English

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 the 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 children to learn to read but we also hope that our children will develop a deep love of reading that will stay will 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 the 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 roles 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 learned 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 more easily 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 visiting 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 in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. We believe that all pupils should be encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their writing, in part by developing a good, 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 forms 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 it is 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 programme ‘Pathways to Write.’ 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.

Aims

The overarching aim for English in the National Curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

  • read easily, fluently and with good understanding
  • develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
  • acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
  • appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
  • write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
  • use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
  • are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debat

Text Overview

 

Autumn

Spring

Summer

Year 1

Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers

 

Nibbles by Emma Yarlett

 

Poetry: There Are No Such Things as Monsters!! by Roger Stevens

Lion Inside by Rachel Bright

 

The curious case of the missing mammoth by Ellie Hattie

 

Poetry: At the Zoo by W M Thackeray

Toys in Space by Mini Grey

 

Goldilocks and Just the one bear by Leigh Hodgkinson

 

Poetry Fruit Salad: Plum by Tony Mitton,  Apples by John Siddique,  If I Were An Apple Anon

 

Fiction: adventure story based on the structure of the text

Recount: diary entry

 

 

Fiction: story based on the structure of the text

Fiction: story based on the structure of the text

Fiction: story based on the structure of the text

Fiction: story based on the structure of the text

Year 2

Troll Swap by Leigh Hodgkinson

 

The Owl who was afraid of the dark by Jill Tomlinson

 

Poetry: The Owl and the Pussy Cat by Edward Lear

Dragon Machine by Helen Ward

 

Major Glad, Major Dizzy by Jan Oke

 

Poetry: Night Sounds by Berlie Doherty

The Last Wolf by Mini Grey

 

Grandad’s Secret Giant by David Litchfield

 

Poetry: Fox by Kathy Henderson

 

Fiction: story with focus on characters

 

Non-chronological report: report about owls

 

Fiction: story with adventure focus

 

Recount: diary entry from point of view of a toy

 

Persuasive letter: letter in role as the character persuading to save the trees

 

Fiction: story with moral focus

 

Year 3

Seal Surfer by Michael Foreman

 

Winter’s Child by Angela McAllister

 

Poetry: Dance with Me,

Autumn

by The Literacy Company

Stone Age Boy by Satoshi Kitamura

 

Big Blue Whale by Nicola Davies

 

Poetry: The Magnificent Bull

From the Dinka tribe

(Published in The Works KS2)

Journey by Aaron Becker

 

Zeraffa Giraffa

by Dianne Hofmeyr

 

Poetry: Apes to Zebras

Concrete Poetry

 

Fiction: story with focus on characters

 

Non-chronological report: report about owls

 

Fiction: story with adventure focus

 

Recount: diary entry from point of view of a toy

 

Persuasive letter: letter in role as the character persuading to save the trees

 

Fiction: story with moral focus

 

Year 4

Gorilla

Anthony Browne

Leon and the Place Between

Graham Baker Smith

 

Poetry: The Lost Lost-Property Office by Roger McGough

Escape from Pompei

Christina Balit

When the Giant Stirred

Celia Godkin

 

Poetry: Windrush Child

by John Agard

Where the Forest Meets the Sea

Jeannie Baker

Blue John

Berlie Doherty

 

Poetry: Haiku

 

Fiction: fantasy story

 

Recount: diary from Leon’s point of view

 

Fiction: historical narrative from character’s point of view

 

Fiction: adventure story from POV of the boy

 

Information text: information board for a rainforest exhibit

 

Letter of explanation: letter to a caving enthusiast, including an explanation

 

Year 5

Queen of the falls by Chris Van Allsburg

 

The Lost Happy Endings by Carol Ann Duffy

 

Poetry: Jinnie Ghost

by Berlie Doherty

 

Arthur and the Golden Rope by Joe Todd-Stanton

 

The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield

 

Poetry:  Finding Magic by Eric Finney

 

The Paperbag Prince by Colin Thompson

 

The Hunter by Paul Geraghty

 

Poetry: Animals of Africa

Puns and wordplay

 

Recount: series of diary entries

 

Fiction: traditional tale

 

Fiction: myth

 

Recount: biography

 

Persuasion/ information: hybrid leaflet

 

Fiction: adventure story

 

Year 6

Star of Fear, Star of Hope

Jo Hoestlandt

Can we Save the Tiger

Martin Jenkins

 

Poetry: A Tiger in the Zoo by Leslie Norris

The Selfish Giant

Oscar Wilde

Island

by Jason Chin

 

Poetry: The Sea

by James Reeves

Manfish

Jennifer Berne

Sky Chasers

Emma Carroll

 

Poetry: Sonnet Written at the Close of Spring By Charlotte Smith

 

Fiction: flashback story

Information text

Information/ explanation/ persuasion: hybrid text

 

Fiction: classic narrative

 

Recount: journalistic report (hybrid text)

 

Recount: biography

 

Fiction: adventure story

Recount: autobiography

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