Hazel Grove Primary School English Policy

Transcription

1 S. Hind Hazel Grove Primary School English Policy July 2016 DATE POLICY APPROVED BY GOVERNORS: July 2016 DATE POLICY RATIFIED BY GOVERNORS: November 2016 REVIEW DATE: July 2019 SIGNED: CHAIR OF GOVERNORS SIGNED: HEAD TEACHER Page 1 18/07/2016

2 Learning together, learning forever A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. DfE National Curriculum in English 1. AIMS Considering Hazel Grove Primary School s core values, we aim for excellence in English achievement. We strive to develop pupils abilities within an integrated programme of Speaking & Listening, Reading & Writing. Pupils will be given opportunities to interrelate the requirements of English within a broad and balanced approach to the teaching of English across the curriculum, with opportunities to consolidate and reinforce taught literacy skills. We aim to deliver the English National Curriculum in an engaging way, providing the children with successful Literacy role models to increase aspiration. Please read this document in conjunction with: The Marking & Feedback Policy The Teaching & Learning Policy The SEND Policy The Assessment Policy & Timetable The Homework Policy The Early Years Foundation Stage Policy The Equal Opportunities Policy The Health & Safety Policy The Computing/ICT Policy Phonics, Writing, Spelling and Guided Reading School Support At Hazel Grove Primary School we strive for our children to be Primary Literate Pupils. By the age of 11 we aim for a child to be able to: read and write with confidence, fluency and understanding, orchestrating a range of independent strategies to take responsibility for their own learning, including self-monitoring and correcting their own errors. have a love of reading and a desire to read for enjoyment have an interest in words, their meanings; developing a growing vocabulary in spoken, written forms and in relation to grammatical terminology. understand a range of text types, media types and genres be able to write in a variety of styles and forms appropriate to the situation. be developing the powers of creativity, imagination, inventiveness and critical awareness. have a suitable technical vocabulary to articulate their responses. gain the necessary skills to become competent, creative and efficient users of the English language to prepare them for secondary school and to enable them to become successful in the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences in later life Page 2 18/07/2016

3 2. STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS Statutory requirements for the teaching and learning of English are laid out in the National Curriculum in England: English programmes of study-key stages 1 & 2 (2014) and in the Communication, Language and Literacy section of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2014). In the Foundation Stage-Nursery and Reception Children should be given opportunities, within the four overarching principles to: speak, listen and represent ideas in their activities (Communication & Language area of development) develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves (C&L) use communication, language and literacy in every part of the curriculum (C&L) become immersed in an environment rich in print and possibilities for communication (C&L) link sounds and letters (Literacy area of development) begin to read and write (L) given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems and other written materials) to ignite their interest (L) At Key Stage One (Years 1 and 2), children should learn to speak confidently, use discussion to learn and listen to what others have to say. They should begin to read and write independently, with understanding and enthusiasm. In developing the habit of reading widely and often, children should read for pleasure and information. They should use language to explore their own experiences and imaginary worlds. Children should acquire a wider range of vocabulary and develop an understanding of grammar and linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language. At Key Stage Two (Years 3-6), children should learn to change the way they speak and write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style to suit different contexts, purposes and audiences. They should read a range of texts and respond to different layers of meaning in them, appreciating our rich and varied literary heritage. They should explore the use of language in literary and non-literary texts and learn how the structure of language works. Children should develop a wide vocabulary, an understanding and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language. They should be able to use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas. Children should be competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate. The Governing Body It is the role of the governing body to oversee the policy of English in school and ensure quality delivery of the subject alongside valuable learning and progress. Regular reports are made to the governors on the progress of English provision and to our Literacy Governor, Mrs Lyndsey Shaw. This policy will be reviewed by the governors every three years or in the light of changes to legal requirements. 3. SUBJECT ORGANISATION The English Curriculum is delivered using the National Curriculum in England: English programmes of study-key stages 1 & 2 (2014) and in the Communication, Language and Literacy section of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2014). At Hazel Grove Primary School we use a variety of teaching and learning styles in our English lessons to meet the needs of all our pupils. In the Early Years Foundation Stage, the children develop their communication, language and literacy skills through direct experience in each of the learning areas. In Page 3 18/07/2016

4 addition to self-initiated activities there is direct literacy teaching, (daily phonics, early guided writing and reading skills). In Key Stage 1 daily discrete phonics lessons are taught in ability groups, while children have daily mixed ability Literacy lessons with an emphasis on real texts. Children take part in both guided and individual reading sessions and have regular story times to develop a love of reading. Literacy skills are developed across the curriculum. Provision is made for children who require extra support through intervention programmes, differentiated class teaching and targeted teaching groups in Literacy. All Literacy skills are promoted across the curriculum and learning opportunities. In Key Stage 2 Literacy is taught through a daily English lesson, (see plans) and through the other curricular subjects. Spelling and grammar skills are taught discretely and through the Big Writing Missions. We promote real texts, writing for real reasons, using educational visits/visitors as a stimulus for quality writing and motivating writers with whole school projects eg, Everybody Writes Week. In all classes we have a wide range of abilities, and we seek to provide suitable learning in opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the ability of the child. Staff have high expectations that all children can achieve their full potential, differentiating the task, resources, outcome or support required. Wherever possible, learning support assistants work in class or teach intervention groups supporting all ability groups, specific individuals or groups of children, ensuring that work is matched to the needs of the child. 4. APPROACHES TO SPEAKING AND LISTENING We recognise the importance of spoken language in pupils development across the whole curriculum - spoken language underpins the development of reading and writing. Children are encouraged to develop effective communication skills in readiness for later life. We aim to enable our children to speak with clarity, confidence and expression, and to take account of their audience, purpose and differing situations. We encourage our children to listen with concentration to others, to respond and build on their ideas and opinions and to identify features of language used for specific purposes. The National Curriculum states that pupils should be taught to: listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions give well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes, including for expressing feelings maintain attention and participate actively in collaborative conversations, staying on topic and initiating and responding to comments use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas speak audibly and fluently with an increasing command of Standard English participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates gain, maintain and monitor the interest of the listener(s) consider and evaluate different viewpoints, attending to and building on the contributions of others select and use appropriate registers for effective communication. Page 4 18/07/2016

5 Opportunities to develop these skills include: curriculum activities, learning links/talk partners, sharing of learning with families, use of role-play and drama to explore situations eg, hot-seating, regular story times, PSHE and circle times, class/group debates, interviewing, performance poetry, use of audio/visual recording, praise for quality vocabulary, assemblies, after school events/clubs and a variety of performances. Children who require extra support in speaking and listening benefit from small group support sessions and draw on the expertise of a Speech and Language Therapist assessment and guidance when required. We recognise the need for all pupils to speak, read and write Standard English fluently and accurately. While acknowledging that a pupil's own dialect, or other language is of prime importance, it is our school policy to promote Standard English. 5. APPROACHES TO READING Pupils should develop a love of reading, be taught to read fluently, understand extended prose and be encouraged to read for pleasure. Reading is extremely important since it enables pupils to have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Reading allows pupils to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. The English National Curriculum sub-divides reading into word reading/decoding and comprehension skills. In developing enthusiastic and reflective readers through contact with challenging and substantial texts, we teach reading (including all word reading and comprehension skills) in the following ways Children are immersed in quality texts from entry into the Early Years and many learning experiences are built upon books. Shared reading-can be 1:1, as a group and as a class Guided reading-starts at the beginning of Reception and continues throughout the school. This is where we teach a range of increasingly complex reading strategies to a group of children of similar ability. The resources we use include: Oxford Reading Tree, Heinemann Literacy World, Project X, Treetops, White Wolves, real books, magazines, newspapers. Also, see What guided reading looks like in H.G.P.S. Independent reading is part of most literacy lessons and other curricular areas Phonics-starts in Nursery at Phase 1 and continues through to phase 6 throughout Reception- Year 2 (and into Year 3 if necessary). Children are taught the appropriate phase for their ability, regardless of age. Also, see Phonics in H.G.P.S. Home Reading-children take banded books, stage 1-stage 19, home to read with family and independently, (when the children are older-mainly Years 5 & 6). The banded system is a progressive arrangement of fiction & non-fiction books, which relate to the National Curriculum end of year expectations. The books include the schemes identified in guided reading. The children move through the bands as their reading improves. We have school volunteers which help support pupil s reading in their home reading books with the younger children. The children s reading is recorded in their home-reading record book. Wider reading-a class novel, poems, library visits to Hazel Grove Community Library etc. Reading for pleasure: choice books, we promote on-screen reading eg, Reading Eggs/Eggspress, magazines, newspapers (Eg, First news-weekly, Aquila/Ecokids/National Geographic for Kids/Okido-monthly). Children can choose fiction and non-fiction books from the school library and class library/reading areas in addition to their banded book. We give time for pupils to share and discuss these books after their visits. Homework-see the homework policy We promote reading in our school library, our reading environments in every classroom, reading displays throughout school, author/illustrator visits, reading challenge boxes, reading together in EYFS/KS1 with families, reading buddies in KS2, reading experiences eg, Reading Rocks Weekfilled with reading and sharing opportunities, World Book Day. By sharing how we teach guided Page 5 18/07/2016

6 reading through our learning mornings and booklets for parents, we involve families. We add to our range of quality reading resources every year and include children s preferences eg, graphic novels. Any child requiring support to meet their expectations may need 1:1 teaching from our SERI (Stockport Early Reading Intervention) learning support assistant or intervention from programmes we deliver, such as: Better Reading, Toe-by-toe, Story Narrative, phonics support, additional 1:1 reading or extra guided reading sessions. 6. APPROACHES TO WRITING We aim to develop the children s ability to produce well structured, detailed writing in which the meaning is made clear and which engages the interest of the reader. Attention is paid throughout the school to the formal structures of English, grammatical detail, punctuation and spelling. Our approach to teaching writing covers the transcription and composition requirements of The National Curriculum, whilst building independent writers who can self-assess and improve their own work In the EYFS, children develop their emergent writing skills through Squiggle while you wiggle activities, building up their dexterity and strength in their fingers and wrists in dough disco. They have the opportunity to learn and practise their formations in the different learning areas both inside and out. In Year 1, the English Curriculum is delivered through real texts, which include a variety of genres. Early grammar and spelling is included, with reinforcement of graphemes (initially taught in phonics) learnt. In Years 2!6, using the Big Writing Missions, we give children the opportunity to learn to recognise and write different genres, incorporating grammar in context, relevant to their year group s expectations. In addition, there is direct teaching of grammar, to raise the knowledge and understanding of technical vocabulary, (using grammatical vocabulary agreed by the staff). Teachers model writing strategies and the use of grammar, punctuation, phonics and spelling strategies in shared writing sessions. Guided writing sessions are used to target specific needs of both groups and individuals, whilst children have opportunities to write at length in extended independent writing sessions at the end of each unit. The children are given frequent, sustained opportunities in school to write in different contexts using quality texts as a model and for a variety of purposes and audiences. They may be asked to produce their writing on their own or as part of group. Children are taught to self and peer asses their work, in order to become more independent in the process of improvement-this is part of our green pen marking policy. To be able to spell correctly is an essential life skill. When spelling become automatic, pupils are able to concentrate on the content of their writing and the making of meaning. Whilst we note that spelling is not the most important aspect of writing, confidence in spelling can have a profound effect on the writer s self-image. We aim to use explicit, interactive teaching which draws children s attention to the origins, structure and meaning of words and their parts, the shape and sound of words, the letter patterns within them and the various ways they can learn these patterns. In EYFS and KS1, daily phonics is the key to the children s learning of spelling. This is taught using the Letters and Sounds programme, using a variety of resources. Children are taught to blend sounds to read and segment to spell. At the same time they learn words which are not phonically regular (common exception words). From year two and into KS2 the children move towards using their phonic knowledge to help them to understand spelling rules and patterns. Research suggests that weekly spelling tests are not the most effective way of learning and retaining the spelling of words. Instead, we teach children to use their Page 6 18/07/2016

7 growing understanding of the morphology and etymology of words to support their spelling. Helping the children to understand how to use and apply known spelling patterns (and to develop strategies to tackle tricky words) is the key to helping them to become successful spellers. Spelling skills are taught each week during sessions outside the English lesson and are also embedded in reading and writing lessons so as strategies and rules can be taught in the context of writing. When marking children s work, we do not correct all spelling errors, instead we focus on high frequency words, topic words and those studied in spelling sessions. We use Spelling Pathways to ensure there is a structured approach to the teaching of spelling and diverse learning activities from Years 2!6. We recognise the important role that computing has to play in our school in the development of Literacy skills. There are many opportunities for children to improve and present their writing inspired by drama techniques and film clips. Children will also be given the opportunity to produce multimodal texts and develop their understanding of visual literacy. Interactive technology is used on a daily basis to enhance the teaching of literacy. We use the Folens Handwriting Scheme in school to help children develop fluent, clear and legible joined up writing. We teach this cursive style to meet the individual needs of our children. Speed, precision and legibility is encouraged and related to the child s age and ability. Handwriting is taught and modelled separately and encouraged in all subjects. Children are also taught above the use of different fonts for effect when using ICT and in different genres. Throughout school, children should be able to select different writing tools for a specific purpose. In addition, we encourage our children to develop a sense of pride in their work, enabling them to present work neatly for an audience. 7. CROSS-CURRICULAR ENGLISH OPPORTUNITIES Teachers will seek to take advantage of opportunities to make cross-curricular links. They will plan for pupils to practise and apply the skills, knowledge and understanding acquired through literacy lessons to other areas of the curriculum. Staff continue to look for real experiences linked to topic work to develop pupil s capabilities in writing. Opportunities for whole school projects eg, Everybody Writes Week (in 2016 linked to RE) are used to promote quality writing. 8. THE USE OF ICT The integrated use of ICT to support teaching and learning in Literacy will be planned for and used as appropriate. 9. ASSESSMENT AND TARGET SETTING Work will be assessed in line with the Assessment Policy and Assessment Timetable. Formative assessments of children s reading, writing and spoken language skills include a variety of strategies (as outlined in the Assessment Policy) and are recorded on a daily basis using Too Simple in the EYFS and Classtrack in Years 1!6, which inform a teacher s planning and enable progress to be tracked. As identified in the Assessment Policy, the Assessment Co-ordinator/Deputy will monitor assessments alongside the Senior Leadership Team and Phase Leaders and report regularly to the headteacher, ensuring necessary actions are put in place. 10. INCLUSION We aim to provide for all children so that they achieve as highly as they can in English according to their individual abilities. We will identify which pupils or groups of pupils are under-achieving and take steps to improve their attainment. These needs will be identified on an Individual Teaching Plan, Statement or Educational Health Care Plan, actions to take place and support required-this ITP/EHC or Statement is then shared with the child and parents and reviewed after 6/12 months. Support programmes currently in place in school to aid reading, writing and spoken language include: Page 7 18/07/2016

8 SERI Better Reading Toe-by-toe Story Narrative Motorskills United Phonics support Speech & Language Therapy Activities 1:1 reading Spelling support eg, Spelling Made Easy Quest Handwriting support In addition to the class teacher, these children will be monitored by the SEND Co-ordinator, Assessment Co-ordinator and related phase leaders. More Able (previously Gifted and Talented) children will be identified and suitable learning opportunities and challenges provided. The More Able Co-ordinator will help extend opportunities for the MA children and monitor their progress and achievement, alongside the Assessment Co-ordinator. 11. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES Hazel Grove Primary School has universal ambitions for every child, whatever their background or circumstances. Children learn and thrive when they are happy, healthy, safe and engaged. In order to engage all children, cultural diversity, home languages, gender and religious beliefs are all celebrated. Our curriculum includes a wide range of texts and other resources which represent the diversity and backgrounds of all our children. We believe in valuing what the child brings to school and recognise the importance of supporting a child s first language, not only to foster self-esteem, but to assist in the learning of English. All children are provided with equal access to the English curriculum. 12. ROLE OF SUBJECT LEADER: The Subject Leader should be responsible for leading the improvement of standards of teaching and learning in English through monitoring and evaluating: the quality of teaching and learning (eg, lesson observations, performance management) pupil progress (including data analysis) provision of English (balance, breadth and coverage including Intervention and Support programmes) the quality of the learning environment; the deployment and provision of support staff taking the lead in policy development auditing, supporting and developing colleagues in their CPD purchasing and organising resources keeping up to date with recent English developments promoting English and the value of reading, writing and spoken language 13. PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT We aim to involve parents directly in the life of the school, and thus in the development of children s skills, knowledge and understanding in English. Parents are involved in hearing their child read, and are encouraged to discuss books with them. EYFS and KS1 offer Reading Together sessions 8.55am every Thursday morning to promote family reading. Page 8 18/07/2016

9 All year groups invite parents into the classrooms to share the learning of their children during the school year. In addition, each class teacher produces guidance for parents and families about their child s class and learning each term. The English Team have produced a booklet to support and offer guidance for families on all aspects of English (eg, home reading, phonics, spelling, guided reading and writing). Look at Learning offers parents and guardians the opportunity to see how aspects of English and maths are taught in our school. Parent conferences are held twice a year and an in-depth written report is produced at the end of the academic year. All results from phonics screening tests and Year 2 and 6 SATS are shared with parents and published in accordance with government guidelines. All useful documents and policies (including planning) are available on the website. English Co-ordinator: S.Hind April 2016 Taken to Teaching & Learning Committee July 2016 To be reviewed 2019 Page 9 18/07/2016