English

At St. Anne's we follow the statutory guidance for the teaching of English, as set out in the National Curriculum 2014. We aim to develop the English skills children will need to equip them for everyday life in an ever changing society. We strive to create an engaging, language rich environment where children can learn and develop skills in a purposeful manner, making links with other curriculum areas where appropriate.

In Key Stage One and Two children experience a range of text genres aimed at broadening their knowledge of text types and engaging them in literature.

English has a pre-eminent 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 in particular, 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.

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. The National Curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

read easily, fluently and with good understanding
develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.

Reading in Foundation Stage and Key Stage One

Research has shown that children who have a love of books, see good reading role models at home and school, and practise reading on a regular basis, become good readers. At St Anne’s we strive to ensure all children have access to good reading materials, are given lots of different opportunities to develop their reading skills and that parents are encouraged to support their children in a variety of ways.

In class, children will be learning phonics, sight words and strategies to read unknown words. They will be part of a daily phonics group, which will develop their phonological knowledge and the skills of blending and segmenting. Within Reception, children will be learning to read on a 1 to 1 basis and within a weekly guided group towards the Summer Term. In Year One, some children will be learning to read on a 1 to 1 basis and all children within a weekly guided group. In Year Two, children will be learning to read within a guided group and will complete small group comprehension to develop their deduction and inference skills. In school, we follow the 'Letters and Sounds' scheme to help children to develop their phonics skills.

We use a variety of reading schemes in school, including Oxford Reading Tree, Project X and Bug Club. We believe in having a variety of schemes as this helps children to apply their reading skills to differing reading styles. Children take two banded books home per week.

Reading in Foundation Stage and Key Stage One is successful and gives our children a good foundation in reading.