A Warmingham Speaker, Reader and Writer
A Caring Christian Family Where We Grow Together
Let Your Light Shine ~ Matthew 5:16
Why is English Important?
English is a vital way of communicating in school, in public life and internationally. Literature in English is rich and influential, reflecting the experience of people from many countries and times. In studying English pupils develop skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing. It enables them to express themselves creatively and imaginatively and to communicate with others effectively. Pupils learn to become enthusiastic and critical readers of stories, poetry and drama as well as non-fiction and media texts. The study of English helps pupils understand how language works by looking at its patterns, structures and origins. Using this knowledge pupils can choose and adapt what they say and write in different situations.
RCSAT’s Vision for Speaking & Listeing - On completion of the Speaking curriculum our pupils will have developed:
- The ability to speak confidently, purposefully and with detail on a number of topics throughout the curriculum.
- Spoken techniques such as pace, tone, clarity, projection, facial expression and eye-contact to engage the listener.
- An impressive vocabulary.
- The ability to ask pertient questions.
- The ability to articulate personal ideas and opinions, using evidence and explanation in support
- The ability to participate in discussions, listen attentively and respond to others’ points of view, drawing on evidence and explaining ideas.
RCSAT’s Vision for Reading - On completion of the Reading curriculum our pupils will have developed:
- Excellent phonic knowledge and skills.
- Fluency and accuracy in reading across a wide range of contexts throughout the curriculum.
- Knowledge of an extensive and rich vocabulary.
- An ability to use prediction, questioning, clarifying, summarising and inference, as well as prior knowledge, to demonstrate excellent comprehension of texts.
- Extensive knowledge through having read a rich and varied range of texts.
Reading at Warmingham
Reading is a source of pleasure as well as the key which unlocks learning. As adults, we will all remember the book which ignited our love of reading. Our study themes are also planned around quality texts to ensure we instil a love of reading. They help us to understand the world we live in, teach us about where we come from, and help us to see possible futures. Stories and books are our education and our escape. They can lull us to sleep and inspire us into action which is why they play such a significant role in the education of our children.
The teaching of reading and comprehension skills are taught through Read, Write, Inc (Reception and Year 1) and Pathways to Read (Years 1 to Year 6). Both use a combination of whole class, group and individual work to deliver a systematic approach to the teaching of reading across the school. Children read to a range of purposes throughout the day for themselves, to adults, either individually or in groups throughout the school day.
Learning to read is just like learning to play a musical instrument - little and often is the best approach. We involve parents/carers in children’s reading as much as possible. It's vital that we work with our families to ensure our children become competent readers. Their Individual Reading Records are an important source of communication between home and school throughout their time with us. We use a structured reading scheme alongside a wide range of fiction and non-fiction.
RCSAT’s Vision for Writing - On completion of the Writing curriculum our pupils will have developed:
- The ability to write fluently, purposefully and with detail on a number of topics throughout the curriculum.
- A vivid imagination which makes readers engage with and enjoy their writing.
- An impressive vocabulary and an excellent knowledge of writing techniques to extend details or description.
- The ability to plan, draft, evaluate, revise, edit and publish writing.
- Well-organised and structured writing which includes a variety of sentence structures.
- Excellent transcription skills that ensure their writing is well presentedand punctuated, spelled correctly and neat.
- A love of writing and an appreciation of its educational, cultural and entertainment values.
Writing at Warmingham
In order to encourage creativity and independence in writing we write for an extended period regularly throughout the school following a writing cycle approach. This allows teachers to assess progress and evaluate personal short term targets regularly.
Our Writing Philosophy:
- If a child can say it, a child can write it!
- The talking voice is not the same as the writing voice.
Our children are encouraged to:
- Talk about their writing.
- Find exciting words and use these in their writing.
- ‘Borrow’ exciting words and phrases from other authors. ‘WOW’ words.
- Have a go at using interesting examples of punctuation.
- Write for an extended period of time.
- Re-read their own writing and find ways to make it better.
- Understand what they need to do next to improve.
- Use spelling, grammar and punctuation appropriate to their age and genre
- We encourage our children to apply their writing skills in all areas of the curriculum and in homework activities.
We follow a Mastery approach to English through the programme ‘Pathways to Write.’ Units of work are delivered using high quality texts and children in all year groups are given varied opportunities for writing. Skills are built up through repetition within the units, and children apply these skills in the writing activities provided. Many opportunities for widening children’s vocabulary are given through the Pathways to Write approach and this builds on the extensive work we do in school to provide our children with a rich and varied vocabulary.
Handwriting at Warmingham
In the early years, we focus on celebrating the marks the children make whilst developing the children's love for writing. As the children progress, we focus on forming letters correctly linked to the phonemes the children learn as part of Read, Write, Inc. The children are taught to join when they are first introduced to diagraphs in Read, Write, Inc.
Phonics and Spelling at Warmingham
Phonics are taught using the Read,Write, Inc programme (Reception to Year 2) and Pathways to Spell (Years 2 to Year 6). We use a combination of whole class teaching and group or individual work. In Year 1 our children take the National Phonics screening Test.
