English
Reading, writing, speaking, and listening are fundamental life skills. Through the English curriculum, our children develop the skills, knowledge and vocabulary to enable them to communicate effectively and creatively through both spoken and written language. They will also leave our school having developed their love of literature, passion for words, confidence to perform and having written for a range of meaningful outcomes.
Reading
At the Olive School, we believe that creating a culture of reading is vital to giving our children the best life chances. We provide rich and meaningful opportunities to support our pupils to become fluent and critical readers. Texts are chosen to develop empathy and an understanding of society beyond the home and school setting, improve wellbeing and equip children with the skills to become lifelong learners. This is supported by the Star Readers initiative, designed to promote the joys and benefits of reading to all our pupils.
Through our reading curriculum, we offer broad and rich reading experiences and have a balance of phonics, whole word, and meaning-based approaches to teach children to read. This is supported by our use of a bespoke phonics scheme, based on Letters and Sounds in the Early Years and Key Stage 1 . Our pupils are grouped according to their ability and are streamed across the year groups and each group follows the group appropriately matched to their level of ability. Children are regularly assessed to ensure they are making the expected progress. The expectation is that our pupils have mastered phonics by the end of year 1, but when needed, can continue beyond. We also strive to introduce all children to a wide range of children’s literature and explore ways in which reading can broaden the experience of life and give a sense of what is possible.
Once pupils have mastered word reading, the development of comprehension skills becomes the principal focus. In Key Stage 1, this initially centres on the basic retrieval of key information in texts, before moving onto developing the ability to read between the lines and draw simple inferences and conclusions from texts. In Key Stage 2, these central comprehension skills of retrieval and inference are then developed further through with the use of a broader range of more complex and sophisticated texts. Additional comprehension skills such as comparing, summarising, and predicting are also developed. Further details regarding our approach to the development of reading comprehension skills can be found by accessing the Reading Comprehension Curriculum Framework guidance document below.
Pupils have access to the following reading opportunities to develop the skills of reading:
- One-to one reading
- Read Write Inc Phonics Scheme
- Shared reading in KS1
- Oxford Reading Tree
- Focused comprehension activities
- Paired reading with peers
- Regular independent reading
- Home school reading supported by books closely matched to pupils’ reading levels
- Accelerated Reader books for pupils in Years 2-6
- Regular visits to the school library
- Application of reading skills across the curriculum
- Engagement with the Star Readers initiative
- A range of non-fiction literature
- Library loan boxes linked to topics taught across the curriculum
- Virtual author visits
- ‘Brilliant Book Award’ and other local initiatives
Writing
We plan meaningful units of work for English writing according to the 2014 National Curriculum, which support pupils to:
- Develop the stamina and skills to write at length;
- Use accurate spelling and punctuation;
- Be grammatically correct;
- Write for a range of purposes, including a range of story genres, reports, instructions and recounts;
- Write to support the consolidation of what they have heard or read.
Developing discrete skills in spelling, punctuation and grammar, which can then be applied to children’s’ creative and extended writing, are essential to effective communication. Therefore, at the Olive School Blackburn, spelling, punctuation and grammar is taught explicitly through well-planned and purposeful discrete lessons, based on the progression in skills as detailed in the spelling, punctuation and grammar progression map below, before being applied to extended writing, in accordance with the needs of different text types. From Year 2 onwards, children receive a discrete spelling, punctuation, and grammar lesson every week, as well as these skills foci being embedded within writing lessons.
Speaking and listening
Speaking and listening underpins the development of all areas of English. We believe that to be able to write competently, our children need to articulate themselves confidently. We therefore encourage pupils to develop their ability to use Standard English at every opportunity. We promote children’s ability to explain their learning in every lesson and believe this leads to a deeper understanding.
Formal and informal presentations; drama activities such as hot seating and conscience alley; and opportunities to collaborate with peers are regularly included in the curriculum, because we believe passionately that providing opportunities to enhance oracy is central to the development of English skills.
Inclusion
At Olive School Blackburn, we believe that all pupils can achieve their reading and writing potential. Through the use of additional teacher models, guided work, vocabulary support, technology, peer support and a personalised curriculum, we strive to ensure that all our pupils are able to full access our exciting English curriculum.