English
What does English look like at St. Andrew's?
Writing
Intent
At St Andrew’s CofE Primary School, we believe that all pupils should be able to confidently communicate their knowledge, ideas and emotions through their writing. As a school, we follow the 'I am a Clever Writer' approach which is a systematic, step by step approach to writing. This gives the children clear guidance providing the precise, intricate steps that each child needs to develop and embed writing skills. This enables the children lay a solid foundation on which to build. We want pupils to acquire a wide vocabulary, a solid understanding of grammar and be able to spell new words by effectively applying the spelling patterns and rules they learn throughout their time in primary school. We want them to write clearly, accurately, and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. We believe that all pupils should be encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their writing, in part by developing a good, joined, handwriting style by the time they move to secondary school. We believe that all good writers refine and edit their writing over time, so we want children to develop independence in being able to identify their own areas for improvement in all pieces of writing, editing their work effectively during and after the writing process.
Reading
Intent
We aim to provide children with a literacy-rich environment, high quality texts and inspiring learning opportunities, which will help them to:
- Gain a life-long enjoyment of reading and books.
- Read accurately, fluently and with understanding;
- Apply a knowledge of structured synthetic phonics in order to decode unfamiliar words with increasing accuracy and speed;
- Be able to read with expression, clarity and confidence;
- Develop a good linguistic knowledge of vocabulary and grammar;
- Read and respond to a wide range of different types of texts;
- Read fluently, and with confidence, in any subject in their forthcoming secondary education.
Phonics
What does Phonics look like at St. Andrew's?
Intent
At St Andrew’s, we value reading as a key life skill, and are dedicated to enabling our pupils to become lifelong readers. The systematic teaching of phonics has a high priority throughout Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. We acknowledge that children need to be taught the key skills in segmenting and blending to be equipped with the knowledge to be able to complete the phonics check at the end of Year 1. We also value and encourage the pupils to read for enjoyment and recognise that this starts with the foundations of acquiring letter sounds, segmenting, and blending skills. As a school, we use Lesley Clarke's Letters and Sounds which is a DFE validated programme.
You can find out more information about Lesley Clarke Letters and Sounds here.
There is also a Parent area on the website with useful links with information relevant to the Programme.