Literacy

At Langley Hall Primary Academy we believe that every child should foster a passion for reading as an enjoyable, stimulating and worthwhile activity.

Rich texts are at the heart of our teaching and a love for reading is promoted throughout the school. We acknowledge that boys and girls learn differently and use methods of teaching that engage both. We use a combination of Talk for Writing and The Power of Reading as a basis for teaching writing and comprehension skills.

The aim is to deliver a high-quality Literacy curriculum that gives children the best possible opportunities to become confident, literate, successful members of society with a deep-rooted love and understanding of English language and literature.

We believe the development of Literacy skills is central to improving a child's life chances. Teachers have high expectations for all children to achieve and enjoy English and to be able to use the skills they have acquired in a range of contexts. We strive to ensure all children can communicate clearly in spoken and written form, becoming masters of language – in line with the expected standards for each year group (age related expectation). When children read and write well, a whole world of opportunities opens up to them; they are able to use their communication skills to express their thoughts and feelings, and also to play an active part in discussions about their community. Understanding the importance of Literacy to all other areas of the curriculum ensures that the school identifies any problems in this area early and works with children and parents to put them right.

Daily reading time, built into the timetable, helps children to enjoy reading; Literacy lessons are exciting and full participation is encouraged. Using our Film Studio, children have the opportunity to talk to camera and put their films onto the school intranet for other children and parents to share. Our programme for teaching Phonics uses the letters and sounds framework with elements from a range of other schemes to underpin and support children's understanding and learning of sounds and words. This is combined with other methods of word recognition which ensures that children quickly learn how to read fluently and absorb information.

We use several high-quality reading schemes to inspire and motivate children to read; The Oxford Reading Tree, Bug Club and Project X are supported by a rich supply of books in our well-stocked library. Children also have book areas in their classrooms so that they can select and read stories throughout the day and during their reading lesson.