ambassadors accompany Mrs Fox and Mrs Furnival to choose the books, which we keep for a year and then exchange for new texts!
 

We are excited to launch a Readathon on 24th February to encourage our pupils to enjoy and develop a love for reading, with a bit of motivation to help them along the way. Our Readathon is part of the ‘Read for Good’ initiative which raises funds to provide new books and storytellers in hospitals for children. From the money raised, 20% will be given to our school to spend on lots of new books which we will choose for our new Key Stage Two Library. Please encourage family and friends to support our participation in the Readathon. Thank you! . Please see the letter and powerpoint for more information!

• Readathon letter
• Readathon PowerPoint

Year 3,5 and 6 enjoyed a brilliant visit from the author Liz Flanagan!

• Liz Flanagan.docx

• Pool Writing Policy

Please find our updated Handwriting Policy attached below that highlights the pre- cursive style that is taught from Reception leading to cursive in Year 2 and into Key Stage 2.

• Pool Handwriting Policy

We have updated and adapted our Writing assessment grids to provide clear and concise objectives to help improve teaching and assessment.

• Y6 Writing Assessment Grids
• Y5 Writing Assessment Grids
• Y4 Writing Assessment Grids
• Y3 Writing Assessment Grids
• Y2 Writing Assessment Grids
• Y1 Writing Assessment Grids

Please see below for resources and information linked to No Nonsense Spelling

• Y5 and 6 word lists
• Y3 and 4 word list
• Y1 and 2 word lists
• No Nonsense Spelling Strategies
• No Nonsense Spelling letter

Our Year 3 and 4 pupils enjoyed a visit from the author Tom Palmer. They enjoyed learning about what inspires him to write his sport themed stories!

• Tom-Palmer-introductory-powerpoint.pptx

The Leeds Book Awards Club had a great time at the Leeds Book Awards Ceremony.

In KS2, spelling forms an integral part of Literacy teaching. The focus is on children making accurate spelling choices and applying these to their work. Children who require further support with their spelling/phonics are able to access a range of intervention groups suitable for their individual needs. Please see our ‘Phonics and Spelling Policy’ for further information which also incorporates the statutory requirements of the new curriculum.