English
Our Intent
We aim to provide our children with an English Curriculum that is fun, engaging and sparks a love of the written and spoken word.
We always seek to develop a stimulating and inspirational English Curriculum which reflects the children in our school so that they can see themselves in the stories they share. This gives every child the opportunity to fosters a passion for English, the opportunity to grow in confidence and reach their full potential.
Our broad and rich English curriculum, is embedded across all subjects and aims to ensure that all our children:
Are exposed to high quality books to be used as stimuli for discussion and for creative writing.
Are exposed to a variety of engaging texts and picture books from a range of genres and authors that reflect the diverse culture of our school.
See themselves as a writer and are celebrated as writers.
Are able to write and spell at age-appropriate levels and following age-related expectations.
Make progress from their unique starting points and in line with those children nationally.
Develop skills in expressing themselves clearly and purposefully, using a varied vocabulary.
Develop creativity in writing through experimenting with language inspired by those authors they have read.
Develop an understanding of grammar and punctuation through exposure to meaningful learning experiences and vocabulary rich learning environments
Build strategies to become independent learners.
Take pride in their writing and present their work to a high standard.
Develop as a confident speaker who is able to present a point of view, respond to other views and form their own opinions.
Implementing reading in Nursery & Reception
The children begin their English journey in the Nursery exploring letters and sounds, playing with words and sharing their experiences through familiar and well known stories. The children are encouraged to begin interacting with books and retell some of their favourite stories through song and action story telling. By Reception the children begin to look at phonics in sessions that are set to their ability, often joining children in Year One to learn their letters and sounds.
The children use 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds' scheme to learn phonics throughout the school. All staff in the school are training in the programme so that all children can be supported to make progress in their phonological development. This will ensure that new arrivals to Anson also receive quality phonics support and the tools they need to transition to becoming confident, independent readers.
Children are also exploring writing the letters and sounds throughout the year, from mark-making to full sentences. We use our technology to help develop oracy too through story telling, augmented reality, filmmaking and creative approaches to stories.
Some of our published books
Year One and Two Implementation
In Year One and Two our work with phonics continues using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds. We prepare children not just for the Phonics Check, but for using phonics across the curriculum. It is for this reason that English is embedded across the curriculum.
The children will participate in daily reading sessions where they will be taught a number of skills in order to read with fluency and meaning. You can support your child by reading to your child, listening to them read and praising their effort. Reading should never be a chore and may take up to 15 minutes for some children.
During the year the children will experience reading and writing a variety of fiction, non-fiction, plays and poetry. You can support your child’s learning by providing them with opportunities to write about their own experiences. For example, ask your child to write a shopping list, keep a journal or a diary or write a letter to a friend. The most valuable gift you can give to your child is time. Confident readers make for confident writers.
Let your child see you read, build a routine to share stories and above all support your child to read rather than making it a punishment or a chore. Reading is fun!
Implementing English in Year Three and Four
In these year groups lessons are covered in units that last 2 to 3 weeks and cover a variety of genres and text types. The children will be encouraged to take home reading books from class too. These should be read each day, with support wherever possible.
Ask questions, discuss characters, settings and emotions. Talking with your child helps to deepen understanding.
We use the Anson Daily Reader so that the whole class is focused on the same text. Often these texts cover an area from across our curriculum mapping. Pupils are encouraged to use their phonics where necessary and share their thoughts and opinions on the texts.
We try to give the children’s work an audience. This can be in class, on Anson Radio and on our school websites and learning platforms. The idea is to make children feel their work is being read, that their ideas are being heard and enjoyed.
Look out for the many ways we will share their work in English.
Developing children as outstanding readers and writers is a huge part of the vision we have at Anson. In Year 5&6 we have developed ‘Reader Feeders’. These are daily challenges and games that give children a whole bank of skills they can use as readers or writers. You can explore some of these at home to try out on car or bus journeys. Adapt them to make them work for you.
Implementing English in Year Five and Six
SATs mark the last year of primary school and children in Year 6 are tested in reading, spelling and grammar. However, SATs captures one moment in time and the journey to develop a passion for reading and a love of writing is one which is a lifelong benefit. So, the teachers continue to make the curriculum engaging through the study of a series of novels. They explore the themes and support pupils to develop empathy and understanding.
English work is covered across the whole curriculum with children taking part in presentations, debates, research and much more. You can help at home by discussing news stories, books and seeking your child's opinion.
Play word based games and use the resources provided by the teachers to support the development of spelling and grammar. You can have a lot of fun adapting familiar stories and changing the words together.
Support for parents, teachers and children
We are committed to helping all the people involved in a child's educational journey. As a school we have worked with the London Grid for Learning to create a resource to support parents, children and teachers so they can understand key grammar terms in the National Curriculum. You can visit Grammar Explained by visiting the website below. It consists of videos explaining every grammatical term in the National Curriculum.
Our Learning Behaviours are embedded into our reading. The six key areas of our wheel of learning are reflected in the language used in the classroom. It is the development of this language that leads us to independent readers who ask probing questions of the texts they read and help to build a deep understanding of characters, plots, settings and information contained in the text.
In order to maintain and improve standards we also ensure:
Daily phonics sessions for children in EYFS and Key Stage One
Daily English lessons from Years 1 to 6
A writing culture that values purpose, creativity and enjoyment
Spellings sent home and tested weekly
English working walls model a writing sequence
Key vocabulary to be displayed and shared, with word mats, dictionaries and thesauruses easily available to children
Weekly handwriting sessions following the Penpals scheme
Writing opportunities are embedded across the curriculum
The writing process is modelled by staff and decision-making discussed with pupils
Editing, proofreading and re-drafting skills are modelled by adults and taught explicitly
Grammar and punctuation to be taught as part of daily English lessons
Success criteria to be used by teachers in The Big Write
Opportunities to write for real purposes and real audiences including competitions, Trilby TV, Into Film and for the radio station.
Celebrations such as World Book Day, Leaver's Assemblies and the Anson Film Festival.
Regular learning walks, book looks and lesson observations throughout the year to inform future areas for improvement and the impact of any new initiatives.
The Impact
We want to develop children who are happy to read, happy to write and confident in their command of the English language. We want to ensure that they have the skills to be creative in their use of words and language which will set them up for a life of opportunities.
We hope that:
Children are proud of their writing and take care in their presentation
Children are familiar with different writing genres
Children write for a variety of different purposes and audiences
Children develop their ability to write sustained pieces of work
Writing across the curriculum is a high standard
Skills progression is evident in books throughout the school
A range of genres are taught across the school, resulting in children being able to know and talk about literary styles, genres and authors
Children use classroom resources to support their learning
Children’s presentation is of a high standard
Pupils make good progress which is monitored throughout the school
Interventions lead to increased proportions of children making good progress and achieving the expected level of development
Subject leader conducts learning walks, book looks and lesson observations throughout the year. These inform future areas for improvement and the impact of new initiatives.
Children are happy, confident and creative in their English work now and in the future.