English

At Garlinge Primary School and Nursery we believe that every pupil is entitled to a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum that takes account of the requirements of the National Curriculum and other guidance documents. We ensure all staff have an awareness of equal opportunities. We believe that the fundamental functions of language as a means of expressing feelings, establishing contact with others and bringing about desired responses, are crucial in underpinning life skills and all aspects of the curriculum. We therefore believe that all aspects of language need to be developed in as many different ways as possible in order to help children achieve a confident, fluent and appropriate use of language.

Teaching and Learning at Garlinge Primary School and Nursery is based on the children's and classes individual needs. Pupil provision is related to attainment, not age. It is important to remember that the National Curriculum in English is broad so it is necessary to practise and apply aspects of English through cross-curricular links with other national curriculum subjects.

At Garlinge Primary School and Nursery we use a whole text (book) as stimulus or 'vehicle' to deliver the National Curriculum in a cross curricular way through topics. This allows for key skills In English to be applied in a purposeful and engaging context.

Synthetic Phonics

In Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 we deliver the Letters and Sounds programme. These lessons are taught daily and we look at the different sounds and how we can use these to spell words when reading and writing. There are six stages to this programme. The first looks at environmental sounds to train the child to listen for different sounds in spoken word or around us. Stages two to five look at delivering the different phonemes needed to read and write. The final stage, phase six, consolidates all the previous learning to ensure the children are confident in using their sounds to segment and blend words when reading and writing. There is a quick pace which allows the children to start reading words within their first few weeks in Reception.

Reading

Reading happens almost all the time in our school and we promote reading for enjoyment. We read to learn, for pleasure and to share. The children all have reading books, and have a large choice of books that are available within the classrooms. The books are placed into different 'bands' depending on their difficulty. We use a large selection of books from different schemes to allow the children to explore different text types. The children have daily guided reading sessions to help develop the skills they need to become competent readers.

Suggested Reading for Years 1-6

Reception Phonics and Reading Workshop 2019

Year 1 Parents Reading Workshop 2020

Year 2 Parents Reading Workshop 2019 

Year 3 and 3 Parent Reading Workshop 2019 

Year 5 and 6 Parent Reading Workshop 

For tips on how to get your child reading click on this link: www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/RODO-top-tips.pdf

Library

The school has a Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 library area which offers a selection of different genre books. The children have an opportunity to visit the library and select books to borrow and take home.

Writing

Punctuation and grammar are taught regularly within class and where possible taught in a context. These skills allow for children to write accurately and using standard English. Children are provided with a wide range of opportunities to write in a variety of genres for a purpose and different audiences.

Spelling

Spelling is taught throughout the school. Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 tend to do this as part of their phonics sessions. Key Stage 2 use The National Curriculum programmes of study for Spelling to ensure coverage and progression. This outlines specific spelling patterns the children will need in order to spell words correctly throughout their lives.

Handwriting

The school uses a cursive script for handwriting and the skills for developing this are taught from Nursery onwards. We look at the movements needed to create the correct letter formation. These skills are practised regularly throughout the school in all classes.

Other information

• Progression Guidance Grammatical Knowledge
• Spelling Progression Guidance within New Curriculum
• Primary Grammar Jargon Buster Guidance within New Curriculum
• Year 3 and 4 Word List
• Year 5 and 6 Word List