English

Intent

At Tipton Green Junior School, we believe that a quality English curriculum will develop a love of reading and writing. We aim to immerse children in a rich environment of language and literature and to inspire them to read widely and often. We recognise the importance of cultivating a culture whereby children take pride in their writing, are creative and imaginative and can communicate accurately, adapting their language and style for a range of contexts and different audiences. We want our children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and to understand that sharing ideas and listening to others can significantly contribute to learning. We believe that a thorough grasp of English skills is crucial to a high-quality education and will give our children the tools they need to participate fully as a member of society.

We promote reading for pleasure as part of our reading curriculum. We have invested in an amazing library, packed with a wide variety of books to appeal to all of our children. They are encouraged to develop their own knowledge of genres and authors and to discuss their books objectively. This enhances a deep love of literature across a range of genres, cultures and styles.

Implementation

The 2014 National Curriculum states that: ‘English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society. A high-quality education in English will teach pupils 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. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know.’ These aims are embedded across our English lessons and the wider curriculum. We have a rigorous and well-organised English curriculum that provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. We use a wide variety of quality texts and resources (including fiction, non-fiction, poetry and visual literacy) to motivate and inspire our children and to foster a love of reading in our children. Texts have been carefully selected to include a range of accredited and diverse authors to reflect the range of backgrounds of our children. Each day, children take part in whole class quality reading lessons whereby the teacher provides opportunities for discussion, excitement and development of language, which in turn, inspires our children to incorporate language from these texts in their own writing. As extra support, we offer both phonics and smaller group sessions tailored to the needs of our children. This ensures that children have the opportunity to catch up and to leave our school at expected level for reading.

Great emphasis is placed on spelling within English lessons. The children are required to learn selected words, which support their reading and writing activities. Twice weekly spelling sessions are followed from the No Nonsense Spelling scheme, which is used throughout the school. New spelling rules are taught and applied as children progress through the school.

Our school follows the Nelson handwriting scheme. From Year 3, children are taught the rules of handwriting. Teachers model how to form particular letters, words and write a sentence, incorporating important features, such as: letter height, ascenders and descenders, letter spacing and word spacing.
 

Throughout the year, we provide a wealth of enrichment opportunities which are very popular with the children. These include hosting World Book Day and Reading Week. We encourage the children to take part in our termly Reading Challenges in school. The staff at Tipton Green are passionate about teaching English and many are themselves enthusiastic readers and writers. All teachers plan stimulating English lessons. Children have the opportunity to work both individually, following their own trains of thought and collaboratively with their peers. Writing is purposeful and relevant throughout the school. This leads to strong, positive attitudes. The children are excited and enthused in their lessons, leading to a strong motivation to write. We believe in achievement for all. The curriculum is ambitious but we employ a variety of strategies to support children so that they are all able to be successful. These include encouragement, targeted support and timely intervention.

Impact

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Staff enthusiasm, skilled teaching and timely intervention has led to a community of enthusiastic readers and writers who enjoy showcasing their developing English skills. They are confident to take risks in their reading and writing and they love to discuss and share their ideas.