English

English is an integrated and fundamental component of the whole Primary Curriculum. A good literacy education is pivotal for all learning in every curriculum area. We need communication skills to equip us for everyday life. Good communication skills are required for the most basic routines to enable us to survive and function in a civilised community.

Good language skills are also required for:

The expression of one’s own feelings, emotions and spirituality, the understanding of other’s feelings, emotions and spirituality, the resolving of misunderstandings and conflicts.
Ascertaining information to make sense of the environment and infrastructure.
The acquisition and sharing of knowledge and skills for personal interest and pleasure.
The acquisition and sharing of knowledge, data and skills to improve the lifestyle of humankind through scientific, medical and technological development.
The expression of creativity through writing, poetry, singing, composing music etc…
The majority of occupations in the work place.

At St John’s CEP School we are concerned with the development of the whole child. A child who can communicate effectively has every reason to be confident and have a healthy self-esteem.

We aim to encourage all pupils to:

Listen attentively, paying attention to detail, to process the information and retain aurally as much detail as possible.
Speak confidently with intonation, clear diction, accurate grammar and style with regard for their listener / audience.
Develop the necessary decoding skills in order to read fluently with appropriate expression and intonation.
Develop retrieval, deduction and inference skills to understand and respond to a wide range of texts in order to carry out research and be able to critically evaluate and analyse.
Develop cognitive skills, imagination, and personal expression through writing composition using clear, concise language with accurate punctuation and grammar, in a style appropriate for the purposes.
Make progress along the continuum to becoming an accurate speller, using a neat, legible, cursive handwriting style.
Make fair critical responses about their own language use and writing composition, that of their peers, and that of popular authors and poets.
Develop collaborative talk and learning through opportunities to work in groups and in pairs.

The above aims are consistent with our School's philosophy and values, taking account of the National Curriculum Programmes of Study.

Spoken Language

Spoken language has a significant role in the National Curriculum and is taught from EYFS through to KS2. Teaching strategies involve ‘Talk for Writing’, daily discussion and debate throughout the curriculum, performance and recitation, role-play and drama.

Reading

The aims of the teaching of reading at St John’s CEP School are to develop a love of reading. Therefore, classes have well equipped book corners with age appropriate texts as well as an extensive library enjoyed by the whole school. In addition, quality texts have been matched to curriculum topics to enrich the children’s learning experiences.

The discrete teaching of reading is taught in the following phases:

EYFS/ KS1

Systematic daily teaching of phonics following the DfES recommended programme ‘Letters and Sounds’ with supporting materials of 'Jolly Phonics' and 'Phonics Play'.
Shared reading/ listening to stories.
Guided reading.
Reading at home.

KS2

Phonics support and intervention.
Shared reading and discussion of texts.
Listening to stories.
Guided reading & book groups.
Reading comprehension skills.
Independent reading and research.
Reading at home.

Writing

The aims of the teaching of writing at St John’s CEP School are to enable children to effectively communicate for a variety of purposes through written language. Through a ‘Talk for Writing’ approach children will create a love of language through poetry, games and storytelling; develop critical thinking skills; generate and select ideas for writing and be able to structure both story-writing and non-fiction. Story-telling and oral rehearsal of text helps to embed language patterns and enables children to write confidently.

The teaching of writing is delivered through the following strategies across the school:

Whole school cursive handwriting approach.
Use of phonics to support spelling in EYFS/Y1.
Teaching and learning of spelling from Y2 to Y6 using the 'No Nonsense Spelling' programme.
Teaching and learning of grammar and punctuation skills from Y1 to Y6 using the 'No Nonsense Grammar' programme.
Shared Writing – teacher-modelling / sharing ideas / peer evaluation / proof reading and redrafting
Guided Writing / supported group writing
Writing across the curriculum
Independent Writing / extended writing opportunities
Developing word processing skills in conjunction with the computing curriculum.
Target setting for writing from Y1 to Y6.

Handwriting

You can use these resources to support your child in using the cursive letter formation we teach in school.

Please note that the formation of the letter x is correct in the document titled 'Cursive letters A4'; it is not correct in the other handwriting worksheets and posters.

Purpose and Audience Curriculum Map

etry	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Reception	Story writing Rhyming Non-fiction Giving meaning to marks	Story writing Poetry Non-fiction Giving meaning to marks	Story writing Poetry Non-fiction Giving meaning to marks
Year 1	Story writing Descriptive writing Poetry Postcard Fact writing Recount – sequencing	Non-fiction writing Poetry Story writing Recount	tbc
Year 2	Narrative - fiction Letter writing Non-chronological reports	Fictional writing Diary writing Poetry Recount Non-chronological report	Narrative Non-chronological reports Diary writing/recount Narrative
Year 3	Poetry - rhyming couplets Narrative – historical facts Non-chronological report Information text	Narrative - description Poetry - performance Non-chronological report	tbc
Year 4	Narrative Dialogue Poetry Information text	Kennings Persuasive writing Newspaper report	Narrative Balance argument Playscripts
Year 5	Narrative Advert Instructions	Diary writing Poetry	Narrative Persuasive writing Letter writing
Year 6	Narrative – writing in the style of an author	Development and control of language	Levels of formality

Texts Map

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Reception	The Three Little Pigs, Rosie’s Walk, Starting School, Dear Zoo, The Gruffalo, Little Red Hen, The Nativity	The Gingerbread Man, Naughty Bus, Whatever Next, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jolly Postman, House in the Woods	Handa’s Surprise, Jack and the Beanstalk, Minibeasts fact books
Year 1	Elmer, Rainbow Fish, Man Fish The Nativity, The Naughty Elf, Battle of Hastings	Dinosaur information books, Dinosaur Roar, The Egg, The Great Pet Sale, The egg is quiet, The egg drop	tbc
Year 2	Dear Teacher, Dear Greenpeace Pirates Next Door, Pirates use Underpants	The Tiger Child, Geeta’s Day, Elephant Dance The Boy Who Grew Dragons, Non-fiction texts – Knights and Castles	Vlad and the Great Fire of London George’s Marvellous Medicine
Year 3	Blue So Blue, Silly Billy Escape from Pompeii	Stone Age Boy, Window, Walk in New York, Michael Rosen poems	tbc
Year 4	The Hole, The Kapok Tree Ancient Egypt information texts	The True Story of the Three Little Pigs Kennings – Eight Swords, The Squirrel, The Tiger	Greek Myths Kensuke’s Kingdom
Year 5	The Lost Thing, Romeo and Juliet Dragonology, Short Story Mix	The Spider and the Fly, The Highway Man Secret Friends, Cloudbusting	How to save a tiger Flotsam, Harris Burdick
Year 6	Rules of Summer, Fair’s Fair	The Arrival	Mechanica

Reading Angels