English
At Whitehall Nursery and Infant School, the delivery of the English curriculum is paramount for the continuing development of the language acquisition of our children. The English curriculum is driven in such a way to motivate, inspire and engage children to become lovers of literature, effective communicators and expressive writers. With these skills and attributes, they will be equipped for future challenges and successes in life.
Intent
- Develop a love of books and stories that they will remain passionate about for their whole lives.
- Have an interest in developing their own vocabulary through curiosity of new words and their definitions.
- Independently select appropriate and positive language, in order communicate effectively in a range of contexts and to a range of audiences.
- Be able to use their reading skills to read and respond to an extensive range of texts (including literature from different times and cultures, information and reference texts, media texts and online social and collaborative communications), thinking critically and creatively.
- Become increasingly coherent in expressing their opinions, emotions and imagination creatively, both through spoken and written language.
- Understand a range of text types and genres and be able to write in a variety of styles and forms appropriate to the situation.
- Be able to write effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences.
- Be reflective learners, who are keen to improve their English knowledge and skills.
- Be collaborative learners, who are able to offer constructive feedback and criticism to their peers.
- Embed basic transcription skills to avoid gaps that prevent children from becoming expressive and creative writers.
Implementation
- The whole school to embrace the new handwriting scheme ‘letter join’, with weekly handwriting lessons, and daily handwriting family practise.
- Spelling lessons will be taught weekly in KS1; children will be taught to use a range of strategies when spelling words including phoneme/grapheme correspondence, identification of spelling patterns and mnemonics
- The whole school to implement a new planning approach in English that enables children to develop well in their spoken language, reading and writing skills.
- Subject leaders/year group leads will monitor the implementation of the English All children in KS1 will have a writing journal where they have the freedom to make mistakes, edit their work and practice new skills in order to perfect their work for their writing books.
- Class teachers will keep records of pencil grip in their classes; these will be updated half termly and interventions will be planned for and carried out throughout the half-term to ensure issues are addressed.
- Planning carefully; this will be done through learning walks, observations, planning meetings, planning trawls and book-looks.
- Independent reading is included on the class timetables across the year groups. Children are given daily opportunities to choose their own reading material from the class reading areas. Story time is also included on class timetables and takes place regularly.
- Each class have a set of books called ‘The favourite five’ which are displayed in classrooms and are regularly used in story time as a way of building up children’s familiarity with texts
- Children are given three books to take home each week. A RML book which is their phonic matched reading book, a closely matched ‘challenge’ book for them to read with an adult and a 'reading for pleasure' book that is beyond their reading ability but has high quality text and illustrations/photos and has engaged them in some way through its subject matter.
- In Key Stage 1, all children engage in a 55 minute RML session, four times per week. In EYFS it is atleast 30minutes every day.
Impact
- The children’s writing experiences are broad and the majority of children become creative, independent and skilled writers by the end of KS1.
- Children can talk with confidence about the English curriculum throughout the academic year. They are clear about the knowledge and skills that they have gained in line with the curriculum appropriate to their age/keystage.
- Class teachers can speak with confidence about the children in their class and their outcomes; they can articulate their judgements and evidence.
- Children’s letter formation, orientation and sizing is accurate and they are able to join most letters by the end of KS1.
- The percentage of children that achieve ARE and beyond in writing, at the end of each Key Stage will increase – and at least be in line with national average.
- Children will have time for reading for pleasure in. Through the extra time and importance placed on reading and book talk, children will show that they have a wider knowledge of books and authors and will be able to recall books that have been subject drivers or favourite 5.
