English

Aims:

At Harry Gosling we aim to create independent and confident orators, readers, and writers, with a strong command of the English language. We provide our students with the opportunities to develop their abilities to clearly and effectively articulate critical, inventive, and imaginative thoughts in a variety of circumstances. We ensure that we equip all children with the skills and abilities to explore and enjoy the English language in all its forms and to develop an appreciation for our literary heritage.

How English is taught:

English writing units are planned around core texts, which have been carefully selected to improve the children's vocabulary and sentence structure and link to their topic learning. Each unit has two written outcomes, which allow the children to develop their understanding of a range of genres. Throughout each unit we follow the ‘Talk for Writing’ structure that guides the children through the imitation, innovation and invention stages. Within this process, children are taught the grammar and punctuation in the context of their writing outcomes. In addition to English lessons, children are given opportunities to practise their transcriptional skills in dictation, spelling and handwriting lessons.

Reading is taught daily. Children in Reception to Year 2 are taught decoding through synthetic phonics lessons following the Read, Write Inc. phonics programme. Teachers model the application of decoding and comprehension skills through reading phonetically decodable books in Shared Reading. In Guided Reading, children have the opportunity to apply what they have been taught in small groups. Throughout the week, children also have the opportunity to read in a range of curriculum subjects, complete comprehension activities and read for enjoyment. 

Children in Years 4-6 take part in 'Big Read' lessons where the whole class reads the same text. This gives the children the opportunity to read a range of exciting texts, develop their vocabulary and improve their comprehension skills. Texts are carefully chosen to expose children to high-quality literature and they often link to topics to widen topic knowledge. 

Children needing further support in their reading, may take part in a range of catch up programmes. This could include 1:1 reading, additional guided reading, additional phonics, or, when appropriate, word recognition interventions. 

Alongside reading lessons in school, all children have a reading record and take home books to read every night. They have the opportunity to earn raffle tickets by recording the number of days they have read in their reading journals. Every term, a winning raffle ticket is chosen from each class and the children are rewarded with a trip to the bookshop.

Knowledge and Skills Progressions:

Please click on the links below to see the specific knowledge and skills that are covered in each year group.