English

English Purpose of Study

English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society. A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that 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; pupils who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are effectively disenfranchised.

Source: National Curriculum, 2014

Intent

At Countess Gytha, English sits at the heart of the curriculum.  We place high emphasis on the teaching of speaking, listening, reading, vocabulary, writing, spelling, grammar and handwriting. We teach English daily throughout the school and know that for children to become excellent writers they need to read. 

We believe there are six building elements which support a child to read for pleasure:

Being read to regularly
Having books at home and at school
Having a choice in what to read
Finding time to read
Having trusted help to find a book
Making reading FUN!

It is our intention at Countess Gytha to immerse pupils in the wonders of quality texts and to instil a love for reading, a passion for discovery and a confidence to explore their imagination through our book-led writing curriculum. Our aim is to promote and instil a love for reading, writing and high-quality literature into pupils at all ages and ensure that every child becomes a reader, a writer and confident speaker by the time they leave Countess Gytha Primary.

Implementation:

We firmly believe that at Countess Gytha Primary School, if we support pupils in establishing a love for reading and expose them to high quality and carefully chosen texts, pupils will thrive and reach their full potential.

Our writing progression framework, which enhances the National Curriculum for Writing, intends to enable all children to develop a repertoire of knowledge and skills
in order to write both creatively and academically for a range of audiences and purposes through a variety of genres and text types.

A typical week in English in Countess Gytha Primary will look like:

· Daily phonics lessons using the Little Wandle scheme of learning

· Weekly grammar lessons based on the National Curriculum objectives linked to the genre focus for extended writes

· Weekly comprehension lessons linked to the genre focus for extended writes

· Weekly extended write with a rich variety of genre and text type

· Whole class book daily providing children with the opportunity to listen to quality texts offering rich and varied vocabulary that inspire and promote a love of reading and writing

· Handwriting and Spelling

· Read for pleasure daily

· Library open for children to access at lunchtime with librarians to support

· Reading ambassadors reading with Year 1 and 2

· Reading buddies reading with Merlin class

· Reading champions promoting reading and changing class displays for recommended reads