English
Statement of Intent
At Carrant Brook Junior School, our intent is to provide an inspirational English curriculum for our children that allows them to develop into confident, creative writers, readers and communicators (We are confident).
We understand that developing strong literacy skills in primary school plays a key role in the ability of children to successfully navigate the later years of their school life, and indeed the years beyond education. It is our aim to do this by immersing children in a fun, engaging curriculum that is tailored to their needs, responsive to the different speeds at which children learn and sensitive to the challenges that all children face on their learning journey. Having a well-planned, carefully structured progression of skills that runs from the beginning of year three to the end of year 6 allows us to have high expectations of all children (We are aspirational).
At the heart of this is the intention of all staff to instil a love of reading, writing and discussion in our children that will have a positive impact on their development during their time here, and a lasting impact on their lives (We are inspired).
The National Curriculum (2014) forms the basis for all subject teaching ensuring continuity and progression in an age-related curriculum. In addition, teachers make sure the content is relevant and stimulating by delivering through themes and topics, to enable all children to:
- 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
- develop a love of writing and to be able to express their thoughts and ideas clearly and creatively through the written word.
- re-read, edit and improve their own writing
- confidently use the essential skills of grammar, punctuation and spelling
- use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
- be competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate
These aims are embedded across our literacy lessons and the wider curriculum. We will provide the means for children to develop a secure knowledge-base in Literacy, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum.
Rigorous assessment and review will ensure that we are able to provide targeted support so that all children experience success in literacy.
Fluency in the English language is an essential foundation for success in all subjects and our teachers develop pupils’ spoken language, reading, writing and vocabulary as integral aspects of the teaching of every subject.
English Overview
When planning English lessons, teachers make links to other areas of the curriculum to ensure that cross curricular links provide further context for learning. Teaching blocks focus on fiction, non-fiction or poetry, in line with the 2014 National Curriculum and comprehension, grammar and writing are embedded in lessons.
In all classes at Carrant Brook, writing lessons are taught in units that are planned based on a high-quality, challenging text. The grammar and writing skills developed in these lessons are carefully selected so that they form part of a whole-school skills progression. Across the year, we
ensure that children are given the opportunity to write for a range of purposes and for different audiences.
Through the writing process, children will acquire and learn the skills to plan, draft and refine their written work over time and are encouraged to develop independence in being able to identify their own areas for improvement in all pieces of writing. Lesson sequences themselves build progressively towards an extended piece of writing.
Handwriting is taught using a fully cursive handwriting scheme, The Write Path, and outcomes are recorded in books to promote a high level of pride and presentation across all written outcomes.
The Pearson Bug Club Comprehension guided reading programme is used to develop a deeper understanding of texts, through a talk‑based approach. It follows a structured teaching cycle to support an in‑depth and consistent focus on comprehension. Teaching of reading centres around one text for the whole class, so that all children access the same text regardless of their decoding ability.
We teach spelling patterns appropriate to children’s age-related expectations, in a sequence that allows them to build upon prior learning. The spelling patterns for each year group are set out in the Nelson Spelling Resources. Through exploring spelling patterns and rules, we aim to create
confident and proficient spellers using a discrete teaching approach underpinned by phonics.
We aim to expose our children to a wide range of vocabulary so that they are able to decipher new words and then use them when speaking both informally and formally.
Reading
The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
Dr Seuss
Through independent reading, shared reading in English lessons and cross-curricular sessions, whole class reading groups and reading for pleasure, reading in Carrant Brook develops and extends the skills acquired in Key Stage 1.
Children explore a wide variety of genres, both fiction and non-fiction which allows them to access, input ideas and understand what they are reading. They are given opportunities to speculate on the tone and purpose of texts they explore as well as to consider both the themes and audience.
To develop their reading skills, please find 10 minutes a day to listen to your child read. This will help him/her to develop fluency in reading and begin to talk about the story. Once your child is more fluent, it is important to focus on asking questions to check his/her understanding. Your child should also be picking out unfamiliar words to help develop a wider understanding of language. As you child becomes older and more confident, s/he should take more and more responsibility for his/her own learning.
Oxford Owl has some amazing resources that you can access to help support your child’s reading. On their website you will find how to guides, tips and advice and a whole range of ebooks which can be downloaded or read on a tablet at home. What’s even better – they are all free!
Useful links
Grammar VocabularyParents' Guide to Book Bands
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home
This is the Book Trust's list of the 100 best books for children from the last 100 years: a suggestion of titles to read before you're 14.
CLICK HERE!
Phonics
Carrant Brook Junior School uses Read Write Inc. as catch-up and intervention programme for those children who have not passed their KS1 phonics screening or who are insecure in with their phonics.
Read Write Inc. Phonics teaches children to read and write through a systematic approach to literacy rooted in phonics. Most children complete the programme by the first term of Year 2 while those in need of further support may continue until the end of Year 4.
In some cases, phonics interventions may occur in Years 5 and 6 for those children who still require this additional provision.