English
Our teaching of English aims to enable children to enjoy using language in different contexts and have the confidence and ability to do so. We strive to encourage our pupils to become independent, enthusiastic and lifelong readers and writers. We cultivate a love of Writing and communicating through vocabulary rich and high quality literature, using Ready Steady Write by Literacy Counts. By inspiring and developing an appreciation of our rich and varied literary heritage and providing meaningful and exciting provocations to write, we develop a habit of writing widely and often. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their Writing; can write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts.
At St James CE Primary we use the Read, Write, Inc. programme (RWI) to get children off to a flying start with their reading and writing. RWI is a programme centred around letter sounds and phonics and is taught each morning by our RWI trained staff.
From direct phonic teaching in KS1 (through Read, Write, Inc) to Ready Steady Spell in KS2, our children are provided with a range of successful spelling strategies and therefore have the ability to apply them in their independent work.
Our school-wide commitment to oracy is demonstrated by how we enable all students to access and benefit from a high-quality oracy education. Our approach includes giving children a place to talk, a reason to talk and support to talk. A key component on this is our focus on vocabulary (including 'Vital Vocabulary' curriculum links) which encourage children to be articulate speakers and good responsive listeners in a variety of situations.
We also work hard to allow the children to develop a fluent, legible handwriting style and take care with presentation of their work.
It’s not only in English lessons that we focus on the importance of literacy skills; instead we help the children to understand that language they have acquired may be relevant across all areas of their learning and life and to apply that language where possible. English matters at St James and we are immensely proud of our achievements in this subject area!
Visit the tabs within our English page to find out more.