English
English at Harby Church of England Primary School
Intent
Children will develop skills and knowledge that will enable them to communicate creatively and effectively in the world at large through spoken and written language and with confidence. Children will enjoy and appreciate language and its rich variety. Children will read for enjoyment.
Our school library.
Subject Leader Mrs. Z. Marsden
Our English curriculum
The teaching of English includes specific elements of:
Reading
We do not follow a specific scheme for reading. We have a wide selection of books from different reading schemes including Ginn, Rigby Star, Floppy's Phonics and Oxford Reading Tree. We believe that this is advantageous to the children as they do not become over familiar and reliant on one scheme - rather they develop their skills and can apply them to a range of different books and texts. Children read regularly at school. In the Early Years this is with an adult both in individual and shared or guided sessions. As children make progress individual and guided reading sessions continue and children are also encouraged to read independently on a regular basis too. There is a focus on comprehension and understanding - not just being able to read the text. We welcome parent volunteers into school to complete reading activities with children.
Writing
Children will explore different styles of writing and develop their flair and creativity whilst maintaining technical accuracy. Writing is a key tool for communicating in all subject areas and we work hard to develop this. The use of a word processor to aid children's writing will also be used to support children who may have difficulties with writing - and also to explore different forms of presentation.
Handwriting
We follow the Nelson scheme for handwriting which is developmental and progressive from Reception through to Year 6. As children become proficient with joined handwriting they may be issued with a 'pen licence' to enable them to write in pen rather than pencil.
Speaking and Listening
Through a range of activities children will be encouraged and taught to communicate effectively. They will understand the need to adapt their style and vocabulary for different audiences and to be an active listener. Speaking and Listening activities will be developed throughout all curriculum areas.
Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar
This is an important element of reading and writing. Spelling, punctuation and grammar activities begin from the Early Years - from the understanding of oral sentences to the technical accuracy of writing and understanding different elements of English.
Phonics
What is phonics?
Phonics refers to a method for teaching children to read and write in English. It involves connecting the sounds of spoken English with letters or groups of letters (e.g that the sound /k/ can be represented by c, k, ck or ch spellings) and teaching them to blend the sounds of letters together to produce approximate pronunciations of unknown words.
In this way, phonics enables people to use individual sounds to construct words. For example, when taught the sounds for the letters t, p, a and s, one can build up the words "tap", "pat", "pats", "taps" and "sat"
(source: www.literacytrust.org.uk)
Letters and Sounds is split into 6 phases. Below is an overview what is included in each phase.
Phase One
The aim of this phase is to foster children’s speaking and listening skills as preparation for learning to read with phonics. Parents can play a vital role in helping their children develop these skills, by encouraging their children to listen carefully and talk extensively about what they hear, see and do. An understanding of rhyming and alliteration and oral segmenting and blending are introduced at this stage.
Phase Two – Four
Phase Two is when systematic, high quality phonic work begins. During Phase Two to Four, children learn:
The Letters and Sounds Programme progresses from the simple to the more complex aspects of phonics at a pace that is suitable for the children who are learning.
Phase Five
Children learn alternative ways of representing the sounds and practise blending for reading and segmenting for spelling.
Phase Six
During this phase, children become fluent readers and increasingly accurate spellers.
Phonics refers to a method for teaching children to read and write in English. It involves connecting the sounds of spoken English with letters or groups of letters (e.g that the sound /k/ can be represented by c, k, ck or ch spellings) and teaching them to blend the sounds of letters together to produce approximate pronunciations of unknown words.
In this way, phonics enables people to use individual sounds to construct words. For example, when taught the sounds for the letters t, p, a and s, one can build up the words "tap", "pat", "pats", "taps" and "sat"
(source: www.literacytrust.org.uk)
Letters and Sounds is split into 6 phases. Below is an overview what is included in each phase.
Phase One
The aim of this phase is to foster children’s speaking and listening skills as preparation for learning to read with phonics. Parents can play a vital role in helping their children develop these skills, by encouraging their children to listen carefully and talk extensively about what they hear, see and do. An understanding of rhyming and alliteration and oral segmenting and blending are introduced at this stage.
Phase Two – Four
Phase Two is when systematic, high quality phonic work begins. During Phase Two to Four, children learn:
- How to represent each of the 42 sounds by a letter or sequence of letters.
- How to blend sounds together for reading and how to segment (split) words for spelling.
- Letter names
- How to read and spell some high frequency ‘camera’ words containing sounds not yet learnt (e.g. they, my, her, you).
The Letters and Sounds Programme progresses from the simple to the more complex aspects of phonics at a pace that is suitable for the children who are learning.
Phase Five
Children learn alternative ways of representing the sounds and practise blending for reading and segmenting for spelling.
Phase Six
During this phase, children become fluent readers and increasingly accurate spellers.
StoryTime Phonics
StoryTime Phonics is an inclusive synthetic, whole-class phonics reading and writing programme based on Letters and Sounds, for all children learning to read and write in Foundation and Key Stage 1. It is also used as an intervention programme for older children.
The lessons are all contextualised through the use of a ‘real’ book. Each sound is taught through a real story book written by some of the best-loved
authors, with a truly memorable 'Magical Moment' film of the story being read by the Phonic Fairy herself. To accompany each of the storybooks there are “Talking Bookmarks” comprehension questions to assist teachers to deliver quality talk sessions to help develop a rich and deeper understanding of the stories.
The inspirational lessons enable and empower us to engage all of the children in our classes, regardless of ability, on a multi-sensory journey where learning phonics has a real purpose. Each sound has an action linked to the story, so children remember and relate the sound directly to the book.
(Source: M Larbey, 2016)
The alphabet contains only 26 letters. Spoken English uses about 42 sounds (phonemes). These phonemes are represented by letters (graphemes). Phonemes can be represented by a single letter (e.g. ‘s’ or ‘h’) or a group of letters (e.g. ‘th’ or ‘ear’)
Once children begin learning sounds, they are used quickly to read and spell words. Children can then see the purpose of learning sounds. For this reason, the first six letters that are taught are ‘s’, ‘a’, ‘t’, ‘p’, ‘i’, ‘n’. These can immediately be used to make a number of words such as ‘sat’, ‘pin’, ‘pat’, ‘tap’, ‘nap’
As a parent, your involvement in supporting your child’s learning will be a vital factor in determining their success in learning to read and write.
See Class 1's phonics page for more information
StoryTime Phonics is an inclusive synthetic, whole-class phonics reading and writing programme based on Letters and Sounds, for all children learning to read and write in Foundation and Key Stage 1. It is also used as an intervention programme for older children.
The lessons are all contextualised through the use of a ‘real’ book. Each sound is taught through a real story book written by some of the best-loved
authors, with a truly memorable 'Magical Moment' film of the story being read by the Phonic Fairy herself. To accompany each of the storybooks there are “Talking Bookmarks” comprehension questions to assist teachers to deliver quality talk sessions to help develop a rich and deeper understanding of the stories.
The inspirational lessons enable and empower us to engage all of the children in our classes, regardless of ability, on a multi-sensory journey where learning phonics has a real purpose. Each sound has an action linked to the story, so children remember and relate the sound directly to the book.
(Source: M Larbey, 2016)
The alphabet contains only 26 letters. Spoken English uses about 42 sounds (phonemes). These phonemes are represented by letters (graphemes). Phonemes can be represented by a single letter (e.g. ‘s’ or ‘h’) or a group of letters (e.g. ‘th’ or ‘ear’)
Once children begin learning sounds, they are used quickly to read and spell words. Children can then see the purpose of learning sounds. For this reason, the first six letters that are taught are ‘s’, ‘a’, ‘t’, ‘p’, ‘i’, ‘n’. These can immediately be used to make a number of words such as ‘sat’, ‘pin’, ‘pat’, ‘tap’, ‘nap’
As a parent, your involvement in supporting your child’s learning will be a vital factor in determining their success in learning to read and write.
See Class 1's phonics page for more information
