English

Purpose:

To teach pupils to write and speak fluently so they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society.

Reading Core Learning:                      

• To read words accurately
• To understand texts

Characteristics of a Reader:

• To have excellent phonics knowledge and decoding and blending skills.
• Fluency and accuracy in reading across a wide range of contexts throughout the curriculum.
• Knowledge of an extensive and rich vocabulary.
• An excellent comprehension of texts.
• The motivation to read fiction, non-fiction and poetry for both study and pleasure.

• Extensive knowledge through having read a rich and varied range of texts.

Spoken Language Core Learning:

• To listen carefully and understand
• To develop a wide and interesting vocabulary
• To speak with clarity
• To tell stories with structure
• To hold conversations and debates
• To maintain the interest of the reader

Characteristics of a Communicator:

• To listen attentively so as to understand what is being said.
• A rich and varied vocabulary that gives clarity and interest to conversations.
• Clear speech that can be easily understood by a range of audiences.
• A good grasp of the rules used in English conversation, such as tense and the grammatical structure of sentences.
• An ability to tell stories that capture the interest and imagination of the audience.
• A delight in initiating and joining in conversations.
• Respect for others when communicating, even when views differ.

Reading and Phonics Schemes:

We use a mixture of reading schemes and publishers, including Big Cat, Oxford Reading Tree and Pearson to encourage a breadth of reading across fiction and non-fiction genres. Books are matched to the child’s phonic and reading age.

‘Letters and Sounds’ is introduced in Nursery as a pre cursor to the Read Write Inc phonics programme. See Read Write Inc Overview for more information

Writing Core Learning:

Transcription

• To present neatly
• To spell correctly
• To punctuate accurately

Composition

• To write with purpose
• To use imaginative description
• To organise writing appropriately
• To use sentences appropriately
• To use paragraphs

Analysis and presentation

• To analyse writing
• To present writing

Characteristics of a Writer:

• The ability to write fluently and with interesting detail on a number of topics throughout the curriculum.
• A vivid imagination which makes readers engage with and enjoy their writing.
• A highly developed vocabulary and an excellent knowledge of writing techniques to extend details or description.
• Well-organised and structured writing, which includes a variety of sentence structures.
• Excellent transcription skills that ensure their writing is well presented and punctuated, spelled correctly and neat.
• A love of writing and an appreciation of its educational, cultural and entertainment values.

Talk For Writing:

Writing is taught in a structured way of teaching writing from Nursery up to Year 6, following Pie Corbett’s ‘Talk for Writing’ process. Talk for Writing involves making explicit the processes and thinking involved in the writing process so that ultimately they can be internalised and applied by children in their own writing. Talk for Writing is embedded in every writing lesson throughout the school. We follow the Penpals handwriting scheme to ensure good presentation and the Read, Write Inc spelling programme once children have finished Read, Write Inc phonics.

http://www.talk4writing.co.uk/about/

Inclusion:

Teachers set high expectations for every pupil. They plan challenging work to enable all pupils to make good progress regardless of their academic ability or background. We expect all children to make good progress albeit from different starting points.