English

English is a core subject in the Primary National Curriculum. The children at St Philip's will learn to develop their spoken language, reading, writing and vocabulary through English lessons, but also through all other Curriculum areas.

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. (Primary National Curriculum, 2013)

The Curriculum aims to ensure that all children are able to read fluently and with good understanding. They will develop the habit to read for pleasure and for gaining information, and will learn to appreciate our rich literary heritage. Children will also learn to write clearly and accurately, adapting their language and style for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. All children will use discussion in order to learn, and will be able to communicate their understanding and ideas effectively.

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

In EYFS, the children work towards achieving two Communication and Language Early Learning Goals - 'Listening, Attention and Understanding' and 'Speaking'. They also work towards achieving three Literacy Early Learning Goals –'Comprehension', ‘Word Reading’ and ‘Writing’. The children will engage in both adult-led and child-initiated activities which enable them to develop these skills.

The children will learn the phonic sounds for all single letters, and will be able to recognise some simple words from memory. The children will be encouraged to mark-make and then link the sounds they can hear in words to the words they would like to write down. They will begin to explore writing for different purposes.

Year 1

During Year 1, children build on their work from the Foundation Stage. They learn to sound out and blend unfamiliar words using the phonic knowledge they have already learnt. They will continue to learn ways of reading and writing phonemes, and will understand that the letters on the page represent the sounds in spoken words.

Children in Year 1 will practise reading books consistent with their developing phonic knowledge, whilst also hearing and discussing a range of high quality books to develop a love of reading. These books will include poetry, stories and non-fiction.

In Year 1 the children will learn to write in sentences, by developing the physical skill needed for handwriting and using their phonics knowledge to write down the sounds they can hear in words. The children will also learn how to organise their ideas in writing. They will know to leave spaces between words, and begin to punctuate their sentences using capital letters and full stops.

Year 2

During Year 2, the children will continue to focus on improving their reading skills. They will listen to and discuss a wide range of stories, poems, plays and information books.

The children will learn to write for a variety of purposes, including writing stories, writing about real events, and writing poems. They will continue to develop their joined up handwriting.

Children are expected to spell many of the words covered in Year 1 correctly, and form letters correctly when writing. The children will learn that there are many variations in spelling, and that there is not always an obvious connection between the way a word is said and the way it is spelt.

Year 3

In Year 3, children should be able to read books at an age-appropriate level accurately and at a speed which enables them to focus on understanding what they have read, rather than simply decoding the words. They will develop their understanding and enjoyment of stories, poetry, plays and non-fiction, and will begin to learn to read silently. They will also learn how to use a dictionary to check the meaning of words they have read.

The children in Year 3 will learn to write down their ideas with good sentence punctuation. They will extend the range of sentences they are able to write, using a variety of conjunctions (for example, when, if, because). In Year 3, children are expected to write using joined up handwriting.

Year 4

During Year 4, children will be taught to become independent, fluent and enthusiastic readers who read a variety of genres, for both pleasure and information. They will be able to read silently, and will learn to justify their views about what they have read.

The children in Year 4 will continue to write for a variety of purposes. They will be able to plan their writing before doing it, and evaluate it afterwards. They will be taught to proof-read their own writing and others’ writing for spelling and punctuation errors. They will also be taught to write in paragraphs which are organised around a theme, and will learn to use and punctuate direct speech correctly.

Year 5

By Year 5, children should be able to read most words effortlessly and will be able to read many stories and poems aloud to others. They will learn to summarise and present familiar stories in their own words.

The children should now be able to write down their ideas quickly, using appropriate grammar and punctuation.

Year 6

By the end of Year 6, the children will be able to read and write fluently across all Curriculum subjects. They will continue to read and discuss an increasingly wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books.

The children should now be able to spell words that they have not yet been taught by using what they have learnt about how spelling works in English. They will learn to select appropriate vocabulary and grammar according to the audience and purpose of their piece of writing.

During their time at St Philips, the children will be taught to listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers. They will learn to maintain attention, and use relevant strategies to build up their vocabulary. The children will be encouraged to ask relevant questions to extend their own knowledge and understanding, and will be able to express their own thoughts, feelings and opinions articulately.

The children will participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role-play, improvisations and debates appropriate to their age group.

Here are some websites with some useful reading, writing and spelling activities to try at home:

www.ictgames.com/literacy.html
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/site/literacy.shtml
www.pbskids.org/games

Click here to download Learning to read through phonics - information for parents leaflet