English

'Leaders promote a love of reading across the school. Teachers read books that capture pupils’ interest and imagination.' (Ofsted Report, 2019)

  • Mr John Duckett

    English Subject Leader

  • Mrs Rachel Sizer

    Early Reading and Phonics Lead

  • Mrs Claire Howarth-Platt

    English Link Governor

At Newchurch we empower every Newchurch robin to be creative in the way that they speak, write and think through an English curriculum that is ambitious, vocabulary-rich and reflects equality and diversity.

By the time our Newchurch robins fly the nest, we intend for them to be confident, fluent readers who take with them a life-long passion for reading. We believe that reading gives our children opportunities to explore new worlds, spark their imagination, discover diverse characters and cultures and feed them with knowledge.  A vocabulary rich experience supports our children in communicating their ideas and emotions within a range of contexts.

Children in Reception and Year One, use the Little Wandle Revised Letters and Sounds to deliver daily phonics to the children.  Reading practice books match the different phonic phases and books which the children take home include:

  •          A phonically decodable book which matches the phonic phase the children are currently working at.  Reading schemes include: Little Wandle Revised Letters and Sounds books, Big Cat Revised, Big Cat books, Bug Club and Rising Stars.  Each of the schemes have been carefully matched to the Little Wandle sequence of teaching.
  •          A ‘love to share’ book which is a picture book the children can share with a sibling, parent or grandparent and is aimed at developing a pleasure for reading.
  •          An online subscription for Little Wandle e-books which will allow the children to practise their reading from in class at home.

The creative development of the written word is paramount to the teaching of English: enabling the children to share their thoughts, feelings, knowledge and imagination in a way that is purposeful and reaches a wide range of audiences. A quality, diverse and stimulating reading curriculum feeds the children’s vocabulary and language structures and supports our Newchurch robins in crafting coherent pieces of writing.

Using Pathways to Write as a starting point to delivering a mastery curriculum, we have adapted the texts to suit the interests and needs of our children and ensure the engagement of all pupils.

Pathways to Poetry forms the core spine for our poetry curriculum and children are expected to learn to recite poetry each half term off by heart and perform in front of an audience.

We aim for a strong focus on thoughtful presentation and legible, beautifully formed handwriting.

 

The day Stephen Mulhern came to Newchurch
Local poet, Sean Perkins, visits Newchurch for a poetry workshop linked to Earth Day.
Phonics and Spelling
Fronted Adverbials
A useful glossary for parents and pupils of the grammar and punctuation terms that children will encounter in both KS1 and KS2. There is a pack for each year group, that includes what will have been taught in previous year groups. There is also an extra Year 6 SATs revision guide.
Conjunctions
Editing Mats