Welcome to Costessey Primary School! Our vision is 'Ambition for All'. We strive to be a school where every individual achieves their personal best, academically and socially in a supportive but challenging environment.

English

 

Key principles:

  • No struggling reader or writer is left without additional targeted support

  • Teachers develop deep subject knowledge which enables them to plan effective sequences of learning and identify children’s next steps

  • Children immerse themselves in a rich experience of reading and writing across a broad range of genres and curriculum areas.

Structure

Sequences of learning are taught in units which are usually 2 or 3 weeks in length.  These units focus on one genre at a time and combine specific reading and writing skills with content from across the wider curriculum.  Each unit begins by exploring the genre and its features in detail before introducing and practising relevant skills, and ends with an independent piece of writing which ties together all of this learning.  The collection of a pupil’s independent writing is used throughout the year to assess attainment against key National Curriculum objectives.

 

Spelling

In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, pupils are taught specific spelling patterns and word lists which are taken from the National Curriculum.  Pupils are introduced to a new list of words each week and practise these online using a programme called Spelling Frame, on which they also take their tests.

  

Word lists

Year 1 Common Exception Words

 Y1 Common Exception Words v2

Year 2 Common Exception Words

 Y2 Common Exception Words v2

Year 3/4 Word list

 Y3 and 4 Word List

Year 5/6 Word list

 Y5 and 6 Word List v2

Handwriting

 Handwriting

The image above shows how each letter is formed using the school’s handwriting policy.

From the very beginning of EYFS, pupils are taught to form their letters in a way that means they are naturally ready to join their writing (pre-cursive).  This way, children are able to move more fluently towards joining their writing (cursive).  In Read Write Inc. sessions, our children learn to form the letters and the sounds that they make.

By the end of Y2, children are required to be able to form letters correctly, beginning and finishing in the right place, and to write them correctly in terms of size and relationship to each other to reach the expected standard in writing.   By the end of Y6, in order to achieve the expected standard, children must be able to join legibly and at speed.