English at Ladybridge Primary School

English at Ladybri d ge Primary School Purp o s e of st u d y English has a pre- emin e n t place in educ a tio n and in society. It is a subject in its own right and the me diu m for teac hin g; for pupils, und e r s t a n di n g langu a g e provid e s acce s s to the whole curriculu m. Throug h being tau g h t to write and spe a k fluently, pupils learn to com m u nic a t e their idea s and emo tion s to oth er s; throu g h their readin g and listenin g, oth er s can com m u nic a t e with the m. Throug h readin g in particular, pupils hav e a chanc e to dev elop cultur ally, emo tio n ally, spiritu ally and socially. Litera t u r e , esp e ci ally, plays a key role in such dev elop m e n t . Readin g also en a bl e s pupils both to acquire knowled g e and to build on what they alre a d y know. All the skills of langu a g e are ess e n ti al to participa tin g fully as a me m b e r of society; pupils, ther efor e , who do not learn to read and write fluently and confide n tly, are, in every sens e , disenfr a n c his e d .

Aim s The over a rc hin g aim for English in the Nation al Curriculu m is to pro mo t e high sta n d a r d s of literacy by equipping pupils with a stron g com m a n d of the writte n and spok e n word, and to dev elo p their love of litera t u r e throu g h wides pr e a d rea din g for enjoym e n t . The Nation al Curriculu m for English aims to ens ur e that all pupils: • read easily, fluently and with good und e r s t a n di n g • dev elop the habit of readin g widely and often, for both pleas u r e and inform a tio n • acquire a wide vocab ul a r y, an und e r s t a n di n g of gra m m a r and knowled g e of • linguistic conv e n tio n s for rea din g, writing and spoke n langu a g e • appr e ci a t e our rich and varied literar y herit a g e • write clearly, accur a t el y and coher e n tly, ad a p tin g their langu a g e and style in and • for a rang e of cont e x t s , purpo s e s and audie n c e s • use discus sion in order to learn; they should be able to elabor a t e and explain • clearly their und er s t a n d i n g and ideas • are comp e t e n t in the arts of spe a kin g and listening, making form al pres e n t a ti o n s , • de mo n s t r a ti n g to other s and participa tin g in deb a t e .

Attai n m e n t tar g e t s By the end of eac h key sta g e , pupils are exp e c t e d to know, apply and und e r s t a n d the mat t e r s , skills and proce s s e s specified in the relev a n t progr a m m e of study.

Subj e c t con t e n t Key St a g e 1 Year 1 During Year 1 teac h e r s should build on work from the Found a tio n Stag e, making sure that pupils can sound and blend unfa miliar print e d words quickly and accur a t el y using the phonic knowled g e and skills that they hav e alre a d y learnt. Teach e r s should also ens ur e that pupils continu e to learn new grap h e m e - phon e m e corres p o n d e n c e s (GPCs) and revis e and consolida t e thos e learnt earlier. The und er s t a n d i n g that the lett er(s) on the pag e repr e s e n t the soun d s in spoke n words should und e r pin pupils' rea din g and spelling of all words. This includ e s com m o n words cont ainin g unus u al GPCs. The ter m ‘com m o n exc e p tio n words’ is use d throu g h o u t the progr a m m e s of stud y for such words.

Alongsid e this knowled g e of GPCs, pupils ne e d to dev elo p the skill of blendin g the soun d s into words for rea ding and est a blis h the habit of applying this skill when e v e r they encou n t e r new words. This will be supp ort e d by practising their readin g with books consist e n t with their dev eloping phonic knowled g e and skill. At the sa m e time they will ne e d to hear, shar e and discus s a wide rang e of high- quality books to dev elop a love of readin g and broa d e n their vocab ul a r y.

Pupils should be help e d to read words withou t overt soun din g and blendin g after a few encou n t e r s . Thos e who are slow to dev elop this skill should hav e extr a practic e.

Pupils’ writing during Year 1 will gen e r ally dev elop at a slower pac e than their readin g. This is bec a u s e they nee d to enco d e the soun d s they hear in words (spelling skills), dev elo p the physic al skill ne e d e d for han dw riting, and learn how to orga nis e their ideas in writing.

Pupils ent erin g Year 1 who hav e not yet me t the early learnin g goals for literacy should continu e to follow the curriculu m for the Early Years Found a tio n Stag e to dev elop their word readin g, spelling and langu a g e skills.

Howev e r, thes e pupils should follow the Year 1 progr a m m e of stud y in ter m s of the books they listen to and discus s, so that they dev elop their voca b ul ar y and und e r s t a n di n g of gra m m a r , as well as their knowled g e mor e gen e r ally acros s the curriculu m. If they are still strug gling to decod e and spell, they ne e d to be tau g h t to do this urge n tly throu g h a rigorous and syst e m a t i c phonics progr a m m e so that they catch up rapidly.

Teach e r s should ens ur e that their teac hin g dev elo p s pupils’ oral vocab ul a r y as well as their ability to und er s t a n d and use a variety of gra m m a t i c al struct u r e s , giving particular suppor t to pupils whos e oral langu a g e skills are insufficiently dev elo p e d .

Specific require m e n t s for pupils to discus s what they are learnin g and to dev elop their wider skills in spok e n langu a g e form part of this progr a m m e of stud y.

Year 2 By the beginning of Year 2, pupils should be able to rea d all com m o n grap h e m e s . They should be able to read unfa miliar words cont aining thes e grap h e m e s , accur a t ely and without undu e hesit a tio n, by soun din g the m out

in books that are ma tc h e d clos ely to eac h pupil’s level of word readin g. They should also be able to read ma n y com m o n words cont ainin g GPCs tau g h t so far, such as shout, hand, stop, or dre a m , without nee din g to blend the soun d s out loud first. Pupils’ rea din g of com m o n exce p tio n words, such as you, could, ma n y, or peopl e, should be secur e .

Pupils will incre a s e their fluency by being able to read thes e words easily and auto m a tic ally. Finally, pupils should be able to retell som e familiar stories that hav e bee n rea d to and discus s e d with the m or that they hav e acte d out during Year 1.

During Year 2, teac h e r s should continu e to focus on est a blishin g pupils’ accur a t e and spe e d y word readin g skills. They should also mak e sure that pupils listen to and discus s a wide rang e of stories, poe m s , plays and inform a tio n books; this should includ e whole books. The soon e r that pupils can read well and do so frequ e n tly, the soon e r they will be able to incre a s e their vocab ul a r y, compr e h e n s i o n and their knowled g e acros s the wider curriculu m.

In writing, pupils at the beginning of Year 2 should be able to comp o s e individu al sent e n c e s orally and then write the m down. They should be able to spell correc tly ma n y of the words cover e d in Year 1 (se e Appen dix 1). They should also be able to mak e phonic ally- plausible att e m p t s to spell words they hav e not yet learnt. Finally, they should be able to form individu al lett er s correctly, so est a blis hing good hand w riting habits from the beginning.

It is import a n t to recog nis e that pupils begin to me e t extr a challen g e s in ter m s of spelling during Year 2. Incre a sin gly, they should learn that ther e is not always an obvious conn e c tion betw e e n the way a word is said and the way it is spelt. Variations includ e differe n t ways of spelling the sa m e soun d, the use of so- called silent lett er s and group s of lett er s in som e words and, som e ti m e s , spelling that has beco m e sep a r a t e d from the way that words are now prono u n c e d , such as the ‘le’ ending in table. Pupils’ motor skills also ne e d to be sufficiently adv a n c e d for the m to write down idea s that they may be able to comp o s e orally. In addition, writing is intrinsically hard e r tha n readin g: pupils are likely to be able to read and und er s t a n d mor e comple x writing (in ter m s of its voca b ul ar y and struct u r e ) than they are cap a bl e of producin g the m s e lv e s .

For pupils who do not hav e the phonic knowled g e and skills they ne e d for Year 2, teac h e r s should use the Year 1 progr a m m e s of study for word rea din g and spelling so that pupils’ word rea din g skills catch up. Howev er, teac h e r s should use the Year 2 progr a m m e of study for compr e h e n s i o n so that the s e pupils hear and talk abou t new books, poe m s , oth er writing, and vocab ul a r y with the rest of the class.

Specific require m e n t s for pupils to discus s what they are learnin g and to dev elop their wider skills in spok e n langu a g e form part of this progr a m m e of stud y.

Key St a g e 2 Low er Key Sta g e 2 – Year s 3- 4 By the beginning of Year 3, pupils should be able to rea d books writte n at an ag e- appro p ri a t e inter e s t level. They should be able to read the m accur a t ely

and at a spe e d that is sufficient for the m to focus on und er s t a n d i n g what they read rath e r than on deco ding individu al words. They should be able to deco d e mos t new words outsid e their spoke n vocab ul a r y, making a good approxi m a ti o n to the word’s pron u n ci a tio n. As their decodin g skills beco m e incre a sin gly secur e, teac hin g should be direct e d mor e towar d s dev eloping the bre a d t h and dept h of their rea din g, making sure that they beco m e inde p e n d e n t , fluent and enth u si a s tic read e r s who read widely and frequ e n tly.

They should be dev eloping their und er s t a n d i n g and enjoym e n t of stories, poetry, plays and non- fiction, and learnin g to rea d silently. They should also be dev eloping their knowled g e and skills in rea din g non- fiction abou t a wide rang e of subject s . They should be learning to justify their views abou t what they hav e rea d: with suppor t at the start of Year 3 and incre a sin gly inde p e n d e n t l y by the end of Year 4.

Pupils should be able to write down their idea s with a reas o n a bl e degr e e of accur a c y and with good sent e n c e punct u a tio n. Teach e r s should ther efor e be consolida tin g pupils’ writing skills, their gras p of sent e n c e struct ur e and their knowled g e of linguistic ter minolog y. Teachin g the m to dev elo p as writers involves incre a sin g their comp e t e n c e as well as teac hin g the m to enh a n c e the effectiv e n e s s of what they write. Teach e r s should mak e sure that pupils build on what they hav e learnt, particularly in ter m s of the rang e of their writing and the mor e varied gra m m a r from which they can draw to expr e s s their ideas . Pupils should be beginnin g to und e r s t a n d how writing can be differe n t from spe e c h . Joined han dw riting should be the norm; pupils should be able to use it fast enou g h to keep pac e with what they want to say.

Pupils’ spelling of com m o n words should be correct, including exce p tio n words and oth er words that they hav e learnt (se e Appen dix 1). Pupils should spell words as accur a t el y as possible using their phonic knowled g e and oth er knowled g e of spelling, such as morp h olo g y and etym olo g y.

Most pupils will not ne e d furth er direct teac hin g of word readin g skills: they are able to deco d e unfa miliar words accur a t el y, and nee d very few rep e a t e d exp e ri e n c e s of this befor e the word is stor e d in such a way that they can rea d it without overt soun d- blendin g.

As in Key Stag e 1, how ev e r, pupils who are still strug gling to deco d e ne e d to be tau g h t to do this urge n tly throu g h a rigorou s and syst e m a t ic phonics progr a m m e so that they catch up rapidly with their peer s. If they cann o t deco d e inde p e n d e n t l y and fluently, they will find it incre a sin gly difficult to und e r s t a n d what they rea d and to write down what they want to say. As far as possible, how ev e r, they should follow the Year 3 and 4 progr a m m e of stud y in ter m s of listenin g to new books, he aring and learning new vocab ul a r y and gra m m a t i c al struct ur e s , and discus sin g the s e .

Specific require m e n t s for pupils to discus s what they are learning and to dev elop their wider skills in spoke n langu a g e form part of this progr a m m e of stud y. In Years 3 and 4, pupils should beco m e mor e familiar with and confide n t in using langu a g e in a gre a t e r variet y of situ a tion s , for a variety of audie nc e s and purpo s e s , including throu g h dra m a , formal pres e n t a ti o n s and deb a t e .

Upper Key Stag e 2 – Years 5- 6 By the beginning of Year 5, pupils should be able to rea d aloud a wider rang e of poetry and books writte n at an ag e- appro p ri a t e inter e s t level with accur a c y and at a reas o n a bl e spe a kin g pac e. They should be able to read mos t words effortles sly and to work out how to prono u n c e unfa miliar writte n words with incre a sin g auto m a t icity. If the pronu n ci a tio n soun d s unfa miliar, they should ask for help in det e r mi nin g both the me a nin g of the word and how to prono u n c e it correctly. They should be able to prep a r e rea din g s , with appro p ri a t e inton a tion to show their und e r s t a n di n g , and should be able to sum m a ris e and pres e n t a familiar story in their own words. They should be readin g widely and frequ e n tly, outsid e as well as in school, for plea s u r e and inform a tio n. They should be able to read silently, and the n discus s what they hav e read.

Pupils should be able to write down their idea s quickly. Their gra m m a r and punct u a ti o n should be broa dly accur a t e . Pupils’ spelling of mos t words taug h t so far should be accur a t e and they should be able to spell words that they hav e not yet bee n taug h t by using what they hav e learnt abou t how spelling works in English.

During Years 5 and 6, teac h e r s should continu e to emp h a s i s e pupils’ enjoym e n t and und e r s t a n di n g of langu a g e , esp e ci ally voca b ul ar y, to suppor t their rea din g and writing.

Pupils’ knowled g e of langu a g e , gain e d from stories, plays, poetry, non- fiction and textb o ok s , will supp ort their incre a sin g fluency as read e r s , their facility as writers, and their compr e h e n s i o n. As in Years 3 and 4, pupils should be taug h t to enh a n c e the effective n e s s of their writing as well as their comp e t e n c e .

It is ess e n ti al that pupils whos e deco ding skills are poor are taug h t throu g h a rigorou s and syst e m a t i c phonics progr a m m e so that they catch up rapidly with their pe ers in ter m s of their deco ding and spelling. Howev e r, as far as possible, thes e pupils should follow the Year 5 and 6 progr a m m e of stud y in ter m s of listenin g to books and oth er writing that they hav e not com e acros s befor e, hearin g and learning new vocab ul a r y and gra m m a t i c al struct u r e s , and having a chanc e to talk abou t all of thes e .

By the end of Year 6, pupils’ readin g and writing should be sufficiently fluent and effortles s for the m to ma n a g e the gen e r al de m a n d s of the curriculu m in Year 7, acros s subject s and not just in English, but ther e will continu e to be a ne e d for pupils to learn subject- specific voca b ul ar y. They should be able to reflect their und e r s t a n di n g of the audie nc e for and purpo s e of their writing by selecting appro pria t e voca b ul ar y and gra m m a r . Teach e r s should prep a r e pupils for secon d a r y educ a tio n by ens uring that they can consciou sly control the struct ur e of sent e n c e s in their writing and und er s t a n d why sent e n c e s are cons tr uc t e d as they are. This involves cons olida tio n, practic e and discus sion of langu a g e .

Specific require m e n t s for pupils to discus s what they are learning and to dev elop their wider skills in spoke n langu a g e form part of this progr a m m e of stud y. In Years 5 and 6, pupils’ confide n c e , enjoym e n t and ma s t e r y of langu a g e should be ext e n d e d throu g h public spe a kin g, perfor m a n c e and deb a t e .

Su bj e c t Lead e r The subject lead e r for English is Miss Emm a Webs t e r