English - Reading and Writing
English - Reading and Writing Intent
At Our Lady of Lourdes, we believe that a quality English Curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion. 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. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society.
Our pupils are offered a varied and engaging curriculum to inspire, promote and embed new skills. Through our English Curriculum a love of reading is fostered; the art of speaking and listening is promoted and the enjoyment of writing is developed. All of these help us to support our children to use literature in the world around them. The skills we harness from our language activities enable our children to become valued members of the community.
At Our Lady of Lourdes School reading and writing lessons are taught separately although the skills are inter-twinned to ensure that children recognise the links between the two and are able to transfer their skills accordingly in all areas of the curriculum. We believe it is essential to develop and embed the two core components of transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing). Children are also taught how to plan, revise and evaluate their writing. We expose the children to high quality texts, often with cross curricular links, and opportunities to explore the language and writing techniques of a range of authors. Furthermore, we want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening so that they can use their discussion and debating skills to develop their writing.
Grammar, spelling, punctuation and handwriting are taught rigorously across the school, starting with synthetic phonics and fine motor skills to develop mark making in the Early Years Foundation Stage. All year groups follow the National Curriculum expectations for spelling through regular weekly spelling activities. This includes investigations of spelling patterns and weekly spelling lists sent home for consolidation.
Reading is an essential part of everyday life at Our Lady of Lourdes, as reading feeds pupils’ imagination and opens up a treasure house of wonder and joy for curious young minds. We recognise that this will open the doors to all subjects for children. Across the school children have access to a wide range of high quality texts to develop learning in all curriculum areas. The teaching of reading begins in the Early Years Foundation Stage with the synthetic teaching of phonic skills using Read Write Inc. We ensure that we adapt our sessions to meet the needs of all children in the class. From Year 1 onwards, children enjoy reading lessons using texts that engage the listener, develop the breath of vocabulary and support ideas for writing. In reading lessons children explore, develop and embed their reading skills, answering high order questions and debating the author’s intentions or dilemmas linked to the storyline. We ensure that children are continually being encouraged to read for pleasure through events such as, visiting authors/story tellers, celebrating World Book Day, book fairs and opportunities to read across the curriculum.
It is essential that, by the end of their primary education, all pupils are able to read and write fluently, and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education.