OUR ENGLISH VISION

“Igniting a passion for literature and developing enthusiastic, determined writers – ready to embrace the world of work as articulate, literate and knowledgeable individuals”

Our vision for teaching English

We will ensure our pupils:

• become confident, fluent readers, who love to read 
• broaden their vocabulary 
• are writing for real audiences and purposes
• are motivated to write and strive to achieve their best through editing and redrafting
• present their ideas in a variety of ways and do so with pride
• enjoy reading a variety of genres written by a variety of authors
• express their own views and thoughts in a range of activities such as debates
• are articulate individuals able to communicate their ideas with clarity and confidence

Reading

Learning to read is a gift. It helps to develop our imagination, takes us to new worlds, expands our knowledge and broadens our vocabulary.  For this reason, reading is at the core of our curriculum.

Children learn to read through use of our systematic, synthetic phonics scheme: Read, Write, Inc. This programme helps children to get off to a flying start, regardless of their starting points and helps to build reading fluency. Once children have completed the phonics programme, they are then able to develop their ability to read for meaning in a range of texts. Pupils are exposed to a diet of rich, quality texts which are mapped out through our reading spines. These texts link to the enquiries that children will be studying. Pupils are also encouraged to read for pleasure in a variety of ways across the school. 

Writing

We believe that great readers make great writers, so children are exposed to a variety of rich, quality texts. We aim to develop the ability to produce well-structured, detailed writing by using a specific writing process. The process immerses children into quality texts in which they read and enjoy the text, determine the purpose and audience. They are then given opportunities to analyse the structure of the text and highlight key language features. This aspect is about acquiring the relevant knowledge for the writer to successfully produce a similar text. Children then gather their own ideas and plan their own writing. Children are always given the opportunity to improve their writing through drafting, editing and publishing, paying particular detail to grammatical aspects, spelling and handwriting. Throughout each year children write for a range of purposes and are always encouraged to think about how to engage the intended reader. 

Oracy

Oracy plays a vital part in both the teaching for reading and writing. Purposeful talk is used to drive learning forward through talk in the classroom, which has been carefully planned by the teachers. Through immersion into these activities, children develop the skills needed to talk effectively and with confidence. We want every child in Greythorn to find their voice and have a view they would like to present because we know effective communication will enable children to be successful in the future.