Mrs Obertelli and Mrs MacDonald lead English throughout school.

"Reading is the key to unlocking the world around us. We are passionate about providing all children the opportunity to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. Our English provision allows children to explore and question the world through the written word and to develop socially, emotionally, intellectually and culturally. "

At Euxton Church of England Primary School our overarching aim for English is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping our pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.

We aim to ensure that all of our pupils:

• read easily, fluently and with good understanding

• develop the habit and love of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information

• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language

• appreciate our rich and varied literary and cultural heritage

• write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes, audiences and cultures

• use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas

• are competent and confident in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.

At Euxton CE Primary we prioritise the acquisition of language. The cultural capital obtained in becoming articulate users of a rich vocabulary is one of the main drivers underpinning our curriculum. Interwoven through all areas of our knowledge-based learning is how we support pupils as they develop confidence and fluency, using a wide range of vocabulary in different contexts. This includes subject-specific language related to school curriculum areas and vocabulary choices that pupils have available to them when they write. Pupils are also taught how to differentiate between shades of meaning and develop an interest and a love of language through their wider reading.

Knowledge

Speaking and Listening – being competent and confident in the art of speaking and listening  ie. debates/ presentations / persuasion

Reading – reading easily, fluently and with good understanding.

Writing – write clearly, accurately and coherently adapting their language and style for different purposes and audiences.

Vocabulary – acquire a wide rich vocabulary and understanding of grammar for reading, writing and spoken language.

Assessment

Throughout the year, teachers continuously apply assessment for learning. This ensures any misconceptions are addressed in the moment. If a pupil fails to grasp a concept, this is identified quickly and early intervention ensures the pupil is ready to move forward with the whole class in the next lesson. All forms of intervention enable a greater proportion of children to be on track to meet year group expectations or in the case of those working significantly below expectations to make better than expected progress. PIVATS are used to support SEND children who progress through smaller steps.

As a school we use a variety of assessments to look at progress in phonics, reading comprehension, spelling and reading ages. Teacher judgement is used to assess writing with teaching attending clusters to ensure consistency.

Formal assessments take place throughout school, starting with Baseline on entry to Reception. Year 1 children sit the Phonics Screening Check and Year 6 complete their SATS. A Reading assessment and one for Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar.

Develop and monitor an intervention cycle to close gaps in learning.

Reading comprehension skills to be developed, with a focus on retrieval and inference.

Children’s vocabulary to be expanded to improve their literacy skills in both reading and writing.

World Book Day 2024

For World Book Day 2024 we held a vocabulary parade. All children and staff came to school dressed as a 'word' along with the definition. The children then complete activities using these words.

Matt Goodfellow

Matt Goodfellow came to visit school and share his poetry. The infants and juniors had an interactive assembly before completing a workshop in their classrooms. On National Poetry Day, Year 1 performed one of Matt's poems 'Zany Zoo'. They were excited to receive a message back from him!