English

At St. Edmund’s we have a passion for high quality teaching and learning of English. We believe that English is a vital part of our curriculum; it provides children with the most valuable skills for life, which enable them to communicate effectively as per our vision for all children as they progress through our school.  A variety of teaching approaches are used to develop their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills supporting aspirational independent learning.

We believe that every child can develop a love for, and succeed in reading and writing. We aim to instil this belief in the children themselves, fostering an intrinsic motivation to read and write for pleasure.

Our English curriculum enables children to:

• Enjoy a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts that help them to connect with the world around them.
• Write clearly, fluently and accurately in English, showing flair and creativity where appropriate.
• Develop detailed ideas in writing, adapting language to audience and purpose.
• Use a wide range of appropriate and ambitious vocabulary.
• Articulate and express their ideas, views and opinions about a wide range of topics clearly, confidently and respectfully.
• Produce work of which they can be proud

Phonics and Early Reading

It is our priority to ensure that each child is taught to read.  Phonics is the way that our children start their journey to become independent and fluent readers.  From the moment the children join us in Reception, phonics is taught in a highly structured programme of daily lessons which continues throughout Reception, Year 1 and Yer 2.  It is our aim to provide children with the skills necessary to be able to read confidently and access information throughout the curriculum whilst developing their own enjoyment of reading.

Phonics (reading and spelling)

At St Edmund’s, we teach phonics and early reading through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme.  We start teaching phonics in Reception and support the children to build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school.

As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read.  At St Edmund’s, we model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lessons and across the curriculum.  We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.

Comprehension

At St Edmund’s, we value reading as a crucial life skill.  By the time children leave us, they read confidently for meaning and regularly enjoy reading for pleasure.  Our readers are equipped with the tools to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary and we teach children to read for meaning and inference. We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose.

Phonics Screening Check

During the summer term, children in Year 1 are tested on their phonic knowledge in the Phonics Screening Check.  The purpose of the screening check is to confirm that children have learned phonic decoding to an age-appropriate standard and identify children who have gaps in their phonic knowledge and may need support in Year 2 to develop reading and writing skills. 

Parents are informed as to whether their child has achieved the national expectation within the child’s end-of-year report.  Children who do not meet the age expected standard in phonics at Year 1 receive additional tuition in Year 2 and are tested again in the summer term.

Handwriting

At St Edmund’s we value handwriting as an important part of the writing process.  We teach handwriting using the Letterjoin script which is fully cursive.  Children develop fluency as they progress through the school and we encourage children to produce a consistently high standard of presentation in their work across all subjects. 

In Reception, children work on developing their fine and gross motor skills in preparation for writing and the children are taught to print letters.

In Year 1 and Year 2, Handwriting is taught three times a week with pupils moving towards joined writing when they are ready, as assessed by the class teacher. 

In Key Stage 2, Handwriting is taught three times per week.  In Key Stage 2, children are given opportunity to use a pen in preparations for secondary school expectations.  

For children with fine motor skill needs, adaptations and interventions are put in place to enable children to succeed in writing.  These may include the use of laptops and/or chromebooks.

Click here for more information about the Letterjoin handwriting programme.  

Click here for more information on the English National Curriculum.