The 2014 National Curriculum states that:
‘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.’
These aims are embedded across our English lessons and the wider curriculum. We have a rigorous and well organised English curriculum that provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. We use a wide variety of quality texts and resources to motivate and inspire our children. Each day, children take part in Whole Class Reading lessons whereby the teacher tactfully selects rich texts to enable discussion, excitement and development of language, which in turn, inspires our children to incorporate language from these texts in their own writing.
We also provide a wealth of enrichment opportunities, from hosting World Book Day, Poetry Competitions, Reading Challenges in collaboration with the local libraries and even running regular Skype sessions with well-known illustrators and local authors.
All teachers ensure to plan stimulating English lessons which incorporate Outdoor Learning, ICT, collaborative learning so that children are excited and enthused in their lessons, leading to a strong motivation to write. It is through our rigorous marking policy that we can give children ‘live’ feedback about their learning in the lesson; which enables children to adjust their learning based on the instant feedback provided by teachers and teaching and learning assistants. At Howletch Primary School, we believe it is highly important to give children feedback that is rich and meaningful so that they are aware of their triumphs and those areas that they need to be focussing on, as well as providing a platform for teacher and child discussion whereby children feel confident to address misconceptions and raise any thoughts and feelings about their learning.
