ENGLISH

Our English Curriculum Intent

The teaching, understanding and application of a high-level vocabulary is at the centre of our intent for the teaching of English (and all other curriculum areas).  To enable pupils to read, comprehend texts and to express themselves creatively and imaginatively they must experience a wide range of rich vocabulary so that they are able to understand the meaning in quality texts and are able to manipulate words appropriately and effectively when communicating either through speech or writing.

As our children move through Strike Lane Primary School we expect them to become confident readers: children who choose ambitious texts; read fluently; widely and are able to express preferences and opinions about the texts that they read. Through our own passion for literature we aim to inspire children to read for pleasure, providing incentives to explore, and access to, a wide range of texts, genres and authors in order for them to make and express informed opinions about their favourites.

Click on the link below that shares important information about how to support your child with their reading. 

Supporting Reading at Home

Our English curriculum is designed to enable children to write with confidence accuracy and effect for a variety of purposes and audiences whilst developing their own individual, creative flair. Through our coherently planned and sequenced lessons, we develop independent, creative, resilient and reflective learners. Children who can edit and improve their work both independently and in collaboration with others. We have high expectations of our children and they of themselves. We encourage them to take pride in the work that they produce; using and applying correct spelling patterns; writing with grammatical accuracy and demonstrating high quality presentation skills with a neat and fluent handwriting style.

‘Learning and growing together’

Here at Strike Lane, our reading is taught through systematic, synthetic phonics using Red Rose Letters and Sounds.  The children are taught in groups reflecting the phase of the phonics programme they are currently working within.  Children are taught on a daily basis in their phonics groups and are engaged in lively, hands on phonics activities which develop their reading, writing and spelling skills.

Throughout EYFS and Key Stage 1, the teaching of reading is supported by a wide range of high quality school and home reading books.  Our reading books include Floppy’s phonics and Songbirds to Phonics Bug and Collins Big Cat.  All our reading books in Key Stage 1 are banded inline with the Letters and Sounds phonics phases to ensure that each child receives a reading book that is appropriately matched to their reading level. Key Stage 2 books are colour banded and are carefully selected to ensure the progression of both reading skills and the development of comprehension skills. We also have access to the E Collins Library that gives our children access to over 1000 new fiction  and non-fiction books. The class teachers are able to assign Book to the children based on their reading level.

Reading books at Strike Lane include non-fiction, poetry and fiction books.

Please click on the link below for our whole school reading and writing progression documents, our English Policy 2022 and the Reading Domains for both Key Stage 1 and 2 that are used to support reading both in school and at home. You will also find a separate Handwriting Policy.

Whole School Writing Progression

Whole School Reading Progression

English Policy 2023

Handwriting Policy 2022

Spelling Progression (National Curriculum)

Reading Domains KS1/KS2