ENGLISH
English is taught in 5 sections: reading, writing, spelling and grammar, speaking and listening and presentation.
At Spring Cottage, we are dedicated to encouraging all children to be passionate about reading and writing. We are determined that ALL children will become highly competent readers and writers by the end of their time with us. We believe the study of English is essential as by writing and speaking fluently it allows children to communicate their emotions and ideas to others, and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Reading is a key life-skill and we aim to give children opportunities through all curriculum areas to enhance this skill. By reading from a larger range of genres and material we are able to broaden their experiences when writing.
We want our children to enjoy becoming writers, writing across different genres: – being a poet, writing a suspense story, structuring a persuasive letter, creating a set of instructions are just a few of the many themes they will be encountering each year. Talk for writing techniques are used regularly to enhance and support our developing writers. Using the skills taught in an English lesson, the children are then able to write across the curriculum: Writing a non- chronological report in History, writing a science investigation, constructing a diary entry linked to a history project are just some examples.
Writing
We use strategies taken from the Talk for Writing model (from EYFS to Year 6) to teach a text type whilst also meeting National Curriculum objectives, as we believe that ‘if children can’t say it they can’t write it.’
All English lessons should be about teaching a genre and our yearly programme includes narrative units, non-fiction and poetry. On average the teaching of a text type should last about 3 weeks. Our whole school writing grid details, for class teachers, what should be covered at each stage of the talk for writing process. There are no discrete lessons which do not relate to the text type being taught. Teachers follow progression documents for each genre of writing to ensure skills are built on in each year group.
What do our Writing lessons look like?
- Carefully designed text-led learning journeys, with a clear starting point, end outcome and purpose.
- A clear writing process of: planning, drafting, sharing, evaluating, revising, editing, and publishing.
- A range of teaching strategies to engage children: Group discussion, partner talk, questioning, modelled writing and shared writing.
- Speaking and listening sessions which are taught through drama strategies like role-play; performing poetry; debates and presentations.
- Discrete Grammar sessions where objectives have been carefully chosen to match the genre of writing being taught so children can apply their learning when completing independent pieces.
- Explicitly taught spelling lessons.
- Differentiated tasks which are designed to support and challenge all learners.
Please refer to our Reading and Phonics page for detailed information on how these areas of the curriculum are delivered.
