We follow the National Curriculum in English whereby pupils develop skills in spoken language, reading and writing. This enables them to communicate with others effectively and express themselves creatively and imaginatively.

Communication

Reading

At Mayflower, we are committed to developing fluent, thoughtful readers who read widely and with enjoyment. We use a range of engaging and effective approaches to support children’s reading development, beginning with the Read, Write Inc. programme for the early teaching of systematic, synthetic phonics. Throughout the school, pupils also participate in daily reading lessons called 'Comprehension Crushers'. This improves reading fluency and investigates vocabulary, as well as developing the skills of comprehension through talk, modelling and written responses. At Mayflower, we also promote reading for pleasure. We inspire children to become enthusiastic, confident readers through our daily class read, library bus and a wide range of reading activities that celebrate books throughout the year, such as World Book Day and National Poetry Day. Reading is also celebrated in assemblies and pupils are rewarded for their reading at home by having their names entered into a weekly reading raffle with the chance to win a book from our vending machine. 

 

Writing

At Mayflower, children develop their early writing skills through an approach called ‘Drawing Club’. This is a magical and creative approach that invites children to enter stories and adventures through drawing, play and imagination, allowing them to be creative as well as develop language and literacy skills. 

This leads onto ‘Curious Quests’, which is an immersive adventure into story, poetry and make-believe and gives children endless possibilities to invent, imagine and be creative in their writing. 

In Key Stage 2, Mayflower use 'The Write Stuff' approach to inspire confident, creative and skilled young writers. The approach combines structured teaching of writing skills with rich vocabulary and imagination, helping children to understand the mechanics of writing. These engaging lessons utilise the concept of chunking to teach ideas along with grammar and punctuation in context. Children explore high-quality examples of texts, build powerful sentences and learn to write their own pieces with a clear purpose. Each lesson celebrates ideas, vocabulary and technical accuracy, giving every child the tools and the confidence to become an expressive, independent writer.

 

 

Useful websites for Parents

Please find a list of websites that you may find useful in helping you and your child  learn about phonics. Games and fun activity websites are also included.

https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/ - Information and resources to support phonics learning at home

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zf2yf4j - fun games for the children to play

http://www.ictgames.com/literacy.html  - fun games for the children to play

http://www.firstschoolyears.com/  - fun games for the children to play

BBC Bitesize - many games to play covering all areas of the curriculum