English

 

We aim to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and to develop their love of literature through reading for pleasure.  We want to inspire passionate writers who develop an independent writing style for a broad range of writing purpose that equip them to be successful in life. We believe all children are authors and that the links between reading and writing are heavily intertwined which is why our curriculum is driven by a range of quality texts. These aim to inspire pupils to explore a range of rich vocabulary and challenge authorial choices so that they are able to develop their own personal writing style.

Reading

The emphasis throughout the school is to read for pleasure and gain information. Children are taught to read in school through reading lessons, individual and group reading sessions as well as listening to a range of stories. Children are allocated related reading books to their phonics stage initially and then develop into some coded reading books to match their level of fluency.  Staff guide children in book choices as they become free readers and they are encouraged to choose books they can read with a minimum of 90% accuracy so that reading for pleasure is sustained.

 

Initial reading skills focuses on decoding through phonics, we follow the sounds write approach to this.  Fluency of reading builds on this with children increasing their speed and prosody as part of developing comprehension.  More formal comprehension opportunities are then developed.  Children are encouraged to read regularly at home to an adult in 0rder to build their proficiency and record this in a reading record. 

 

The school library is used to support research skills and encourage reading. The library is open at break and lunch for children to browse and borrow books. 

 

Writing

 

Writing is taught through a staged model that starts with immersion in a text and experience to build vocabulary ad knowledge, children then practice word and sentence level skills before using these to write for themselves in a range of genres for different purposes and to different audiences.  Handwriting and pen grip are important skills that are taught alongside this to build automaticity.  Spelling is taught using sounds write principles of "say the sounds" and the use of syllables alongside the teaching of spelling rules. 

 

Oracy

 

Oracy teaching forms part of English teaching as well as other subjects across the curriculum.  We use Voice 21 resources to support the teaching of good oracy.  Vocabulary is a key part of this with a focus on Tier 2 ( high frequency written text) and Tier 3 words (subject specific academic words). 

 

Drama

 

Drama is used across the curriculum to explore situations in more depth  as well as in English.  Alongside this children present to parents through an annual assembly,  take part in performances for Christmas and other festivals  with an end of school play in Y6.

 

RRS Article 28 - You have the right to a good quality education. You should be encouraged to go to school to the highest level you can.