The overarching aim for English in the National Curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.
At Bond Primary School we aim to ensure that all pupils:
The programmes of study for reading at key stages 1 and 2 consist of 2 dimensions:
We focus on developing pupils’ competence in both dimensions; as different kinds of teaching are needed for each.
Skilled word reading involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Underpinning both is the understanding that the letters on the page represent the sounds in spoken words. This is why phonics is emphasised in the early teaching of reading to beginners (i.e unskilled readers) when they start school.
The programmes of study for writing at key stages 1 and 2 are constructed similarly to those for reading:
It is essential that teaching develops pupils’ competence in these 2 dimensions. In addition, pupils should be taught how to plan, revise and evaluate their writing.
High standards of English are embedded into everything we do at Bond Primary School. Alongside the Merton – agreed curriculum progression (see below), we use the Literacy Tree curriculum as a stimulus for our English learning. This text-based system exposes children to a wide variety of high quality texts and rich language experiences. By using high quality literacy texts, it combines an introduction to outstanding books for teachers and children with an approach to teaching the English curriculum that is creative, engaging and develops a life-long love of literacy.