INTENT

Through our teaching of English at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, we believe that the most important skills our pupils can leave primary school with are the ability to read for pleasure and for meaning, speak in standard English, listen to others and to be able to articulate their ideas confidently in both their speech and writing so that they are able to apply their knowledge and skills to access other areas of the curriculum and all areas of their life. Through our enriched curriculum, reading, writing and speaking and listening encompass all areas of learning and thinking.

RATIONALE/AIMS

Our curriculum intends to:

Promote a culture for reading, both widely and often, not simply as a life skill but to also nurture a love of books and literature from varying times, cultures and styles that will not only support their learning across the curriculum, but also enrich their lives for both personal gain and as a private pastime by developing opinions and preferences.

Enable all children to express and communicate their thoughts, ideas and visions through writing.

Develop an understanding of vocabulary, grammar, spelling and linguistic conventions of the English language in order to equip pupils with the ability to speak, read and write easily, fluently and with good understanding for an appropriate purpose and audience.

Ensure pupils have knowledge of the different forms of writing and their purposes and that pupils are increasingly able to unpick how and why their writing, or that of others, works, knowing what to do to improve it and having an increasing awareness of the impact and effect of writing on the audience.

Promote the significance of speaking and listening for both pupils’ language and social development so that its importance is recognised by pupils, parents and teachers.

Provide many and varied contexts for talk so that pupils can use and apply an increasing range of vocabulary, but they also receive direct teaching in the skills of speaking and listening to prepare them for learning and developing in all areas of the curriculum, for further education and later life.