{"id":1636,"date":"2026-05-28T13:58:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T12:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/re\/fordbankprimaryschoolren\/?page_id=1636"},"modified":"2026-06-03T21:37:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:37:19","slug":"literacy-and-languages","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/re\/fordbankprimaryschoolren\/literacy-and-languages\/","title":{"rendered":"Literacy and Languages"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Reading<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Reading is a fundamental life skill and is a key priority and focus in relation to attainment and learning and teaching in Fordbank.\u00a0 All children P1 \u2013 7 are engaged in Reciprocal approaches to reading which teaches them how to discuss, analyse and comprehend texts through summarising, predicting, questioning and clarifying.\u00a0 We also engage children in Renfrewshire\u2019s \u2018Dive into Reading\u2019 approaches which further support comprehension by involving pupils in discussions about likes, dislikes and puzzles in relation to a range of texts.\u00a0 Children are encouraged to respond to different texts and we strive to create a class and school ethos where everyone is motivated to read and where we all read for enjoyment.<\/p>\n

Children work at \u2018colour bands\u2019 across the school which reflect their current reading levels.\u00a0 Teachers regularly assess children\u2019s reading and maintain Running Records which track progress across the bands.\u00a0 This ensures that all children work at the right level for them as individuals and prevents children being \u2018stuck\u2019 at levels where there are no opportunities to be challenged or progress at their own pace.<\/p>\n

We use a range of reading resources all of which have been banded in line with the levels described above. Resources include Big Cat, Story World \/ Literacy World and PM reading books. There are also a number of different resources to support children with Additional Support Needs \u00a0such as Rapid Readers and POPs.<\/p>\n

We have a lovely school library and have developed our class libraries over the years to provide high quality story books, novels and non-fiction materials which children can choose for personal reading.<\/p>\n

Children in Primary 1 are taught Reading Strategies which are reinforced as they move through the school.\u00a0 These help the children to learn how to decode words or work out what words are using a range of \u2018clues.<\/p>\n

Writing<\/strong><\/h1>\n

As with reading, writing is a key priority and focus in relation to attainment in the school.\u00a0 Children are encouraged to take part in regular \u2018Have a Go\u2019 writing which is low-risk and where they can write freely about topics of their choosing to practise their skills.<\/p>\n

We follow the PM Writing programme which is a complete literacy programme that focuses on developing writing skills systematically. It is designed to explicitly teach how to write different types of texts. It links reading and writing together to improve overall literacy and it provides a full package of teaching, learning, and assessment materials.<\/p>\n

The PM writing programme teaches pupils how writing works before asking them to write independently.<\/p>\n

The programme teaches a range of genres, typically including:<\/p>\n