English

                         

Mrs L Dixon is our English Subject Leader.
ldixon@trawden.lancs.sch.uk

Intent

It is our intention to provide pupils with a high-quality education in English that will teach pupils to speak, read and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others effectively. 

We intend for our youngest children to have access to a language rich environment. Speaking and listening is fostered throughout the early years and continues throughout the school, to aid their writing abilities. We intend for pupils to be able to plan, revise and evaluate their writing. To be able to do this effectively, pupils will focus on developing effective transcription and effective composition. They will also develop an awareness of the audience, purpose and context, and an increasingly wide knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. They will develop the ability to select words and phrases carefully to clarify meaning and effectively communicate an idea, We also intend for pupils to leave school being able to use fluent, legible and speedy handwriting with accurate spelling.

We intend for our children to be secure in their phonics knowledge and use blending and segmenting as the main initial approach to help children read and spell accurately. Pupils will be taught how to work out and clarify the meanings of unknown words; words with more than one meaning and the relationships between words.

Phonics will be emphasised in the early teaching of reading to beginners when they begin their learning journey through school. We intend to encourage all pupils to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, to gain knowledge across the curriculum and develop their comprehension skills. It is our intention to ensure that, by the end of their primary education, all pupils are able to read fluently, and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education.

 

Reading

In Key Stage One, phonics is taught in small groups following 'Bug Club Phonics'.  A banded reading scheme called ‘Bug Club’, published by Pearson, is used throughout school (supplemented by Oxford Reading Tree) until children are confident ‘free readers’. At this point, children complete a Star Test to access Accelerated Reader through our well-stocked library. Children borrow one Accelerated Reader book and a library book of choice to continue to develop their love of reading.  Children from Year One to Year Six take part in guided reading sessions during which they develop their reading (decoding) and comprehension (understanding) skills and knowledge of the structure and feature of a range of texts types led by the teacher as expert.

 

Writing

Children in Key Stage Two are taught grammar, punctuation and spelling within and in addition to the daily English lessons.  These follow the expectations for each year group, as published in the National Curriculum. We use Jane Considine's 'The Write Stuff' to model the expert teaching of writing to our students, and we encourage a rich and vibrant discussion during sessions where language is shared, broadened and deepened. Our class teachers deliver discreet, pacey grammar sessions alongside writing to develop the grammatical skills learned previously and learn new concepts. From Year Two upwards we use No Nonsense Spelling as a resource to teach spelling rules and patterns.

Children apply their growing knowledge of grammar, punctuation and spelling to each piece of written work. Staff plan for the children to they have regular opportunities to write and across the curriculum to utilise the skills they have developed within their English lessons..

English Documents

Useful Link

Reading Ambassadors

Reading ambassadors from local schools in the Pendle area met to promote a love of reading. 

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