LITERACY (sorry) ENGLISH St Laurence’s 30 th September 2014

How is English taught in our school? One hour of English is timetabled every day Daily minute Guided Reading sessions Weekly spellings Letters and Sounds Groups Independent reading and writing Handwriting practice Speaking and Listening opportunities Opportunities for English across other subjects e.g. in History/Science Homework

Progression Through Teaching We teach in genres of reading and writing which fall into these main categories:  Narrative/Fiction  Poetry  Non-fiction

How do we start? We start with a stimulus, which might be:  A book (fiction or non-fiction)  Poem  An excerpt from a film or book  A photograph or painting

How does the picture make you feel? Think of an adjective. If this was part of a storyboard what happened before? What is the person screaming about?

Getting into it!! Before they write all children are prepared by having a SHARED session on the carpet. During this they may:  Engage in discussion either in groups or pairs.  Collect words or phrases then turning them into sentences.  Doing drama to get the children into a character or a situation.

Then what? Now comes the process of READING…  Comprehension texts.  Reading a text that will support their writing (modeling).  In guided reading children will read texts that are similar in genre and will be suited to their ability.

Where’s the writing?  The writing comes very much at the end of the process.  Children will complete a number of activities to build them up with their confidence to write.  By this point the children are prepared to produce a piece of writing on their own or with a little help.  They will have learnt new words and phrases; worked on punctuation and sentence structure and studied examples and discussed them.

Still with me?

New English Curriculum  This is the document from which we plan. It is set by the government.  By the end of each Key Stage, pupils are expected to KNOW, APPLY and UNDERSTAND the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programmes of study.  The new National Curriculum identifies what to teach but not how to teach.  The new National Curriculum does not have levels of attainment, but expectations at each banding.

How is it split up? The new curriculum is split into the following areas:  Reading – comprehension  Reading – word reading (spelling)  Writing – composition  Writing – handwriting  Writing – transcription  Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

Reading This will be more heavily reliant on “word” level using a child’s: phonetic knowledge, learning contractions (I’ m, we’ll) building on spelling patterns by KS2 it’s all about applying this knowledge

CREATIVITY! Is a vital part of learning English, as being creative engages children’s interest. Making English cross-curricular also engages their creativity and helps them understand how important English is in everyday life and more importantly how it will help them get a job in the future!

Helping your children at home… What can you do??.

Talk isn’t cheap… It’s free!! Start where they are at… Ask them what are they interested in? Exploit it! Talk to them about it… Encourage them to have an opinion and express it giving examples to back it up. Make sure you stay interested be a good audience to them…

Writing… not easy! My tip is make it real… Thank you letters Lists Christmas and birthday cards to design and make A day out had as a family

Having an opinion… Letters of complaint… Good to have an opinion and use it to improve our society.

Making it real! s to relatives or friends.

Reading… Reading books: Fiction: Mr Gum, Roald Dahl, Jaqueline Wilson, collections of short stories.

Non-fiction: Just as important as fiction. Tends to be forgotten but is just important… Layout and content of non-fiction texts always assessed in government set tests.

Helping my child read… It’s not a chore if you fit in when it suits the family. If you get bored then have different books and magazines. Talking about what you read is just as important.

Happy tips… Great ways to help your child practice their reading… Reading recipes and instructions. Read the web site of a film that they want to watch. A little every day helps with not only their reading but their spellings and writing.

Spelling… Weekly spellings – important to support your child. Be aware of what they are learning so you can point out the spelling patterns when you hear them read. You never know your child might end up on Countdown!

NEW CURRICULUM 2014 AND FINALLY…. Obviously this is a time of change for children, teachers and parents. It is not the first time (nor likely to be the last) that the curriculum has been radically changed. As we go through next year we will keep you updated so that as parents you have a clear picture of what, when and how your child will learn. As with all changes there are positive and less positive things about it. As a school we have decided that we will focus on ensuring that we incorporate the changes in such a way that our children will continue to thrive and progress not only academically but spiritually, morally and socially too.

WHAT DO WE WANT OUR CHILDREN TO BE WHEN THEY LEAVE OUR SCHOOL? Confident. Competent readers, writers and mathematicians. Able to get on well with others – be able to show empathy Honest, empathetic and trustworthy – effective members of society Be able to learn independently and love learning! Young adults with high aspirations for themselves. Responsible. IT competent – able to use new technologies which may not even have been invented yet Able to communicate effectively (high levels of oracy) Resilient and reflective.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! The End