At Deykin Avenue School, the teaching of English is based on the National Curriculum. Children are expected to use these skills in all areas of the curriculum so that they become fluent and accurate users and can access learning in all subjects.
 

Early Years (Reception)
 

Children have daily phonics (Read Write Inc. - RWI) and reading books which are taken home link to the RWI work. There are many opportunities for the children to use their phonics to help them to decode words when reading, as well as when writing words.
 

Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)
 

Children have daily RWI lessons in Year 1, which incorporate phonics, reading and writing. They have many books read to them and lots of opportunities to practise reading and writing unknown words using their phonic knowledge.
 

Year 2 currently (2020-2021) also have daily RWI lessons plus two separate sessions for writing. This is due to the amount of time they missed in Year 1 through lockdown. There are also lots of opportunities for the children to develop their reading and writing skills in other areas of the curriculum.
 

Key Stage 2 (Years 3 to 6)
 

The number of guided reading lessons that children have depends on which class they are in. Years 5 and 6 may have only two sessions per week, but these will be for an extended time, while Years 3 and 4 will have shorter sessions but more frequently. Children also have separate spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPAG) lessons once a week for specific teaching.
 

If children arrive at school during KS2 and lack phonic knowledge – they may arrive with no English or no previous schooling – then they will work with a member of staff to help them with their phonics as without this, their English will not improve and they will struggle in all area.