Inspiring Faith, Love and Learning

English

Vision Statement for English

Learning to love reading is at the heart of our vision for English at St Thomas’ and every member of staff is dedicated to instilling this love of reading in every child. We believe that reading is a life skill that every child is entitled to. Without the ability to read and decode text, so much is closed off to a child and later as an adult. We want not only to inspire children through books but also to promote a love of reading to empower our children to become lifelong readers. Books should not be seen as a chore but as a gateway to other worlds, the opening of our imaginations.

We believe that that English and communication are key life skills. Through the English curriculum, we will help children develop the skills and knowledge that will enable them to communicate effectively and creatively through spoken and written language and equip them with the skills to become lifelong learners. English is at the heart of all children’s learning. It enables children both to communicate with others effectively for a variety of purposes and to examine their own and others’ experiences, feelings and ideas, giving these order and meaning.

At St Thomas’, we endeavour to foster a positive relationship with learning in English through creating clear planning sequences that are both achievable yet challenging. Many of these sequences are closely linked with other areas of the curriculum, immersing the children in different topics. Carefully chosen fiction and non-fiction texts, resources and visual literacy will inspire and engage both boys and girls.

Fostering a vivid imagination and the ability to orally tell stories from the earliest opportunity is central to our philosophy, alongside developing a competency in phonics, word/spelling structure and handwriting. Relevant punctuation and grammar, that can be expertly woven into each teaching sequence, will be embedded in an appropriate final writing task.

Giving children the time to plan, draft, edit and improve their writing, and providing immediate feedback completes the sequence, as does the opportunity to celebrate achievements by displaying work throughout the school.

At St Thomas’, our pupils will have an inspired appreciation of our rich and varied literary heritage, and will be exposed to wide ranging authors and poets. They will develop the ability to write and speak clearly, adapting their language and style for a range of contexts and communicating their ideas, views and feelings with confidence. Our children will take pride in their writing for many purposes and audiences and will choose to read for pleasure.

We grow together in English by:

Involving the whole family, reading at home, sharing our writing and communicating our learning.
Nurturing a vivid imagination which makes readers engage with and enjoy their writing.
Fostering a highly developed vocabulary and an excellent knowledge of writing techniques to extend details or description.
Developing a love of writing and an appreciation of its educational, cultural and entertainment values.
Reading often both and for pleasure and to gain knowledge.
Developing excellent phonic knowledge and skills and building to the ability to read fluently and accurately across a wide range of contexts throughout the curriculum.
Developing an exceptional talent for listening attentively so as to understand what is being said.
Fostering clear speech that can be easily understood by a range of audiences.
Developing an understanding of the rules used in English conversation, such as tenses and the grammatical structure of sentences.
Fostering a delight in initiating and joining in conversations whilst showing a respect for others when communicating, even when views differ.

In English, we aim to follow our school’s curriculum vision in order to

Be Curious, Be Knowledgeable, Be Creative, Be Compassionate,

Be Reflective, Be Courageous.

Growing together through faith in Jesus Christ, ‘Let all you do be done in love.’

(1 Corinthians 16)

English Policy