English
Through English we interweave our school drivers in as many ways as possible. For example:
Communicators
Children will explore English in all its forms, how it is used to communicate feelings and important messages, they will be able to relay meaning, information and perform regularly and they will be able critically and reflectively respond to the genre that is being studied. Children will have the opportunity to work collaboratively and participate in opportunities to reflect on talk and explore real and imagined situations through role play, hot-seating, drama and discussions. We foster in pupils the confidence, desire and ability to express their views and opinions both orally and in writing.
Explorers
Children will explore a diverse range of texts that allows them to have access to genres they may not come across in every-day life. They will explore a range of experiences that where the children can acquire confidence and a positive attitude to English. We provide children with opportunities to explore a love of books and high-quality literature that will not only support their learning across the curriculum, but also extend beyond the classroom environment and enrich their lives.
Reading
We explicitly teach reading skills throughout the school that continually develop children’s understanding and enjoyment of texts. We encourage children to read good quality text which allows all children to learn new vocabulary relating to all areas of the curriculum. They learn words from a range of good quality texts learn the meaning and understanding of new vocabulary and implement these within their writing.
Believers
All children will have the opportunity to develop their own ideas and opinions about their own work and those of others. All children have the opportunity to develop their own beliefs based on a collection of knowledge and diverse collection of high quality texts. We will develop their ability to reason, think logically, and use a range of sources to create informed pieces of work. All children have the opportunity to question, reflect and develop their own creative and aesthetic skills.
Through these drivers and the delivery of the English curriculum we want our children to have a love of English and be able to discuss English in all its forms. Our approach to teaching of English is multi-faceted, incorporating speaking & listening, drama, real contexts and good quality literature. Most importantly, we want to create fluent readers and writers with all the skills and knowledge they need to be confidently literate in life. We want all children to leave Christ Church with a life-long reading habit and a love books because we believe this has a significant impact on the quality of their writing. We teach the editorial skills needed for this (spelling, grammar and handwriting) within real contexts wherever possible so children see their relevance. Teachers plan creative and relevant links to their class topics as a vehicle for writing.
Reading
Within school 'Reading' is one of our main drivers.
In each classroom we have a book corner, here children are able to choose books to read either in school or at home. Times will be available for children to enjoy their books in the corner too.
Within the classroom, there will be a carousel of activities that are associated with reading. For example, character descriptions, writing a new blurb for their book, writing sentences with new vocabulary, a comprehension task. As well as this, one group will be part of a focused reading session with their class teacher. During this time, they will read a section of a text (fiction, non fiction or poetry) and then spend some time discussing it; this ensures children have a sound comprehension of what they have read.
As much as possible children will also be heard reading on a 1:1 basis. This may be by their class teacher, a Teaching Assistant or one of our volunteer readers.
Children will have a Reading Record Book. Adults reading in school will fill in the record when they have read with your child. If you read at home with your child, please complete this record too.
Children should be reading at least five times a week at home 'Striving for five.'
This website, Love Reading 4 Kids is fantastic if you are looking to find some new books.
Don’t forget the local library
Other websites to try:
Oxford Owls – lots of free ebooks and activities
Roy the Zebra – reading games to help with comprehension (KS1)
BBC Bitesize – reading activities for comprehension (KS2)
Writing, Spelling and Grammar
Within our English Curriculum we plan for children to write different genres, as well as developing a rich vocabulary. We want all children to be able to communicate effectively through different styles of writing and develop in their porgression of gramatical knowledge.
Each child will receive weekly spellings based on the National Curriculum which are tested on a Monday. They will also receive weekly explicit teaching of spelling patterns to support this.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/english/spelling_grammar/