KEY STAGE 1
Speaking and Listening
This is an important part of the curriculum as English is not the first
language for the majority of students. It improves pronunciation, grammar,
vocabulary and confidence with understanding the English language. Pupils
are asked to speak for a range of reasons which include:
1 - Telling stories, both real and imagined; 2
- Imaginative play and drama; 3 - Reading and listening to nursery rhymes
and poetry, learning some by heart;4 - Reading aloud;5 - Exploring,
developing and clarifying ideas;6 - Predicting outcomes and discussing
possibilities;7 - Describing events, observations and experiences;8
- Making simple clear explanations of choices; 9- Giving reasons for
opinions and actions.
Reading
Reading gives children good standards to copy and use in everyday life.
Their vocabulary and grammar improve immensely with improved reading
skills. Pupils are given a huge amount of experience of children's literature
covering the following types:
1 - Poems and stories;
2 - Books and poems written by famous children's authors;
3 - Retellings of traditional folk and fairy stories;
4 - Stories and poems from a range of cultures;
5 - Stories, poems and chants containing patterned and predictable language;
6 - Stories and poems that are particularly challenging in terms of
length or vocabulary.
Once children can read fluently, with expression
and understanding, their English language improves enough for them to
experiment with writing.
Writing
Writin gis the most difficult aspect of any language and is consequently
the last aspect to agin in fluency. Pupils are given opportunities to
write in response to a variety of stimuli, including stories, poems,
classroom activities and personal experience. Pupils are taught to write
for a range of readers (such as their teacher, their family, their classmates
and themselves) using a variety of forms (such as narratives, poems,
notes, records and messages).
KEY STAGE 2
Speaking and Listening
Pupils are given opportunities to talk for a range of purposes, including:
· exploring, developing and explaining ideas;
· planning, predicting, and investigating;
· sharing ideas, insights and opinions;
· reading aloud, telling and enacting stories and poems;
· reporting and describing events and observations;
· presenting to audiences, live or on tape.
Pupils learn to change the way they speak to different audiences, are
given the opportunity to listen and respond to different people and
are given opportunities to participate in a range of drama activities.
Reading
Pupils are encouraged to develop as enthusiastic, independent and reflective
readers. They are exposed to literature from a range including the following
categories:
· a range of modern fiction by significant children's authors;
· some long-established children's fiction;
· a range of good quality modern poetry;
· some classic poetry;
· texts drawn from a variety of cultures and traditions;
· myths, legends and traditional stories.
Writing
Pupils learn to change the way they write to suit different audiences
and situations. They explore the use of language in literary and non-literary
texts and learn how language works. Children develop the understanding
that writing is both essential to thinking and learning, and is enjoyable
in its own right. They learn the main rules and conventions of written
English and start to explore how the English language can be used to
express meanings in different ways. They use the planning, drafting
and editing process to improve their work and to sustain their fiction
and non-fiction writing. They are given the opportunity to write for
an extended range of readers (the teacher, the class, other children,
adults in the school or community, imagined audiences).
KEY STAGE 3
Speaking and Listening
Pupils develop confidence in speaking and writing for public and formal
purposes. They also develop their ability to evaluate the way language
is used.
Pupils are taught to:
· structure talks clearly so the listener can follow the line
of thought
· use illustrations, evidence and anecdotes
· use gesture, tone, pace and rhetorical devices
· use visual aids and images
· use spoken standard English fluently in different contexts
· identify the major elements of what is being said
· determine a speakers intentions
· recognise when a speaker is being deliberately vague or ambiguous
· make useful contributions to group discussions by adapting
their speech or views
· clarify and summarise important points
· help move conversations forward by negotiating consensus or
agreeing to differ
· use a variety of dramatic techniques to explore ideas, issues,
texts and meaning
· appreciate how the structure and organisation of scenes and
plays contribute to dramatic effect
· evaluate critically performances of dramas that they have watched
or in which they have taken part.
Reading
Pupils read classic and contemporary texts and explore social and moral
issues. They are exposed to a range of literature including the following
categories:
· plays, novels, short stories and poetry from the English literary
heritage
· recent and contemporary drama, fiction and poetry written for
young people and adults
· drama, fiction and poetry by major writers from different cultures
and traditions
· literary non-fiction
· print and ICT based information and reference texts
· media and moving image texts [for example, newspapers, magazines,
advertisements, television, films, videos]
Writing
Pupils are taught to write to: imagine, explore and entertain; inform
explain and describe; persuade, argue and advise; and analyse review
and comment. Students are encouraged to plan, draft, redraft and proofread
their work on paper and on screen, to justify the extent to which any
of these are required for a specific piece of work and critically analyse
their own and other people's writing. Pupils are encouraged to use writing
for thinking and learning and the range or readers for their writing
should include specific, known readers, a large unknown readership and
the pupils themselves.
