Thameside primary school and Nursery
Head Teacher: Mrs J Bray
English
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 word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.
The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils: 
-
read easily, fluently and with good understanding  develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information  acquire a wide vocabulary,
-
have an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language  appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage  write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences  use discussion in order to learn;
-
should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas  are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.
At Thameside Primary School, we understand that communication is a key aspect in every child’s learning so that they develop the knowledge, skills, self-belief and motivation to be successful in both their current learning and throughout their lives. We provide opportunities for all of our pupils to develop their use and understanding of Standard English to their full potential in all aspects of speaking, listening, reading and writing, including spelling and handwriting.
English is taught on a daily basis through specific lessons in writing and reading but is also prominent in the school’s foundation curriculum, where pupils can apply and enhance their English skills in a range of different ways across a broad range of subjects. Our aim is to develop the pupils’ abilities and confidence in communicating for different purposes and this often allows them to express themselves using their key strengths.
Writing:
As a school we have adopted “The Write Stuff” by Jane Considine to bring clarity to the mechanics of writing. ‘The Write Stuff’ follows a method called ‘Sentence Stacking’ which refers to the fact that sentences are stacked together and organised to engage children with short, intensive moments of learning that they can then immediately apply to their own writing. This approach makes sure that all of our children are exposed to high quality texts that stimulate quality responses to reading, high quality writing and purposeful speaking and listening opportunities. Our curriculum ensures that all children have plenty of opportunities to write for different purposes. We encourage writing through all curriculum areas and use quality reading texts to model examples of good writing. We believe that children need lots of rich speaking and drama activities to give them the imagination and the experiences that will equip them to become good writers.
Reading:
In Reading, we teach a guided reading curriculum that covers the key skills needed to become a great reader - understanding inference, retrieval of information, authorial intent, prediction and understanding text layout to name a few. Children access author based book collections, the school library, and have high quality reading experiences such as weekly Senior Leadership Recommended Read assemblies. Teachers ensure that children read regularly at home and in school.
Phonics:
The systematic teaching of phonics has a high priority throughout the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. Phonics is taught daily to all children in EYFS, Year 1 and those in Year 2 who have not passed the phonics screening check in Year 1. The Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised phonics and reading programme is used as the spine for delivery of the phonics sessions. Staff systematically teach learners the relationship between sounds and the written spelling patterns, or graphemes, which represent them. Phonics is delivered in a whole class format because it enables staff to ensure application across subjects embedding the process in a rich literacy environment for early readers. Intervention is planned for those children who are working below expected levels.
​
For more information on Little Wandle click here
The school pays for your child to have access to these superb learning resources:
