Catch - up funding (Covid 19)
Catch - up funding (Covid 19) - Revised March 2021. Download and Open PDF.
Phonics and Spelling
Phonics at St. John’s is based on the Read, Write Inc programme (RWI). Children are placed in groups based on assessments (not age) carried out by the Phonics Leader (Mrs Owen). All RWI planning and resources are used to teach Phonics across school. Children who are working beyond the RWI Phonics programme and no longer require Phonics are placed into various groups across school and include learning linked to spelling, reading and guided reading. As a school, we follow the VIPERS programme which focuses on different reading skills: V- Vocabulary, I-Inference, P- Prediction, E- Explain, R- Retrieve, S- Sequence/ Summarise. Children enjoy reading a range of non-fiction, fiction and poetry texts and develop their reading skills and comprehension questions. Spelling Shed is used to support spelling within school from Year 2 – Year 6.
In Reception, for the first 2 weeks of starting school, the children will complete many activities linked to: Environmental Sounds, Instrumental Sounds, Body Percussion, Rhythm and Rhyme, Alliteration, Voice Sounds and Oral Blending and Segmenting. Children will then be assessed and placed into a RWI group. They will start to learn the set 1 sounds and words (see table below).
Children will continue on their RWI journey throughout Key Stage One and Two learning Set 1, 2 and 3 sounds and words (see table below).
Phonics TablesMathematics
At St. John’s we are passionate about delivering a high-quality mathematics education to help our pupils develop an understanding of the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.
St. John’s supports the national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:
- become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
- reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language
- can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions
Our school uses and follows the White Rose materials and resources, however, these are adapted as appropriate by the class teacher. This scheme follows the Concrete Pictorial Abstract (CPA) approach. This involves children working with concrete physical resources and pictorial representations leading to a better understanding of abstract concepts. We teach calculations with this approach in mind using our Calculation Policy. We have an approach for Addition and Subtraction which can be found here and Multiplication and Division which can be found here.
We also have a subscription to Times Tables Rock Stars: Play (ttrockstars.com) which we enjoy using in school and (for some classes) practise at home. This helps our children prepare for the national Multiplication Tables Check (MTC).
P.E. at St. John’s Mosley Common CE Primary School
PE has dramatically changed here at St. John’s since September 2022 and we are now a Real PE Legacy school.
Our journey began with Real PE teacher training to support our PE provision. This enabled us to further develop the whole child and will extend across the school to include support for families and the wider school community. We feel children need to be physically educated and Real PE allows us to create positive teaching habits to develop positive learning behaviours.
We are on a mission to get our children more active by developing the fundamental physical skills that are so often overlooked. Our PE lessons are centred around the child to enable them to be successful both in the classroom and in later life. As a school we understand the importance of creating positive relationships with physical activity for life for EVERY child. Using the Real PE approach supports us to deliver high quality PE, where activities are deliberately chosen and sequenced because they are age/stage appropriate and engaging; they can meet the needs of all children in the lesson including those whom are SEND or disadvantaged and, critically, are aligned to and will support our learning focus. We have chosen not to make the activity/sport the most important thing when it should always be used as a servant to learning for our children.
The programme is delivered using a holistic approach to develop children's physical, personal, social and emotional skills. It enables all children to develop Leadership Fundamentals to reach their full potential. It ensures the engagement of all pupils in regular physical activity and the profile of PE has been raised across the school as a tool for whole-school improvement.
By following Real PE, it has increased confidence, knowledge and skills of all staff in teaching PE and a broader experience of a range of Sports and activities offered to all pupils which will hopefully lead to increased participation in competitive Sport.
