English at Boarshaw Primary School
The 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 language, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. At Boarshaw Primary School we want ALL our learners to be confident speakers, competent writers and readers for life! We aim to do this by having pupils’ spoken language, reading, writing and vocabulary at the very heart of our curriculum.
Developing Language
English is both a subject in its own right and the medium for teaching; for children, understanding the language will provide access to the whole curriculum. Fluency in the English language is an essential foundation for success in all subjects.
Writing
All writing at Boarshaw Primary will be for a purpose, that is it will have a reason for the author to be writing it! We call this the Author's Purpose.
The key concepts within the Author's Purpose are to:
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tell children why they are writing that text
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provide a clear intent and reason for writing
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produce an outcome at the end which is published and celebrated
How does this look?
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We use 4 main types of writing - to entertain, to inform, to persuade and to discuss
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Writing experiences in class feel 'real' for our pupils helping final pieces to feel meaningful
How do we sequence a unit of writing?
All classes follow a simple teaching sequence to ensure pupils can understand a text. This includes unpicking a text and thinking about what the author intends to do with this piece of writing. Pupils then have the time to focus on developing the key skills needed to write that type of text. This can be through shared or guided writing. Then they are able to plan and write their own text.
To help support sentence writing, all year groups start each academic year by focusing on the Place Value of Punctuation and Grammar (PVPG). This approach treats grammar as cumulative, focusing on mastering subjects, verbs, and clauses to build, punctuation accuracy, and sentence complexity from Years 1-6.
Ready for PVPG overview
Year 2 PVPG overview
Years 3-4 PVPG overview
Years 5-6 PBPG overview
Teachers also use Alan Peat's Exciting Sentences to help support pupils with adding variety to their writing.
Spelling
Statutory spellings taken from the National Curriculum form the focus for each year group. The Spelling Shed scheme of work, is followed in Years 1-6. New spellings are introduced every Monday in all classes and revisited throughout the week. This can be in SPAG flashbacks at the start of English lessons or recapped during handwriting lessons. A spelling test will take place at the end of the week on Friday.
Spellings are sent home in planners and also as a paper copy to practise. Pupils can also access Spelling Shed online at the link found here. All usernames and passwords are shared with parents at the beginning of the year. Spelling Shed is a fun way to practise spellings, with each stage corresponding to your child's year group.
Weekly spellings are displayed in the classroom for pupils to refer to and errors in spellings identified during marking. Pupils are expected to practise the correct spelling or to use a dictionary when completing corrections.
Reading
Children are taught to read fluently, understand extended prose (both fiction and non-fiction) and encouraged to read for pleasure in school and at home. We do everything to promote wider reading and to help our pupils develop a lifelong love for books. Emerging readers take home high quality picture books to help encourage book talk.
Rocket Phonics is used in school to help pupils to learn to read and all reading books are closely matched to graphemes which pupils have been taught. Pupils who have completed the phonics scheme, continue to read banded books on our whole-school reading scheme, Rising Stars Reading Planet.
All pupils can select and take home books from our library.
Please see our Reading and Phonics Curriculum webpage for further information.