English
Subject Leader: Emma Chedgy
Our place in the world
We have a rich and varied literary heritage which we encourage children to experience and to explore. All of the skills of language are vital for children to grow and develop as members of society. Through literature and language, we enable children to experience the world through immersing them in a rich diet of texts from a full range of genres and from different cultures thereby giving them a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually.
Language and oracy
The acquisition of vocabulary and the ability to express thoughts and ideas effectively is the key to learning within the English curriculum. We give the children every opportunity to develop a rich vocabulary and express themselves confidently through discussion, presentation and explanation of their own and others’ ideas.
Learning skills
Children develop their learning skills by being given opportunities to experiment with their ideas through trying out and rehearsing their ideas in a secure environment, enabling them to push themselves to take risks and express themselves in different ways. In this way, they are encouraged and supported to be effective and creative communicators.
Healthy body, healthy mind
Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child's future success. We encourage children to have high expectations and aspirations for their future. They explore the world through rich texts which offer experiences and adventures to enhance their aspirations and their creativity and helping them to develop a thirst for knowledge and learning and to see possibilities.
Intent
"The English language is so elastic that you can find another word to say the same thing." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
It is our intent that children receive a high quality and exciting English curriculum that develops confident writers, communicators and fluent readers who are able to effectively articulate their ideas and emotions in the wider world. The skills taught in English ensure that children can successfully access all other areas of the curriculum with growing independence and confidence to equip them for their future.
The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:
- Read easily, fluently and with good understanding
- Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
- Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
- Appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
- Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
- Use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
- Are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.
Implementation
We provide quality first teaching of reading and writing every day for all of our children. We teach synthetic phonics for all of our pupils from the Early Years using fully decodable books.
We break down the skills of reading and focus on the acquisition of vocabulary and the development of comprehension skills through pupils’ experience of high-quality discussion with the teacher, as well as from reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non-fiction texts. All pupils are encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world they live in.
We teach Writing through The Power of Reading Scheme with the modelling of high quality writing by our teachers and the use of high quality texts. We believe that reading and writing should go hand in hand to provide a purpose for writing. Effective composition involves articulating and communicating ideas, and then organising them coherently for a reader. This requires clarity, awareness of the audience, purpose and context, and an increasingly wide knowledge of vocabulary and grammar.
We encourage our learners to practise a variety of drama / speaking and listening activities to support their writing and understanding of texts. These aims are embedded across our English lessons and the wider curriculum.
Impact
- Pupils will enjoy reading and writing across a range of genres
- Pupils of all abilities will be able to succeed in all English lessons because work will be appropriately scaffolded
- Pupils will have a wide vocabulary that they use within their writing
- Pupils will have a good knowledge of how to adapt their writing based on the context and audience
- Pupils will leave primary school being able to effectively apply spelling rules and patterns they have been taught
- Pupils will have an appreciation and love of reading, and gain knowledge across the curriculum.
- Pupils will have opportunities to read widely and often and will develop their vocabulary by encountering words they would rarely hear or use in everyday speech.
- Pupils will have an understanding of how reading feeds their imagination and curiosity
- Parents and carers will have a good understanding of how they can support spelling, grammar and composition at home, and contribute regularly to homework.
How to support your child at home.
- Listen to your child read regularly, daily if possible, and ask them questions about what they have read.
- Read books together.
- Tell each other stories.
- Chat about the things that you have read.
- Talk about pictures in books.
- Share stories even when you don’t have a book in front of you. Why not re-tell your favourite stories?
- Join a local library and visit together