English

Subject Lead: Gina Everest

The Importance of English at Stretham

English has a prominent place in education and in society. A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Through reading, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society; pupils, therefore, who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are effectively disenfranchised.

Reading at Stretham

~~~~Intent~~~~

Reading is primarily a skill which allows our pupils to enter a world of imagination, adventure, fantasy, facts, instructions, poetry and so much more. It is a life skill that opens doors to the world. Our school curriculum is designed to help a reader develop the skills of decoding, fluency, inference, prediction and retrieval. They will be exposed to the etymology and morphology of words. As well as teach the key skills, it is the responsibility of staff and the school community to foster a love of reading in our primary pupils that can be continued for the rest of their lives.

Reading Progression Document

Reading Progression.pdf

Reading skills board for children to refer to for strategy support

Writing at Stretham

~~~~Intent~~~~

Literacy is a key driver of our curriculum, allowing children to unlock the power of language – read, spoken and written. Our aims are:

- to ensure that every child becomes a reader, a writer and confident speaker by the time they leave Stretham Community Primary School.

- to promote and instil a love for reading, writing and high-quality literature into pupils at all ages.

- to derive an English curriculum, which develops the acquisition of knowledge and skills in line with the National Curriculum expectations.

~~~~Implementation~~~~

Our English curriculum is derived around high-quality age-appropriate stimuli. This could include; texts, videos, images or music. We use these to generate ‘engagement and excitement’ in lessons, creating opportunities to develop reading fluency and comprehension with a focus on key reading strategies and skills. We aim to develop grammar and punctuation knowledge, and understanding so children can use and apply a greater range of skills across the wider curriculum; explore the writing structure and features of different genres and identify the purpose and audience. Children plan and write an initial piece of writing with a clear context and purpose before evaluating the effectiveness of writing by editing and redrafting.

Writing Progression Document

Writing.pdf

Year 6 Outdoor Writing Project

Year 6 really enjoyed taking their writing outside to inspire some creative writing with a sensory focus. The children wrote both poetry and descriptive narratives which developed their understanding and use of figurative language. By immersing themselves in the outdoors when writing, all children felt empowered to write creatively and made brave language choices.