Reading

At Wells Primary School we are passionate and committed to raising the profile and attainment of reading throughout the school.   We aim for the children to develop a love for literature and value the importance of reading as a gateway to a wealth of knowledge about the world around them. As well as the teaching of reading through strategies such as phonics, we aim to develop each child’s comprehension skills through careful questioning that will enable children to infer and deduct information from the text. 

All classrooms have enticing book corners that display a range of texts, as well as a selection of carefully chosen stories and non-fiction books relating to the topic being taught. The children are encouraged to communicate their opinions about books they have read through book reviews and by commenting in their Home/School Diary which is shared with their parent or carer and their class teachers.
 

Guided Reading is seen as fundamental to pupils' reading development at Wells. During Guided Reading sessions, the children have opportunities to discuss texts and develop their understanding through key questioning. 

Our annual Book Week plays an integral role in fostering a love for reading. Authors and storytellers  visit the school, children of different ages meet up and read with one another and Book Character Day sees all children and staff dressed up as their favourite character.

Writing

At Wells Primary School we work hard to instil a joy of language into the hearts and minds of all our pupils. We have found that the teaching of writing works well when it is embedded in speaking, listening and reading activities. Children need to have exposure to a wide range of stories and genres of writing to develop a structure to build upon and add their own ideas. 

Good progress is made when children open their eyes and ears to the language modelled around them. We encourage children to ‘magpie’ and experiment with interesting words and phrases from their reading books to use in their writing tasks. It is also essential to give our students the literacy tools that they will need throughout their life. 

Punctuation, grammar and spellings are taught within each year group and, to support and re-inforce the children's learning, homework is set each week.
 

Our standards of writing are very high and are significantly higher than the national average. A good grounding in reading and writing are seen as a priority within the school. If any children have not made enough progress, then we will endeavour to work with parents and carers to ‘close the gap’.

Visitors to our school are often impressed by the writing on display. This is due to the passion of our teachers and the high quality of teaching and learning the children enjoy at Wells Primary School.