ENGLISH
INTENT
Here at Ravenfield Primary Academy we endeavour to deliver a rich, varied and engaging English curriculum. Through high quality teaching pupils will learn 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. We believe that a strong English curriculum is the foundation on which to build a love of learning and the ability to access other areas of the curriculum.
IMPLEMENTATION
Spoken language
At Ravenfield, children begin their school life with a varied level of oracy skills. We aim to, not only expose children with limited oracy skills to a range of vocabulary, but also, to up level the vocabulary used by those children who enter school more competent with their spoken language. By the time they leave our school, our aim is to equip our children with the skills to:
- Explain clearly their understanding and ideas using a wide range of vocabulary,
- Consider a range of viewpoints but also to challenge these viewpoints through discussion and debate,
- Listen carefully to others and respond appropriately to either build on what others have said or to oppose,
- Have the confidence to make formal presentations and speak in front of a wider audience.
Reading
Early Reading and Phonics At Ravenfield, we teach early reading and phonics using the scheme of Read, Write Inc. A child’s reading journey begins with the teaching of phonics. At our school there is a dedicated phonics lead who ensures that the teaching of phonics is of a high quality through 1:1 coaching and observations. Vulnerable children are identified and provided with 1:1 intervention rapidly to ensure that no child is left behind and due to the fluidity of the groupings our higher achievers are challenged. Reading through school It is essential that teaching focuses on developing pupils’ competence in both word reading and comprehension. Comprehension skills develop through pupils’ experience of high-quality discussion with the teacher, as well as from reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non-fiction. This is delivered through a reciprocal reading approach. Reading fluency is a key priority throughout school and we prioritise children who are not yet fluent. The emphasis on learning, exploring and using rich vocabulary across the curriculum starts in reading and transfers into our children's writing.
Our philosophy for reading is ‘learning to read, reading to learn, reading for fun’ because of this we want our children to leave Ravenfield being able to:
- Read a range of texts fluently and confidently in all subjects,
- Foster a love of reading,
- Be equipped with the Literacy skills relevant for future employment.
Writing It is essential that teaching develops pupils’ competence in transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing). Ravenfield has a clear writing process, using aspects of the ‘talk for writing’ approach. Throughout the process, the children are exposed to a range of high quality texts (which enable children to identify the key features, audience, purpose and context of the genre). Children are expected to plan, revise and evaluate their writing producing an independent piece of work at the end of each unit. The children are exposed to specific features of grammar and punctuation during the modelling aspect of the writing process.
Spelling, vocabulary, grammar and punctuation It is essential that teaching develops pupils’ competence in understanding relationships between words, nuances in meaning as well as clarifying the meanings of unknown words and words with more than one meaning.
At Ravenfield we ensure that pupils learn the correct grammatical terms in English and that these are integrated within teaching of all subjects. Spelling is taught predominately through the Read, Write Inc. spelling programme. In addition to this, we ensure that the curriculum spellings for each year group are taught and children are then expected to apply these appropriately within their writing.
IMPACT
Children become confident, discerning and fluent readers, writers and speakers. They 'Learn to Read, Read to Learn and Read for Fun at school and for the rest of their lives.
USEFUL LINKS