English
Our English curriculum intent
At Gisburn Road School we believe that the teaching and learning of reading is at the heart of the curriculum. We want to ensure that all children who attend our school build a love of reading, initially through robust, systematic teaching of phonics. We nurture a culture and environment where children learn to read for pleasure and to support their wider learning through exposure to and engagement with a broad range of high-quality, challenging and exciting texts across curriculum subjects.
A key aim is vocabulary acquisition. By exposure to rich texts and through discussion, children develop their knowledge and application of vocabulary. This then feeds into the children’s vocabulary choices in writing tasks.
The intent of our English curriculum is for all children in our school to become writers who are inspired to write creatively, coherently and with purpose. We aim to provide the stepping-stones in grammar, so that the children can adapt their writing appropriately for genre, with an awareness of the reader and developing their voice as a writer.
We value the importance of high quality speaking and listening, and our enriched curriculum provides a wealth of opportunities for children at our school to grow in confidence in speaking to a range of audiences, developing the skills to listen to others and agree and disagree well.
Phonics
At Gisburn Road, we embed phonics learning by teaching high quality, stimulating and active sessions in a systematic way following the Red Rose Letters and Sounds programme. Children develop a secure understanding of letters and sounds, enabling them to read with fluency and apply knowledge and skills to spell accurately within their writing across the curriculum.
Phonics at home:
Reading
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr Seuss
At Gisburn Road Community Primary School it is our aim to develop enthusiastic and confident readers who read for interest, information and enjoyment. We use a range of different strategies to support reading within our school.
Reading opportunities are provided on a daily basis. A wide range of approaches are used to provide first hand experiences for the children. The children are taught in a stimulating environment that is rich in written print. The teachers share books with the class and regularly read stories, non-fiction and rhymes. Phonics is taught daily and follows the Red Rose Letters and Sounds scheme (see The Teaching of Phonics section on our website – link below). Children take home a reading book which is matched to their current phonics teaching. Teachers regularly read with the children and encourage reading to take place at home.
Children participate in regular guided reading sessions to deepen children’s decoding, retrieval and inferential skills. Children are placed into similar ability groups which are reviewed on a regular basis.. The text chosen will ideally link to the current English unit theme or to a foundation subject. There is a balance of fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts chosen for guided reading sessions over a half-term period.
Children also have the opportunity to independently choose a book each week from our library which they take home to read for pleasure. Selecting their own choice of texts is an important part of developing independence. This motivates readers and helps children to develop and discuss their reading preferences.
We have excellent links with our local library and all classes visit regularly to share books or to complete research tasks linked to other curriculum areas. Our curriculum is further enhanced by author visits, reading cafes, reading volunteers and by celebrating World Book Day.
Reading with your child
We greatly appreciate the time parents and carers give to listen to readers at home.
Ideally children should read with you for approximately 5-10 minutes each day. Depending on the child, these 5-10 minutes should be a combination of listening to the child read aloud and then a discussion about what they have read using some of the questions shown here. It can also be useful at times for you to model ‘smooth reading’ for your child.
There are also ideas for strategies the children can try when they are struggling to decode new words. The children need to have the opportunity to have a go at decoding new or tricky words using some of these strategies. At the same time, don’t let them struggle unnecessarily. You can help them by modelling the strategies, for example, how to sound the word out or clues from the page or text.
Reading strategies
- When I am reading something, I can use the following things to help me:
- I use the pictures to help me
- I sound out/blend words I don’t know C-A-R-P-E-T car-pet carpet
- I look for smaller words inside words. “tEACHer”
- I can break word down into syllables “en – joy – able” “Enjoyable”
- I use punctuation to help me make sense of what I am reading
- I go back and read a word or sentence again if I don’t understand it.
- I read on to see if I can work out the meaning of a word I don’t know.
- I listen to what I am reading to see if it makes sense.
- I check that I am right by going back to look at words carefully.
- I can tell when I’ve made a mistake and go back to try and put it right.
- I ask questions to help me with my reading if I don’t understand.
- I talk through my ideas, thoughts and feelings about what I’m reading.
- I think about what might happen in the book and I can say why.
- When I read, I imagine what is happening and create a picture in my mind.
- I use words I can see around me or that I have read before.
Questions you could ask your child about what they have read
Vocabulary:
- What word in the text tells you that……….?
- Which words/phrases make you think/feel?
- What other words/phrases could the author have used instead?
Retrieval:
- Which? What? When? Where? Why? Who? How?
- Where/when does ……. take place?
- What did …….. look like?
- Can you say if (point from the text) is true or false?
- Can you give evidence to support your opinion>
- Can you give two reasons why…………….?
Sequence and summarise:
- What happened after…..?
- What happened before…..?
- Can you summarise (the paragraph/page/chapter..) in one sentence?
Inference:
- Why do you think………?
- True or false?
- What evidence is there that/of ……………
Prediction:
- What do you think will happen if?
- What do you think will happen to? Why do you think this?
- Do you think that ……. will…….? Explain using evidence from the text.
Handwriting
Handwriting and presentation are an important part of the school curriculum.
It helps children to foster a pride in their own work, take ownership for it and helps to raise standards.
Our aims are:
- For children to achieve a neat, fluent and legible style of joined handwriting.
- To take a pride in their work and know what is expected of them.
- To be consistent in their quality of work.
Writing
Literacy and communication are key life skills. Through our English curriculum we will enable our pupils to be lifelong learners, through the teaching of the spoken and written language.
We aim to offer an English curriculum that builds on skills, enables the children to work creatively and become independent.
Children will be exposed to a rich variety of literature and encouraged to appreciate literature and foster a love of reading.
Our aims:
- To promote and develop children’s enthusiasm for literacy and to provide them with an essential life skill.
- To help pupils understand the thoughts of others through writing.
- To allow children to express their thoughts and ideas.
- To develop writing stamina and fluency.
- To be able to write in a range if genres by planning, drafting, editing and refining.
- Have a versatile and flexible use of the English Language.