Parent
Information
Booklet
April 2015
Driving Rolvenden Forwards
As the interim Headteacher at Rolvenden I am here to continue the
momentum Mrs Rivers has created and continue in the drive for
excellence for all pupils.
Within education we are always looking to support children’s
learning and wellbeing through good teaching, excellent resources,
and a nurturing environment that is tailored to each individual child’s
needs.
Expectations
We will continue to have high expectations for each individual
child’s academic achievement, progress behaviour for learning.
This will be reflected in our developing learning environments
around the school and in every child’s books.
Books are an excellent way for parents, pupils and teachers to
reflect on their learning journeys and we have moved to a more
consistent approach across the school with clear learning objectives
and steps to success.
Developmental marking will be clear in your child’s book as a
proven way to ensure that children reflect on their learning and
understand how they can move it forwards.
We are also focusing on improving presentation in each book and
are looking to recognise each child’s effort in presenting their best
work.
The Read Write Inc Ethos
As a Read Write Inc school our ambition is to ensure that every
child is a confident, fluent reader by the time they leave year 6.
Read write Inc and Language & Literacy sessions are fast paced
and exciting; reinforcing both reading and writing skills alongside
each other. There is a focus on comprehension skills as well as
decoding text and the children will be reading slightly outside their
ability range.
Your child will progress across a series of colours that are linked to
their reading ability and are assessed on a 6 weekly basis. The
assessment will identify any gaps in their knowledge and whether
they are making the expected progress.
At Rolvenden Primary School, our philosophy behind reading is that
we aim to set our children up to succeed. We do not want to see
them ‘stuck’ on a text. We want to equip them with the tools to allow
them to read, at the appropriate level, from the outset. We are, of
course, looking to challenge the children and we use rigorous and
frequent assessment to ensure they are progressing at a good
pace.
At school
Right from the start of their Reception year at school, children are
taught sounds (phonics). They learn individual sounds and are
taught how to blend these into words. When learning a new sound,
they: hear the sound, read with the sound then write with the sound.
The development of their phonic knowledge continues through Key
Stage One when your child will begin to read and write a variety of
sentences in different contexts.
In lessons, your child’s reading will match their phonic
knowledge and this is taught systematically and with
continuity in small Read Write Inc groups. Once your
child begins Key Stage Two, they are taught in larger
groups (with phonic intervention for individuals, if still required). The
children continue to discover the exciting world of books and are
introduced to many significant authors, poets and playwrights as
well as stories, poems, tales, myths and more.
They are given exposure to techniques that they can use to develop
their reading and writing. Learning is focused on high quality texts
where the children have the chance to hear the text being read to
them by the teacher, read the text with a partner using their
‘storyteller voice’ then read it alone silently – all the while setting
them up to succeed, by tackling unknown vocabulary and through
role play and discussion before they are asked to unpick the
themes and meanings in the text.
Teachers are constantly feeding the children information for them to
recall in context rather than asking them questions that they may
not know the answers to - setting the children up to succeed, whilst
all the time learning new information and new practices to develop
their literacy skills.
At home
We would like you to support your child’s reading in a slightly
different way. We believe reading at home should be successful
reading. Your child should not find their book too challenging. Home
reading is a chance for your child to develop their ‘storyteller voice’ learning to read with fluency and put the right emphasis on the right
words.
Home reading gives your child a chance to ‘be the teacher’ and
explain to you how they have learnt to read certain sounds or how
they know the meaning of tricky words. We would hope that at
home, you have the time to discuss the story with your child and
talk in depth about events or characters, asking questions such as,
“Why do you think they chose to do that?” or “What do
you think will happen to that character in the end?”. We
encourage your child to bring home a book that they are
confident with so that they can share their success with
you – rereading a book they have already enjoyed is empowering
for your child and should not be seen as a waste of time. If your
child has chosen the same book for the third time running, this is an
opportunity for them to read with real pace and fluency, giving them
the crucial sensation of feeling like a true reader and enjoying that
feeling of success. They can impress you with their understanding
and they are gaining huge strides in confidence. Please praise your
child’s reading and the effort they put in. We absolutely believe in
the power of praise and would encourage you to tell your child what
a great reader they are often.
We would also ask that you view home reading as an opportunity to
read to your child. We would like to encourage the use of high
quality picture books and chapter books at home. These will
develop and encourage your child’s vocabulary and assist their
inference and deduction skills. You are introducing new worlds to
your child and these get stored, ready for them to delve into at a
later date in their role play and writing. This could also be an
opportunity for ‘shared’ reading – asking your child to read part of
the story, maybe just a word or two at first, to engage
them and give them a shared sense of ownership.
How to help
We would encourage you to come into the classroom to change
your child’s book with them after school (staying within the teacherselected colour/level that your child is working at). Your involvement
helps us manage this element of their home/school learning and
keeps you up to date with the choices available. Your child’s
teacher will be happy to guide you in the right direction. It is also
worth noting that your child is allowed to borrow ANY book from
school – from the library, another classroom or any shared space. If
the book is too hard for them to access, it may be that they would
like the book to be read to them or that would simply like to look at
the pictures. This is absolutely fine and facilitates that love of books
that we want for your child.
If you would like to chat about any of the above or like some advice
about appropriate books to read to your child, please speak to
Esme Thomas our literacy leader and Read Write Inc manager.
Homework
At Rolvenden we consider homework to be a collaborative
tool that consolidates and embeds children’s learning. It
should allow you as parents and carers to strengthen the
children’s learning in a supportive way. However, we
also want to use it as a means to celebrate the
children’s successes.
We are refocusing what we send home as homework. The children
will receive weekly spellings, reading and times tables activities.
Homework will always be sent out on Fridays.
Spellings
Those children who are in Read Write Inc. groups will receive
spellings from their Read Write Inc. teacher. They will be related to
the story they are reading or the sounds they are learning.
Higher up in the school the spellings will be related to the High
Frequency words for the year group from the National Curriculum.
The children will not have a spelling test; however they will have a
weekly activity whereby they can apply what they have learnt.
Reading
We can’t emphasise how important it is for children to enjoy
reading. As we have explained above the children will be bringing
home books that they can pick up and read to develop their
inference skills, fluency and storyteller voice.
Maths
The main focus of Maths homework will be learning their
times tables. The teachers have a clear progression of
the order in which they need to be learnt.
In EYFS and early KS1 children will receive activities based on
counting forwards and backwards, counting in groups and number
bond learning.
Homework should not be a task or a chore and should be enjoyed
with your child. If you feel your child requires more or less
homework please speak with your child’s teacher on an individual
basis.
The New Curriculum
Since September 2014 Years 1, 3, 4 and 5 have been using the
new national curriculum framework. The main difference has been
an increase in expectations within each year group, particularly in
maths. There is also more of a focus on speaking & listening within
the literacy curriculum.
From September 2015 Years 2 & 6 will move onto the new
curriculum. The end of Key Stage testing will change to meet the
new curriculum expectations.
Early Years (EYFS) will continue to use their existing curriculum
and from September we have opted into the Early
excellence baseline assessment.
Assessment Without Levels
With our new curriculum underway for all year groups
from September 2015 we will no longer be able to report
to you using levels and sublevels (2a/4b etc). Instead we have
decided to use a set of descriptors to asses each child against for
reading, writing, spelling & grammar, speaking & listening, maths
and science. The descriptors will indicate whether your child is
working above, below or at age related expectations.
Working in Partnership
As a school we would like to continue the strong partnership
working we currently have with the parents, local community and
beyond.
It is important that you feel confident to come into school to share
and support your child’s learning journey.
If you have any suggestions as to how we can improve and make
our school better please come and share these with us.
If you have any questions or queries please pop in and ask,
alternatively call the office or email one of the staff who will be more
than happy to help:
School Office (Sandy): secretary@rolvenden.kent.sch.uk
Emma Dyer headteacher@bethersden.kent.sch.uk
Inga Springell (FLO/Pastoral support)
ISpringell@rolvenden.kent.sch.uk