At Rainford CE, we understand that good, quality English is essential to enable us to participate fully as members of society. Knowledge and understanding of English enables us to share our thoughts, ideas and emotions with others and to learn from them in return. English therefore holds a central place within our curriculum. We aim to deliver a high-quality English Curriculum that will enable pupils to communicate effectively with others through reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Reading

We understand that reading is the key that will unlock learning across the curriculum, enabling children to develop culturally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. For this reason, developing the ability to read well and to love reading is our highest priority. We believe it is the right of every child to learn to read, but we also hope that our children will develop a deep love of reading that will stay with them as they go onto the next stage of their education.

Through discrete phonics sessions that follow Read Write Inc, we teach our youngest children how to decode the written word. As they progress through school, children develop their comprehension skills through listening to books being read aloud, investigating them together in guided groups, or working together as a class on shared activities. We develop greater understanding through detailed exploration of whole books and short texts, encouraging children to play an active role in the reading process.

Staff are reading role models who demonstrate and encourage a love for reading. All classes have dedicated Story Time each day and enjoy a class book together. Our older children also act as role models and enjoy reading with our youngest children.

Children have access to a wide variety of reading materials through the school library and our younger children have the opportunity to enjoy decodable books at home with their parents. Once children have learnt to read, they can choose their reading book from the School Library. The school uses Accelerated Reader to identify a reading band for children, who can then choose a book from the School Library from this band. Children can also complete a quiz when the book is finished. Through Accelerated Reader, staff are able to track the progress of children throughout the year, ensuring that each child is supported and challenged to read at their appropriate level, whilst also celebrating progress both in class and on a whole-school level. Children also enjoy visits from authors, book fairs and the carefully selected texts used in the teaching of English.

Writing

At Rainford CE, we believe that all pupils should be able to confidently communicate their knowledge, ideas and emotions through their writing. We want them to write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style to a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. We believe that all pupils should be encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their writing, including the development of a joined handwriting style by the time they move to Secondary School. We believe that all good writers refine and edit their writing over time, so we want children to develop independence in being able to identify their own areas for improvement in all pieces of writing, editing their work effectively during and after the writing process.

Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar form an even more important role in the English Curriculum than ever before. We believe that a secure understanding of these aspects is incredibly important to develop a true conceptual understanding of English. However, we also strongly believe that children are entitled to a rich, varied and stimulating learning experience and so our teaching of Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar is embedded within our teaching of writing. Through careful planning from the very beginning of the year, we introduce new punctuation or grammar concepts when they are best placed to support children’s writing at that time, whilst spelling forms a constant and frequent part of our practice.

We follow a Mastery Approach to English through the Pathways to Write Programme. Units of work are delivered using high-quality texts and children in all year groups are given varied opportunities for writing. Skills are built up through repetition within the units, and children apply these skills in the writing activities provided. Many opportunities for widening children’s vocabulary are given through the Pathways to Write approach and this builds on the extensive work we do in school to provide our children with a rich and varied vocabulary.

Speaking and Listening

Our children are given the opportunity in English lessons and across the curriculum to develop their speaking and listening skills. This underpins the development of reading and writing and is vital for pupils' development across all aspects of the school curriculum. We provide children with a wide range of opportunities to hear and use good quality vocabulary, focusing also on variety. Children are encouraged to ask questions, discuss in pairs and groups and to use conventions for discussion as well as debate. Opportunities for drama are sought throughout the curriculum as it is recognised that the skills that are developed through this medium are unique.

The school is part of the Voice 21 Oracy Project and is developing the use of oracy across the curriculum.