Reading and Writing
Aims
The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:
- read easily, fluently and with good understanding
- develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
- acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
- appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
- write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
- use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
- are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate
English at Roby Park Primary is taught through the use of high quality texts where the link between Reading and Writing is made clear, using Literacy Counts Read 2 Write and Steps 2 Read units. These are planned out ensuring progression across the year groups and engaging in exciting provocations for Writing and Reading. We plan in a wide range of speaking and listening and Writing activities as well as making links between grammar and spelling.
Click below to find out more about our engaging English curriculum and our Recommended Reading Lists:
Below are recommended reading lists for each phase. If you are interested in buying/loaning books from the library, have a look at the lists below for exciting, engaging texts that your children will enjoy:
A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others, and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society.
Rising Stars Reading Planet
Our reading expectations are for children, in all year groups, to read daily for just 10 minutes. It is important parents/carers build in reading time each day in order for children to progress in their reading fluency and stamina.
The books in Reading Planet are designed to appeal to the tastes and interests of children who are starting to learn to read, as well as those who are becoming fluent readers. The books include a variety of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and plays, written by experienced educational and children’s writers. All the books have been carefully levelled according to book banding and other criteria, to ensure gradual progression in difficulty and each eBook features an optional audio recording (with each word highlighted as it is read).
As well as interesting characters and storylines, the books have a number of helpful features to support your child in reading, including quizzes (see below). Completing these will help you to ensure that your child is getting full meaning from their reading.
Your child’s teacher will allocate weekly ebooks to be read and will be able to track how your child is doing in the quizzes through a teacher dashboard.
Nursery – Y3 (with a few children in Y4-Y6) will also have physical books sent home, along with a reading log and book bag to keep the books in good condition. Books must be returned in their reading bags please.
Please return the reading log daily, so the class teacher and parent can use it as a form of communication. Reading logs can be used for:
- Positive praise
- Tracking progress
- Communicating with the teacher
- Asking questions
- Noting difficult words
- Tracking a variety of skills
Children who bring physical books home are expected to read them and return them on their book change day which is outlined below. If books are not returned, only ebooks will be allocated. After significant investment in to our reading materials, it is important books are looked after.
Book changing days are:
- Mondays: Nursery, Reception, Y1, Y3, Y4, Y6
- Tuesdays: Y2, Y5
Rising Stars eLibrary
Your children’s login details have come home but if you have any issues, please email password@robyparkprimary.co.uk or speak to yuor child’s class teacher.
You can log in with their username and password and:
Centre ID: 6034814
Once logged in, click on the ‘Reading Planet Online’ icon then click on the ‘Open’ button to launch the book on your screen.
Each book has one or more ‘checkpoint’ quizzes that appear at intervals throughout the book. They are designed to check the understanding of the text up until that point and are indicated by the animated quiz icon.
At the end of every book there is a longer quiz that checks overall understanding of the text. As with the checkpoint
quizzes, your child clicks on the animated quiz icon to launch the end-of-book quiz.
For each end-of-book quiz they complete, children will receive a bronze, silver or gold star, based on the proportion of correct answers they scored. These rewards can be viewed in the ‘My achievements’ section of the child’s dashboard.
|
3 Marks |
4 Marks |
5 Marks |
|
Bronze = 0-36% Silver = 37-72% Gold = 73-100% |
Bronze = 0-50% Silver = 51-78% Gold = 79-100% |
Bronze = 0-59% Silver = 60-79% Gold =80-100% |
If you have any difficulties in using the resource, or need some support in getting started, please see your child’s teacher and we will be happy to help you.
Below are some parent guides to support you:
Reading Plus
At Roby Park we use an online reading program called Reading Plus which helps develop and improve three particular skills in reading. Reading Plus is a research-based silent reading intervention that helps students gain proficiency by improving comprehension, reading rate, and vocabulary.
The first time you login to Reading Plus you will need to enter our site code which is rprobyp
What is Reading Plus?
Reading Plus is a program for children aged 8 and above that teaches them to be stronger readers. It does this by developing silent reading fluency (reading speed), then introducing more complex stories (for comprehension), and advanced vocabulary (for knowledge). Children have access to 800+ high quality online texts that are constantly updated and adapted to meet every child’s needs, regardless of what level they are reading at. Teachers can monitor exactly what and how children are reading, meaning they can offer the right kind of support when needed.
What will my child gain from using the program?
First and foremost, we hope that they will get a lot of enjoyment from using Reading Plus! The stories are short and engaging to keep levels of motivation high, and your child will read about many things outside of their normal scope of reading – anything from ‘What can one child do to save the world?’ to the future of AI. Your child will challenge themselves to become a better reader and in doing so, develop better reading habits. They will gain a greater understanding of what they have read and be better prepared for tests such as Year 6 SATs.
How does Reading Plus work?
Children choose a story (typically 6-7 minutes in length) from a level appropriate to their reading ability. Once they finish the story they answer 10 questions to test if they understood what they have just read. Teachers can see reports detailing your child’s progress. Worksheets are available for extra support with specific reading skills. Reading Plus is not meant to replace reading books, and Reading Plus is not just an eLibrary – the program is designed to teach your child to become a more efficient reader which will add to their enjoyment of reading independently – developing a lifelong love for reading.
How does my child log in?
Your school should have sent you information on how to log in including a site code (which is unique to the school) and your child’s username and password. If you are unsure of any of these, please get in touch by emailing password@robyparkprimary.co.uk
Does Reading Plus work on a laptop or an iPad?
Yes, Reading Plus runs on laptops and iPads, as well as iPads Minis, tablets, Chromebooks, desktops and MacBooks.
Do I need to download an app?
Reading Plus doesn’t need an app downloading – it’s all accessed through a secure website.
How long should my child be on Reading Plus?
Ideally every day for about 30 minutes (at home and in school combined), but at least 3 times a week. Little and often is best!
Why does the program use the moving bar when my child reads the stories?
We call this the ‘Guided Window’. The Guided Window was developed to teach children to navigate across lines of text sequentially – this is sometimes called left to right scanning (try putting your finger on a word and moving it across the page!). You can find out more by searching for ‘Reading Plus Efficiency Brief’ free downloadable research summary.
Relevant Policies:
Reading and Writing Chatter
Y1 World Book Day
23-03-2024
A MASSIVE thankyou to @Year6RobyPark who spent some time with us today for #WorldBookDay2024. We really enjoyed you reading stories with us and you made reading our new books lots of fun. We have already been asking when we can do it again! #RPEnrichment
Y2 English
17-03-2024
In English today we created freeze frames to help us describe how Syd might have felt when grandad revealed what was behind the metal door in his attic. #GrandadsIsland
Fantastic Fundraising Efforts
17-03-2024
WOW! We have raised £379.20 for brand new books from our sponsored reading event and £104 for @comicrelief. Books will be going into our new reading shed for children to enjoy at playtimes. Thank you so much! @OPAL_CIC
Sponsored Reading Event
17-03-2024
We hope the children enjoyed their sponsored reading event & we look forward to finding out how much sponsor money we receive in which will go back into the children receiving books to take home & keep through our ‘Remarkable Reader’ initiatives. Thank you for your support.
Y3 World Book Day
17-03-2024
To celebrate #WorldBookDay2024, we wore our comfy pyjamas to school and had the opportunity to read books to
Y6 World Book Day
17-03-2024
To celebrate #WorldBookDay2024 we came to school dressed in our pyjamas! We enjoyed spending time reading with
@NurseryRobyPark and @Year1RobyPark and talking to them about our favourite books. We also loved listening to Miss Murphy read us a story! #readingforpleasure
Y1 World Book Day
09-03-2024
For #WorldBookDay2024 today, we spent time with another class and having a story read to us by Mr Couling. We really enjoyed sharing stories with year 4 and having stories read to us too and it was made even better by all being cozy in our pyjamas! #RPEnrichment
Y4 World Book Day
09-03-2024
For #WorldBookDay we came to school in our pyjamas! Miss Clarkson shared her favourite book with the class then we took our reading books outside to read, finally we shared the reading books from our library with the children from
Y5 World Book Day
09-03-2024
For #WorldBookDay2024 we wore our comfiest pyjamas and read with @Year2RobyPark. We shared books and listened to new books being read to us by someone different. #RPEnrichment
Y6 World Book Day
09-03-2024
As part of #WorldBookDay2024, year 6 enjoyed a fantastic session with @WestEndinSchool. We explored the William Shakespeare play Twelfth Night. From this, we created freeze frames and acted out key scenes. #RPEnrichment
YR World Book Day
09-03-2024
Children enjoyed wearing their comfy pyjamas and showing off their amazing story plates. We also enjoyed reading a story with
. #WorldBookDay2024 #RPEnrichment
YN World Book Day
09-03-2024
Look at our fantastic paper plate characters for #WorldBookDay2024 So creative!
YN World Book Day
09-03-2024
We celebrated #WorldBookDay2024 by coming to school dressed in our comfiest pyjamas! We spent the day reading our favourite stories and even had a special visit from @Year6RobyPark. Thank you for reading stories with us, we had the best time! #RPEnrichment
Y5 World Book Day
09-03-2024
As part of our #WorldBookDay2024 activities, the fantastic @WestEndinSchool paid us a visit. Vicki taught us the story of Twelfth Night. We created different freeze frames and acted out well known scenes. #RPENGLISH #RPENRICHMENT
Y4 World Book Day
09-03-2024
Year 4 had a fantastic session with @WestEndinSchool to gain information about William Shakespeare and created freeze frames of key parts of the twelfth night #RPEnrichment
Y3 World Book Day
09-03-2024
As a part of #WorldBookDay2024 , we had the amazing @WestEndinSchool who allowed us to explore the play Twelfth Night. We created different freeze frames and acted out an important scene as a class.
Y6 Drop Everything and Read
09-03-2024
This week, we have enjoyed immersing ourselves in a variety of texts during “Drop Everything And Read”. #Readingforpleasure #RPReading
Remarkable Readers
09-03-2024
Congratulations to this week’s Remarkable Readers We hope you love your new books from our machine Who’ll be our winners next week? #RPRemarkableReaders
Remarkable Readers
25-02-2024
Congratulations to this week’s Remarkable Readers 
We hope you love your new books from our vending machine 
Who will be our winners next week? #rpremarkablereaders
Y1 English
25-02-2024
In English we have started our new book ‘Where The Wild Things Are’. Today, we worked collaboratively to recreate freeze frames of scenes from the story, thinking carefully about the characters feelings and actions
YR English
25-02-2024
Children have loved exploring our @LiteracyCounts1 book Little Red. They created Grandmas house in our construction area and retold the story collaboratively. #RPEnglish @OPAL_CIC
Y5 English
25-02-2024
This week, year 5 have examined these items to make predictions about our new book. We then used a single picture to create a class poem. #RPEnglish
Y4 English
25-02-2024
Today Year 4 took on a definition and synonyms challenge against the clock using the vocabulary from the example text the children used an iPad to find their definitions and a range of synonyms #RPEnglish
Phonics Workshop
04-02-2024
We welcomed our R – Y2 families today for a phonics workshop to demonstrate how phonics is taught at Roby Park. We modelled lessons to show how these look, provided resources to use at home and shared the fantastic resources our children have in school!
Phonics Workshops
04-02-2024
We were joined by our wonderful families for our phonics workshop today. We shared the exciting Rocket Phonics resources our children use in school. We modelled a short lesson and children loved reading with their grown ups. #RPReading #RPPhonics
Remarkable Readers
29-01-2024
Congratulations to this week’s Remarkable Readers! We hope you love your new books from our vending machine Who will be our winners next week? #RPRemarkableReaders
EYFS Book and a Brew Parent Workshop
29-01-2024
Thank you to our families who could join us today for ‘book and a brew’. The children loved inviting you into class and sharing some of their favourite stories with you! #readingforpleasure #RPReading
Y3 & Y4 Book and a Brew Parent Workshop
29-01-2024
Thank you to all of our Year 4 & @Year3RobyPark families who were able to attend ‘Book and a Brew’ It was great to be able to discuss how reading is incorporated across the curriculum, the benefits of @ReadingPlus and how we promote reading for pleasure. #RPReading
Y5 & Y6 Book and a Brew Parent Workshop
29-01-2024
Thank you to all of our Year 6 & @Year5RobyPark parents and carers who were able to attend ‘Book and a Brew’ It was great to be able to discuss how children view reading, how it is incorporated into the curriculum and reading for pleasure. #RPReading #readingforpleasure
Y1 & Y2 Book and a Brew Parent Workshop
29-01-2024
Thanks to the @Year1RobyPark & Y2 families who joined us for book & a brew! We talked about the benefits of reading for pleasure, how reading looks at Roby Park & our amazing new book areas, before the children joined us for some shared reading
Y1 & Y2 Book and a Brew Parent Workshop
29-01-2024
Today year 1 and @Year2RobyPark welcomed in our families for book and a brew! We talked about the benefits of reading for pleasure, how reading looks at Roby Park and our wonderful new book areas, before having the chance to share our favourite book with our adults
Remarkable Readers
29-01-2024
Congratulations to this week’s Remarkable Readers! We hope you love your new books from our vending machine. Who will be our winners next week? #RPRemarkableReaders
Y2 New Reading Area
29-01-2024
Year 2 love their new reading area & with over 100 high quality texts to choose from they were excited to get reading. The Comet by @Joetoddstanton & We are all Wonders by @RJPalacio were great reads so far.
Remarkable Readers
29-01-2024
Congratulations to our first Remarkable Readers of 2024. Children can win a book from our vending machine which is full to the brim of the best titles or the weekly Remarkable Reader bag by showing a great effort with reading at home & school. Who will be next week’s winners?
Y1 New Reading Area
29-01-2024
We came back to school to an amazing new reading area within our classroom. We feel very lucky and are really excited to have an amazing range of brand new, high-quality texts that we can explore independently or with friends! #RPReading
Y1 English
29-01-2024
We stumbled across a suitcase this week, filled with clues to help us to make predictions about what our new English book may be about! Our ideas were fantastic and we used the clues to explain our predictions!
Y5 Reading
06-01-2024
It was a difficult choice for Y5 this week when we relaunched our amazing reading areas within our classroom. Children could choose from over 100 high quality texts.
Y4 Reading
06-01-2024
This week, we have launched our amazing new library area within our classroom. We are very thankful to have an amazing range of brand new, high-quality texts. The children can’t wait to complete the spring reading challenges #RPReading
Y3 Reading
06-01-2024
This week, Year 3 loved beginning to read their new books. We had the difficult decision of choosing a book from over 100 new fiction and non-fiction texts and we are excited to complete our Spring Term reading challenge!
Y6 Reading
06-01-2024
This week, we have launched our amazing new library area within our classroom. We are very lucky to have an amazing range of brand new, high-quality texts. We explored the new area and chose our favourite book for “Drop Everything And Read” #RPReading
Remarkable Readers
03-01-2024
Congratulations to our final Remarkable Readers of 2023 Enjoy your new books
Remarkable Readers
17-12-2023
Well done to our most recent Remarkable Readers. You have all shown positive attitudes towards your reading. Keep it up!
EYFS Book Club
17-12-2023
We enjoyed some fantastic Christmas stories with a tasty hot chocolate and biscuit. Our favourite was ‘The Christmas Selfie Contest’ and we think that our selfies definitely would have won the competition! #RPReading #readingforpleasure
Literacy Counts
09-12-2023
#LiteracyCountsLoves Shout out to @Year1RobyPark @RobyParkSchool and @MrsListerStJ @StJamesCEsth
for sharing photos of their children using the planning circles. Do you use #ReadySteadyWrite? We’d love to be tagged in your Tweets so we can see all the exciting learning you get up to. Find out more: https://t.co/QE3eWDKFtm
https://x.com/LiteracyCounts1/status/1732734742884147207?s=20
EYFS Book Club
06-12-2023
Today we shared some more fantastic stories with our friends. We then enjoyed some Christmas stories together!
#RPReading #readingforpleasure
Remarkable Readers
06-12-2023
A huge well done to this week’s Remarkable Readers. We hope you enjoy your books. #RPReading
Y1 Rocket Phonics
06-12-2023
We have been really enjoying having our Rocket Phonics reading books on our tables so that we have opportunities to read throughout the day and to use our phonics knowledge to help us to segment and blend and to read new stories!
YN & YR Extra-curricular
06-12-2023
EYFS Book Club Today we shared some fantastic stories around a cosy fire
#RPReading #readingforpleasure
Reception Enrichment
06-12-2023
We had a fantastic night star gazing we were able to see lots of stars, the moon and even caught a glimpse of Jupiter! Children loved using their torches to explore forest school. We finished off with a delicious hot chocolate. #RPEnrichment
Nursery Enrichment
06-12-2023
What a fantastic night for our EYFS Star Gazing Night Walk We spotted lots of stars in the sky, the moon and even Jupiter! The children loved exploring forest school in the dark and we discussed what we found. We ended the night with a lovely hot chocolate #RPEnrichment
Y1 English
26-11-2023
We have been busy today planning our own twist on a traditional narrative after looking at Rapunzel by @bethanwoollvinWe used our planning circles and then spent a little time reading back the stories we have planned before we start writing them! @LiteracyCounts1 #RPEnglish
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EYFS Book Club
20-11-2023
EYFS Book Club We enjoyed some more fantastic stories in book club. It is great to see our children showing a great passion for reading!
#RPReading #readingforpleasure
YR English
20-11-2023
Reception have loved our @LiteracyCounts1 text Star in the Jar after having a surprise visitor. It inspired children to get creative! We have also enjoyed exploring the text using our story friends. #RPEnglish
Y5 English
19-11-2023
Who do these items belong to? How are they connected? What was being made? Are they from the past? What is he dreaming about? Why does the dream control him? Does he return? So many questions from Year 5
Y1 English
19-11-2023
We have been busy today planning our own twist on a traditional narrative after looking at Rapunzel by @bethanwoollvin
We used our planning circles and then spent a little time reading back the stories we have planned before we start writing them!
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YN English
15-11-2023
Today we arrived at school to find a pet star! We read the story ‘My Pet Star’ and thought that we need to look after our new friend to help him get his glow back! We used the clues that we found to help him! #RPEnglish
EYFS Book Club
13-11-2023
The children loved getting cosy to explore some new books together! They loved talking about their books with their friends #RPEYFS #RPReading
Nursery Went On a Hunt…
13-11-2023
This week we went on a hunt to find some clues relating to our new story… We found glitter trails leading to bags containing clues in our outdoor area! We found a plaster, a cookie, a torch, a bed and a bath. We wonder what our new story could be #RPEnglish
Y2 English
11-11-2023
In English Y2 we’re given an illustration from their vehicle text and had lots of fun creating freeze frames imagining that they were in the picture. They then used clues from the book to predict what the story could be about. #readysteadywrite
D.E.A.R (Drop everything and read)
01-11-2023
D.E.A.R (Drop everything and read) has been a great way for the children to take time out of the day to read, share and explore new books with their friends 📖📚 #RPReading
Todays D.E.A.R time took a spooky turn…🎃👻
01-11-2023
Todays D.E.A.R time took a spooky turn…🎃👻 #RPReading
This week we have been learning more about ‘Leaf Man’
01-11-2023
This week we have been learning more about ‘Leaf Man’. We discussed the different parts of a book and sequenced the story. The children were fantastic at retelling the story of ‘Leaf Man’ using lots of new vocabulary! Well done, Nursery 👏🏻 #RPEnglish
DEAR TIME 🌟Drop it and read this week…
01-11-2023
DEAR TIME 🌟Drop it and read this week has given us the opportunity to take time out of our day to read, share and explore new books, and books linked to our topics, with our friends 📖📚 @OpenUni_RfP #RPReading
In English, Year 4 have been learning about newspaper reports
01-11-2023
In English, Year 4 have been learning about newspaper reports. We learnt about how important research is for journalists. Due to this, the children worked collaboratively to research different marine mammals in preparation of writing their own newspaper report 📰🗞️ #RPEnglish
This week we heard a rustle in our outdoor area…
01-11-2023
This week we heard a rustle in our outdoor area… it was Leaf Man! We thought about how he got there and how we could help him 🤔 We brought him inside to give him a home as we thought he might be lonely! We can’t wait to discover more about him 🍂🍂 #RPEnglish
Drop Everything And Read 📚📖
01-11-2023
We enjoyed immersing ourselves into a book of our choice, during Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) 📚📖 #RPDEAR #readingforpleasure
Reception had their first Drop Everything and Read!
01-11-2023
Reception had their first Drop Everything and Read! DEAR 📚 They loved sharing their chosen book with a friend and looking at the illustrations. #RPReading
Reception could not believe their eyes when they found a HOLE 🕳️ on our school grounds
01-11-2023
Reception could not believe their eyes when they found a HOLE 🕳️ on our school grounds. They have lots of creative ideas for how it appeared and who could have made it. They are very excited to continue exploring, The Something by #RPEnglish
Drop Everything And Read 📚📖
01-11-2023
Drop Everything And Read 📚📖 Today Year 4 dropped everything they were doing and enjoyed some reading for pleasure. #RPReading
Drop everything and read!📚📖
01-11-2023
Drop everything and read!📚📖 We dropped what we were doing on Friday and chose a book of our choice to explore by ourselves or with a friend #RPReading
In English we have been immersing ourselves in our new book ‘Old Bear’.
01-11-2023
In English we have been immersing ourselves in our new book ‘Old Bear’. Various items had been left in our classroom for us to explore and we used these to help us to come up with some fastastic predictions about what could happen in our story!🐻
Recreating scenes from the book ‘Old Bear’🐻
01-11-2023
We worked together to recreate scenes from the book ‘Old Bear’, using what we have already read to show how the characters may be feeling and what they would be doing. We even rescued Old Bear from high up in the classroom and were very excited!🐻
Year 3 worked amazingly in English today
01-11-2023
Year 3 worked amazingly in English today writing their own kenning poems about the Iron Man. Metal cruncher, night time hunter, nightmare maker!
