St George’s Primary School
English

St George’s Mission Statement

As a ChristianSchool, rooted in the teachings, values and spiritual life of the Church of England, we aim for all children to be successful, independent learners and effective decision makers. We value the individual and are committed to inclusive education, equal opportunities, respect for all, including those of other faiths and cultures.

In partnership with governors, parents and the local community we strive to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes high achievement for all children; developing within the individual self-confidence, motivation, aspiration and the ability to work with others at home, at school and within the wider context.

“Working together for the achievement of all”

ST GEORGE’S CE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Introduction

The overarching aim for English in the National Curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. At St. George’s (Hanover Square) Primary School we teach a topic-based Literacy curriculum linked to the National Curriculum English Programmes of Study. We feel this will provide a more creative curriculum for our children, making learning fun, accessible to all and most importantly appropriate to their individual needs.

Aims

We aim to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.

By the age of 11 we aim to ensure that each child:

  • Reads easily, fluently and with good understanding
  • Develops the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
  • Acquires a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
  • Appreciates our rich and varied literary heritage
  • Writes clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting language and style across a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
  • Uses discussion in order to learn (i.e. to be able to elaborate and explain clearly one’s understanding and ideas)
  • Is competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate

Statutory Requirements

Statutory requirements for the teaching and learning of English are set out in English Programmes of Study: Key Stages 1 and 2 National Curriculum in England September 2013 and in the Literacy section of the Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)) 2012.

The National Curriculum (2013) recognises that English consists of four fundamental skills:

  • Speaking and Listening
  • Reading
  • Writing
  • Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation

At St. George’s (Hanover Square) Primary School we believe that these skills are best taught and learnt when they feature together in a sequence of lessons built around a common topic theme.

In the Foundation Stage, children should be given opportunities to:

  • Speak, listen and present ideas in their activities
  • Use communication, language and literacy in every part of the curriculum
  • Become immersed in an environment rich in print and possibilities for communication
  • Take part in a daily phonics lessons

At Key Stage One (Years 1 and 2), children should learn to speak confidently and listen to what others have to say. They should begin to read and write independently 4 and with enthusiasm. They should use language to explore their own experiences and imaginary worlds.

At Key Stage Two (Years 3-6), children should learn to differentiate the way they speak and write to suit different situations, purposes and audiences. They should read a range of texts and respond to different layers of meaning for each text. Children should be able to explore the use of language in literary and non-literary texts and learn how the structure of language works.

Subject Organisation and Planning

Staff at St. George’s (Hanover Square) Primary School use the National Curriculum for:

  • Reading, writing, speaking and listening
  • Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation in order to support the planning and implementation of a topic based Curriculum.

The Early Learning Goals are followed to ensure continuity and progression from the Foundation Stage through to the National Curriculum. The majority of lessons are delivered through the focus topic area chosen for the particular term. Literacy texts are carefully selected (DPiL and Book Power) and units of work planned accordingly. All teachers complete medium-term planning linked to their topic and provide differentiated work when necessary to individuals or groups within the class. Key texts, for fiction units are chosen by teachers for each year group to ensure children are exposed to quality texts and good writing models. ICT is used, when possible, to enhance literacy learning and teaching. Additional adults are used to support teaching and learning, under the guidance of the class teacher.

The Governing Body

Annual reports are made to the governors on the progress of English provision. This policy will be reviewed every three years or in the light of changes to applicable legal requirements.

Spoken language

The Four Strands of Speaking and Listening: Speaking; Listening; Group Discussion and Interaction; and Drama permeate the whole curriculum. Interactive teaching strategies are used to engage all pupils in order to raise reading and writing standards. Children are encouraged to develop effective communication skills in order to equip them in readiness for later life.

At St. George’s (Hanover Square) Primary School we believe that children of every age need to be taught to express themselves orally in an appropriate way, and to understand the need to match their style and response to their purpose or audience. These skills are also vital for the general spiritual, emotional and intellectual development of the child, since relationships inside and outside school can only be established by communicating thoughts, ideas and feelings.

Pupils should be taught to:

  • Listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers
  • Ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge
  • Use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary
  • Articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions
  • Give well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes, including for expressing feelings
  • Maintain attention and participate actively in collaborative conversations, listening closely, staying on topic and initiating and responding to comments
  • Use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas
  • Speak audibly and fluently with a growing command of Standard English
  • Participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates
  • Gain, maintain and monitor the interest of listener(s)
  • Consider and evaluate different viewpoints, attending to and building on the contributions of others
  • Select and use appropriate registers for effective communication

The Role of Group Discussion

To talk effectively as members of a group, children are taught to:

  • Make relevant contributions
  • Take turns in a discussion
  • Vary their contributions depending on the activity or purpose
  • Qualify or justify what they think or do after listening to others’ questions or accounts
  • Deal politely with opposing points of view to enable the discussion to move on
  • Take up and sustain different roles, including chair, scribe or spokesperson
  • Make contributions which enable the group to proceed, including summarizing, reviewing, clarifying, drawing others in and reaching an agreement

Drama activities provide the following opportunities:

  • Improvisation and role play
  • Conscience alley and hot seating
  • Scripting and performing plays
  • Whole school concerts and performances
  • Responding to performances

Implementation

Teachers aim to plan classroom activities which encourage full participation by all children, irrespective of ability. Many speaking and listening activities will form part of cross-curricular work, and will naturally link to other aspects of English. Children are encouraged to talk to their talking partners as part of an interactive lesson. We endeavour to provide children with opportunities to communicate with different audiences, for example, by talking or performing to the year group or in whole school assemblies. We aim to provide opportunities to listen and respond to a range of people through a range of different media. This might include watching or listening to television or radio broadcasts. Speaking and listening activities may also be planned around the use of ICT: computers (multimedia presentations), tape recorders or video recorders, for example. We believe that speaking and listening skills are an intrinsic part of the writing process. A child needs to be able to say a sentence before they can write it. To help develop this skill teachers are expected to plan oral rehearsal into their weekly literacy planning so that children have the opportunity to think and say their sentences before they begin writing.

Writing

Transcription

Spelling

To be a successful writer we believe that children need to be able to spell accurately and quickly, knowing the relationship between sounds and letters. Spelling skills are introduced through direct teaching and according to ‘Letters and Sounds’ in Key Stage 1. Children experiencing spelling difficulties in Key Stage 2 will be taught in small groups and use a catch-up phonics programme.

In spelling, we aim that:

  • Children should develop their understanding of and conform to standard written English
  • Children should develop an awareness of spelling rules and their exceptions
  • Children should be taught a variety of strategies for spelling
  • The teaching of spelling is embedded through a repertoire of interactive games, whiteboard work and mnemonics
  • Wherever possible, phonics/spelling should be linked with handwriting
  • Children are encouraged to attempt the spelling of more ambitious vocabulary in their writing

Guidelines

Foundation

The emphasis at this stage is on systematic, multi-sensory, high quality phonics work which is embedded within a rich language experience. The phonics programme uses ‘Letters and Sounds’, is firmly based upon the above principles and reflects the Early Years Foundation Stage. Phonics will be taught daily.

Key Stage 1

‘Letters and Sounds’ will continue to be taught on a daily basis. For spelling purposes, the emphasis is on the pupils’ ability to segment words into phonemes and then to match the most likely letter or letters to each sound. In addition pupils will continue to learn how to spell a number of high-frequency words and common irregular words enabling them to write fluently. They will investigate and learn to use common spelling patterns, and frequently use prefixes, suffixes and inflectional endings in their own writing. Pupils become increasingly independent. They identify reasons for misspellings in their own work and are taught how to use a simple dictionary, a range of word banks and their knowledge of word families.

Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 2 there is an emphasis on developing a range of strategies to remember how words are spelled. The use of a range of word resources and the morphology of words is developed further. Nevertheless, it is recognised that some pupils will need to consolidate the phonic knowledge and skills from Key Stage 1. Although there is a gradual shift from teaching at word level to teaching at sentence level, there should at all times be explicit teaching of spellings weekly. It is expected that pupils assume increased responsibility by identifying their own spelling corrections, making reasoned choices about likely alternatives and using a range of resources (including a variety of dictionaries and word banks) for making corrections.

Spelling Homework

In Year 1 and Year 2 children will be given weekly spelling homework and tested. Dictation based on previous week’s spelling will also be given in Key Stage 2 Spelling homework will be differentiated by increasing expectations of more able children, for example more spelling words; learning the spellings and finding 5 - 10 more words that follow the same spelling rule; or writing 5 or 10 new words into sentences.

Handwriting

The skill of handwriting needs to be taught. It is not a natural skill that will grow and develop like speaking or walking. Handwriting is a motor activity. A movement stored in the body rather than in the conscious memory. Our hands and fingers control the movements involved in handwriting. It is in our hands that the kinaesthetic memory lies. This controls the direction and shape of each letter.

An effective handwriting policy is based on a style that is quick and easy to learn. It should be neat, legible and fast. Pupils should eventually develop the ability to produce letters without thinking. Anautomatic style releases the brain to concentrate on other ideas i.e. spelling, grammar, syntax, styleand content.

Handwriting should be taught alongside phonic and spelling knowledge at all stages.

Effective teaching of handwriting can only be achieved through modelling. Teachers must demonstrate letter formation and joins regularly and children must practice by carefully copying and repeating. It is important to observe children writing to ensure they are forming letters correctly.

Our aims for handwriting at St. George’s (Hanover Square) Primary School are:

  • To help children achieve a fluent, legible form of cursive handwriting which they can be proud
  • To establish good handwriting habits, without imposing a definitive method so that children are able to develop a personal style
  • To link the teaching of handwriting to the teaching of spelling
  • To ensure that our handwriting policy meets the needs of the National Curriculum teaching and learning objectives

At the end of the Foundation Stage we aim that children will begin to understand that letters have a shape and a sound. The cursive style of letter shapes is taught and graphemes are taught in conjunction with the phonics session. In their own writing, children use pictures and symbols to enhance meaning. They begin to write their names recognisably.

In Key Stage 1 children should be taught to hold a pencil comfortably in order to develop a legible style that follows the conventions of written English, including:

  • Writing from left to right and from top to bottom of the page
  • Starting and finishing letters correctly
  • Regularity of size and shape of letters
  • Regularity of spacing of letters and words
  • Children are to use the cursive letters to form joined-up handwriting

In Key Stage 2 children should be taught the conventional ways of forming letters, both lower case and upper case and should build on their knowledge of letter formation to join letters in words. They should develop an awareness of clear and neat presentation, in order to communicate their meaning effectively.

Composition

The teaching of writing is embedded across our curriculum. The key skills of composition, planning and drafting, punctuation, spelling, grammar and handwriting are taught explicitly in the context of literacy lessons but also indirectly through cross curricular writing in other subjects. Children of all ages are encouraged to write independently and as often as possible. Teachers set clear objectives for each lesson and share these with pupils. Lessons and activities are differentiated for pupils and writing frames are used to assist children who need additional help.

Children need to be able to structure their writing so that it is coherent, and as they progress, we encourage them to understand the importance of planning to shape their work. Children are encouraged to organise and structure their writing in a variety of ways, dependent upon the genre being studied. Children are taught to reflect on their accuracy of communication in their own and others’ writing by using a variety of checking and drafting strategies. As their writing skills develop, we teach children to plan, draft, revise and proof read their writing as they work. They should understand how correct spelling, punctuation and grammar help to make the meaning of their work clear. Children need to be helped to develop as wide a vocabulary as possible to help them express their ideas through their writing. They are taught how to find the spelling of unknown words in dictionaries and word banks. Writing checklists for different genres are used by children in order to evaluate their own and the writing of others.

Grammar and Punctuation

At St. George’s (Hanover Square) Primary School grammar and punctuation are taught both discretely and contextually. Grammatical meta -language is introduced in all literacy lessons. Grammar ismostly taught discretely at the beginning of each lesson from Years 2 to 6. It is then followed up and reinforced contextually within the teaching of writing, reading and speaking during in the rest of the literacy lessons of that week.

Reading

Reading is essential for children to become independent learners, and success in reading has a direct effect upon their progress in most other areas of the curriculum. We encourage children to develop as enthusiastic, independent and reflective readers.

We aim to:

  • Encourage a love of reading and nurture a desire to read for pleasure
  • Introduce children to the world of books and authors
  • Enable children to read a wide range of texts fluently and with understanding, for enjoyment and information
  • Help children become independent in selecting fiction and non-fiction books
  • Allow children opportunities to read a range of texts written for different audiences and for different purposes and to express their responses to the materials they read

Reading for Enjoyment

At St. George’s (Hanover Square) Primary School we recognise that reading is a core tool for life and we aim to foster a love for reading in our children. We have identified the need for children to be heard reading and to be read to on a daily basis throughout the curriculum. The children participate in Book Week every year when reading for enjoyment is widely promoted across the school. Children participate in reading competitions and attend author visits at neighbouring schools. The school library has a wide selection of books which is continually being expanded. Teachers make as much use of this facility as possible and encourage the children to choose a range of both fiction and non-fiction books.