English
English at Broadheath
All areas of the curriculum involve using English for communicating with others around us and it is embedded across all areas. It is our aim to enable all of our pupils to develop the use and understanding of Standard English to their full potential in all aspects of speaking, listening, reading and writing, including spelling and handwriting.
At Broadheath Primary we teach English daily as a discrete subject from Year 1 to Year 6, following the objectives within National Curriculum 2014. Teaching matches the needs and ability of individual pupils. English skills are also taught and embedded across the curriculum, within other subject areas such as Science, History and Geography.
Reading activities including individual, group and guided sessions, are used to develop pupils’ reading skills that are further enhanced across the curriculum. The school offers a wide range of books including fiction, non-fiction and poetry. We encourage the independent choice, by pupils, of reading books.
A major focus at Broadheath Primary is on developing grammatically accurate and fluent writing. Teachers model the writing and planning process through shared writing sessions where ideas are collected and developed. Children work in pairs, groups or individually to write a wide range of narrative and non-narrative texts, both within discreet English lessons and as cross-curricular work. Grammar and punctuation are contextually taught within English lessons, as well as during discrete grammar sessions. Objectives taught within English are used to develop writing across the curriculum using Alan Peat sentence structures.
Speaking and listening activities also take place across the curriculum. Pupils have opportunities to work in groups of different sizes – in pairs, small groups, and as a whole class. Pupils learn how to take turns and when and how to participate constructively in conversation with others. All children will be given opportunities within English and other lessons to perform poems, plays, make formal presentations, participate in discussions and debates and are encouraged to explain their ideas and thinking.
Phonics: EYFS and Key Stage 1
In the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, an emphasis is placed upon the teaching of phonics, as the children follow the Little Wandle Revised Letters and Sounds programme and our phonics reading books are aligned to this teaching sequence. Daily phonics sessions are taught in Nursery, Reception and Year 1. At Year 2 the phonics sessions are taught 3 times a week, with greater emphasis and links made to spelling and spelling rules. The teaching of phonics is a real strength of Broadheath Primary and our children surpass the national and Trafford averages year on year.
EYFS
Communication and language is one of the prime areas of the EYFS curriculum, within this area pupils are taught to develop their listening, understanding and speaking skills within a broadly play based curriculum. This, alongside the specific area of Literacy where children’s reading and writing skills are developed, is the basis of our English teaching in our EYFS. A range of English activities are available for self-selection by pupils as well as adult directed activities and taught carpet sessions.
KS1 and KS2
Daily English lessons provide the pupils with opportunities to develop their speaking and listening, reading and writing skills whilst being immersed in high quality texts appropriate to the topic and age. Pupils are encouraged to self-select the level of challenge for tasks, develop their proof-reading and editing skills in order to become motivated independent learners.