Curriculum - English
We plan our English teaching in accordance with the requirements of the National Literacy Strategy. Much of this is taught in the daily Literacy Hour, but additional opportunities for extended writing and individual reading are also provided.
Reading
Our main aim is to help children become independent fluent readers who read for enjoyment and interest and who appreciate and understand the value of books. We therefore offer a range of reading experiences which will include:
- Reading with a partner, individually to an adult, within a group, silently to him/herself, to the class, to the whole school
- Listening to stories
- Discussing plot, characters, storyline
- Anticipating outcomes/events
We provide a wide range of reading materials that incorporate both structured schemes and stories by a variety of authors to:
- Foster language development
- Provide access to the heritage of our own and other cultures
- Reinforce and extend the child's understanding of his/her environment, providing a base of security from which to explore.
We encourage parental involvement in a child's reading, and provide each child with a Home/School Reading Diary as a means of communication with parents and as a record of ongoing progress.
Writing (Handwriting and Spelling)
We value and encourage attempts at writing by the children from the earliest mark making in Year R to the most sophisticated levels of story writing produced by our oldest children. In Key Stage 1 we concentrate on helping the children develop good sentence structure and interesting storylines, encouraging them to use phonic strategies to spell words independently.
Joined handwriting is taught from the beginning, and by the end of Year 2 we expect most children to be developing a flowing, well-formed style. Formal spelling routines begin in Year 3 when the children follow an individual daily spelling programme based on the 'Look, Cover, Write and Check' approach.
Speaking and listening
Since Language, both written and spoken, is the main vehicle for learning across the whole curriculum, we aim to give children the confidence to express themselves clearly and competently. We encourage the children to put forward their own ideas but also to listen and to have respect for the views of others.
Role play and drama, which extend and enrich vocabulary in all subject areas, are used to provide active learning experiences for the children to develop empathy and to further their understanding.