English

Intent 

The teaching of English at Marsh Lane Primary is designed to instil in children a love of speaking and listening, reading and writing that will last them a lifetime. The ability to communicate is one of the most fundamental skills that a child can learn. Although communication may appear to be a natural development, if a child is to be able to engage fully with the curriculum, and to achieve the higher levels of written and spoken communication expected in the world today, they have to have these skills carefully nurtured.

Marsh Lane Primary School aims to ensure that all of our children are given the learning opportunities to achieve their full potential in all areas of English. We believe that the development of language skills in our pupils is critical to their future and to their ability to be happy and successful. We are committed to ensuring that pupils learn to enjoy reading, writing and speaking, to appreciate the world of books, and to feel pleasure in writing creatively. Giving pupils the key skills in English enables them to access material in all curriculum areas, and provides a foundation for their learning throughout their school career.

Implementation

To achieve this, we are focussed on making English interesting and exciting, engaging the pupils with the joy and wonder of books and hooking their imagination and creativity. At Marsh Lane we view the teaching of English as a fundamental part of the holistic development of the pupil, fostering positive behaviours and attitudes toward learning, and providing key knowledge and skills, to benefit pupils throughout their education and beyond.

The development of reading in pupils is carefully planned through the teaching of phonics, details of which are provided in our phonics section. This programme is structured in line with the latest research to ensure that each pupil is guided through the process to maximise their progress. The curriculum has been designed to provide pupils with opportunities to write in a wide variety of contexts and with a range of outcomes. Central to all of our work with English is the belief the pupils should enjoy the experience - not only does this maximise the engagement of pupils, but also underlines the fact that reading, writing, speaking and listening should be pleasurable activities, matching our intention that our school should foster a love for English.

Impact

At Marsh Lane Primary School we develop children’s abilities to listen, speak, read and write for a wide range of purposes. Children learn to use language to communicate ideas, views and feelings. This enables children to express themselves creatively and imaginatively both verbally and through the written word. We aim to share with children the joy of reading and to help them to become enthusiastic and critical readers of stories, poetry and drama, as well as non-fiction and media texts. We are proud to have been awarded the Basic Skills Quality Mark, which has been renewed for a number of years.  The revised English National Curriculum is followed. Our pupils leave with highly developed communication skills, skills which they take with them into secondary education and beyond. We measure our success not only though pupils' attainment but also through their engagement with, and enthusiasm for, the many English opportunities we provide them with.

Reading Booklet advice for Parents