English Curriculum

Philosophy

We aim to deliver a high quality English curriculum that gives children the best possible opportunities to become confident, literate, successful members of society with a deep love and understanding of English language and literature. We believe the development of Literacy skills is central to improving a child's life chances. Teachers have high expectations for all children to achieve and enjoy English and to be able to use the skills they have acquired in a range of contexts. We strive to ensure all children can communicate clearly in spoken and written form and become masters of language. Rich texts are at the heart of our teaching and a love for reading is promoted throughout the school. Teachers use inspirational ideas to engage children in work providing memorable experiences and bringing topics to life through real life contexts where applicable. Curriculum coverage is carefully monitored by the English co-ordinator to ensure all staff are delivering a high quality English curriculum.

As a school we also recognise the importance of parent partnership and the key role that they have to play in promoting English skills.

Aims:

By the age of 11 we aim to ensure that all children:

• 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
• develop strategies for accurate spelling
• develop a fluent, legible and cursive handwriting style

English Lessons

A daily English lesson of 40-60 minutes is taught in Y1-Y6 and there is a high proportion of whole-class and group teaching. During these lessons children usually experience a whole-class shared reading or writing activity, a whole-class focused grammar or sentence activity, a guided group or independent activity and a whole-class session to review progress and learning. They have the opportunity to experience a wide range of texts and genres as well as using a range of resources such as dictionaries, thesauruses, phonic strategies and word mats to support their work.

By providing the children with active and stimulating learning experiences, we hope that pupils will:

• Be able to communicate effectively to a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
  Be able to listen carefully and show their understanding of what they see and hear by offering explanations, posing questions, drawing conclusions and reaching decisions.
• Be able to respect and listen to the opinions of others.
  Express themselves through role play, improvisations and school performances.
• Develop strategies that extend their ability to read a variety of texts for a variety of purposes e.g. books, ICT, audiotapes etc.
• Be interested in books, read for enjoyment and foster a love of books.
• Express opinions and feelings and formulate responses to a range of texts.
• Have a suitable vocabulary through which to understand and discuss their reading.
• Use their knowledge of phonics to help them to read.
• Know, understand and be able to write a range of fiction and poetry genres, and understand and be familiar with some of the ways in which narratives are structured through basic literary ideas of setting, character and plot.
• Know, understand and be able to write in a range of non- fiction genres and structure text in a style suited to its purpose.
• Use grammar and punctuation accurately in all aspects of writing.
• Plan, draft, compose and edit their own writing.