English
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. This year we will be using 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds' scheme to deliver phonics throughout the school. 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.
Some of our published books
Year One and Two
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.
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, each week. 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 Fronter. 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.
Year Five and Six
While the SATs mark the last year of primary school, and children are tested in reading, spelling and grammar, the teachers make the curriculum engaging through the study of a series of novels. They explore the themes and 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 opinion. Play word based games and use the resources provided by the teachers to support the development of spelling and grammar.
Support for parents, teachers and children
We are committed to helping all the people involved in a child's educational journey. Our Assistant Headteacher has 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.
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.