English

The overriding intent of the English curriculum at Grange Farm Primary School is to foster a love of reading, writing and literature. We strongly believe that mastery over the English language empowers children to be able to communicate creatively, imaginatively and to engage with the world at large, becoming confident and independent learners.

Phonics

Our children’s learning journey in English begins with the teaching of phonics which plays a key role in developing word decoding skills. Systematic, synthetic phonics is taught daily in Reception and Key Stage 1 using the DfE approved scheme ‘Jolly Phonics’. There are clear expectations about which phases should be taught and staff assess children’s phonics progress frequently, providing catch up interventions where necessary. Children practice reading both at school and at home using books that complement the phonics scheme as part of whole class and independent reading. Our aim is that all children become successful, fluent readers by the end of Key Stage 1 in order to enable them to access the full curriculum.

Reading

Our English curriculum is built around carefully chosen, high quality texts which are studied in whole class reading lessons daily. These allow children to immerse themselves in rich vocabulary and stories which provide them with the opportunity to enrich their curriculum knowledge through reading. Through studying the texts, children can explore the world, ask questions, seek answers, be inspired and learn to love reading. Decoding text and developing fluency in reading are key parts of whole class reading lessons, where teachers expertly model fluency and intonation in their reading aloud and children have opportunities to read aloud independently and as a whole class through echo and choral reading. Children are taught a range of comprehension skills in order to deepen their understanding of the text further: retrieval, inference, prediction and evaluation. They will make comparisons between texts they have read I class and studied independently.

Writing

Our reading curriculum is carefully linked to our writing curriculum, developing children as writers through carefully planned writing opportunities which link to wider areas of the curriculum. Throughout the year, children are required to write for a variety of purposes and audiences on a range of different topics. We follow a clear pathway of knowledge and skills progression, equipping children with the writing tools to develop as independent and competent writers. Model texts are used to provide children with ideas and a structure on which to based their own writing, whilst adding their own ideas and creativity.