Curriculum – English

Purpose of Study

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; pupils who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are effectively disenfranchised.

(Statutory Guidance - National curriculum in England: English programmes of study Updated 16 July 2014 )

Intent

At Esh Winning Primary School, we recognise that teaching and learning in English is an essential part of the whole development of all children, including SEN and disadvantaged children, for their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. The teaching of English is broken into three strands - Reading, Writing and Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar, with reading being the key to developing the other skills together with skills and knowledge development across all other curriculum subjects. Our intent is to create lifelong readers. We want to improve the links with reading at home and for pleasure. We want to provide the children with the skills they need as early as possible in speaking and listening. By doing this the children will be confident in sharing their views and opinions. It enables them to express themselves creatively and imaginatively and to communicate effectively.

At Esh Winning Primary School, we want all pupils to leave Year 6 reading and writing with confidence, fluency and understanding, using a range of independent strategies to take responsibility for their own learning, including monitoring and correcting their own errors; with a love of reading and a desire to read for enjoyment; with an interest in words and their meanings.

We teach English – both reading and writing – daily from Reception class to Year 6 and base the content of our curriculum on National Curriculum guidelines.