English

Learning to read is the most important thing your child will learn at our school.
Every subject depends on the ability to read comprehensively. We want your child
to embrace reading with confidence and conviction. Reading will open children’s
minds to a world of knowledge and inspiration.
 
Phonics and Early Reading-

Meridian Angel uses The Little Wandle Letters and Sounds programme, the programme has been written to provide a complete teaching programme meeting the expectations of the National Curriculum, the Ofsted Deep Dive into reading and preparing your children to go beyond the expectations of the Phonics Screening Check. For more information about our Phonics programme please see https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/. For resources to help support your child at home please follow  https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/ Parents are
invited to attend regular Reading and Phonics meetings to gain the skills that they may need to support their children at home.
 
The youngest children have daily timetabled phonic sessions and one-to-one support is provided for any child who needs extra support in order to keep up across the school. The scheme includes keep up and SEN resources which are used for daily intervention.
 
Children learn how to read the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. This is essential for reading and learning to spell. The children practice reading and spelling ‘tricky words’ such as ‘once,’ ‘have,’ ‘said’ and ‘where’.

We use Big Cat Collins reading books that are aligned with the graphemes and tricky words that the children are learning. These books are sent home as well as being read in reading groups at school.

Spelling

Spelling is taught discretely throughout the school. Spelling tests are given weekly
and may be differentiated. The tests consist of words or word patterns which have
been taught, high frequency words, common exception words from the National Curriculum along with subject specific language which may be linked to different areasof the curriculum. We follow the Silcock spelling scheme which is aligned with the 2014 Curriculum. 
 
Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation

The National Curriculum programme of study for Vocabulary, Grammar and
Punctuation is taught discretely across the school. We have a very clear progression map that
ensures that all children are able to gain appropriate knowledge and skills.
 

Handwriting

We aim to teach our children the importance of presentation. We teach how to produce
neat handwriting and expect that all children take pride in the work that they produce.

We follow the Penpals writing scheme, which develops a cursive style.

 
Reading

Reading is given high priority at Meridian Angel. Daily lessons encourage a passion for reading through the use of high quality texts, which in turn develops and broadens children vocabulary. The school uses the VIPERS anagram to aid the recall
of the 6 reading domains as part of the UK's reading curriculum. They are the key areas which we feel children need to know and understand in order to improve their comprehension of texts. Each class has a well resourced book corner including dual-language books for children to access throughout the day. The school have a library that children can visit weekly to enjoy a wide range of texts.

Each week in our achievement assembly we celebrate our reading successes by givingout a special reading award to a member of each class.

Story time is timetabled each day in every class exposing children to different
types of stories, genres, poetry and information books which have been specifically chosen to match the age of the children. New vocabulary is taught and
practiced in context so children become confident to use it in both their reading
and writing and during conversation.

Reading for Pleasure

At Meridian Angel we believe that reading for pleasure is crucial. It can benefit
children in many ways, including-

•  Reading attainment, phonics and writing ability
• Text comprehension and grammar
•  Improved spelling 
• Breadth of vocabulary
•  Positive reading attitudes
•  Greater self-confidence as a reader
•  Pleasure reading in later life
•  Greater all-round academic success

At Meridian we hold many events to promote a love of reading including regular reading breakfasts where families are invited to share books and breakfast! We hold a book fair twice a year to give families the opportunities to purchase books from home.

We enjoy many days throughout the school year where we come together to celebrate our passion for reading such as World Book Day, National Story Telling Week and Pyjamarama,during these weeks we hold competitions where children are able to win books.

With the support of charities such as The Children’s Book Project we are able to gift all
children across the school with books throughout the school year. Each week children are invited to take a book to read for pleasure from their class library alongside their reading books.

Visitors and Trips

To inspire our children in both their reading and writing we regularly invite authors, poets and illustrators into school to work with children. Some of our most recent visitors include Neal Zetter, Alexandra Page and Karen McCombie, at these events children have also had the opportunity to purchase signed books.

Children have recently been on trips to a local bookshop where they took part in workshops linked to books about the Queen.

Writing

High quality, age appropriate texts are used to plan for writing across all genres.
They captivate children’s imagination, through drama, art and discussion to strengthen their skills and foster the love of writing. Writing is modelled by the teacher and the use of English Working Walls help children understand the process of successful writing.

Spelling

Spelling is taught discretely throughout the school. Spelling tests are given weekly
and may be differentiated. The tests consist of words or word patterns which have
been taught, high frequency words, common exception words from the
National Curriculum along with subject specific language which may be linked to different areas of the curriculum. We follow the Silcock spelling scheme which is aligned with the 2014 Curriculum. 

Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation
The National Curriculum programme of study for Vocabulary, Grammar and
Punctuation is taught discretely across the school.

Handwriting
We aim to teach our children the importance of presentation. We teach how to produce neat handwriting and expect that all children take pride in the work that they produce. We follow the Penpals writing scheme,
which develops a cursive style.
 
Reading
Reading is given high priority at Meridian Angel. Daily lessons encourage a
passion for reading through the use of high quality texts, which in turn develops
and broadens children vocabulary. It also aims to develop children’s understanding and comprehension through a of a variety of genres through teacher led class discussions, role-play and drama. Each class has a well resourced book corner including dual-language books for children to access throughout the day. The school have a library that children can visit weekly to enjoy a wide range of texts.
 
Writing
High quality, age appropriate texts are used to plan for writing across all genres.
They captivate children’s imagination, through drama, art and discussion to
strengthen their skills and foster the love of writing. Writing is modelled by the
teacher and the use of English Working Walls help children understand the process
of successful writing.