A member of Dales Academies Trust 
Intent
At St Francis of Assisi Church of England Primary School, we seek to promote the development of language through study of the four areas of learning: speaking, listening, reading and writing. We recognise that English is the foundation to all learning and is crucial to communication in life – all children in our school are given rich, varied and creative learning opportunities to speak, listen, read and write and to apply these skills across our curriculum.
Whilst our pupils are with us at St Francis of Assisi Church of England Primary School, we help them to develop their skills in many ways:
- to be able to communicate verbally both effectively and considerately, being able to impart knowledge as well as describe, discuss, evaluate and ask questions;
- to understand the importance of quality, respectful listening, making sense of what they have heard and responding appropriately;
- to learn to read words using a systematic and synthetic approach to the teaching of phonics, which begins right at the start of the pupils’ education and, once pupils are fluent and confident readers, to develop their reading skills in order to comprehend at a deeper level;
- to foster a love for reading, choosing books with enthusiasm and an appreciation of our varied literary heritage, using their reading skills to enhance their learning in other areas, and reading often and widely;
- to become resilient and keen writers who see the written word as a crucial form of communication, by ensuring our writing lessons are purposeful and that our pupils can adapt their style to suit a range of purposes and audiences and can write with accuracy and pride;
We aim to cultivate confident and motivated pupils who are passionate about their learning in English and who recognise the importance of communication in its many forms, both in school and in the ‘real world’. We aim to provide them with the skills to aspire to greater heights and to continue to flourish beyond primary school. As a church school, our Christian and British values are always at the heart of what we do: these values are embedded within our English curriculum – from the texts we choose to share with our pupils to the writing opportunities we give them and the discussion these both create.
It is our intention to ensure our staff are highly effective practitioners who share their love of reading with their pupils and who are experts in what they do. They are able to assess pupils’ attainment and progress accurately, understanding how to move the learning forwards for individual pupils but providing timely interventions where pupils have fallen behind. According to the National Curriculum, “A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to write and speak 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. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society.”
Please click here for a copy of our May Reading Newsletter and here for a copy of our January Reading Newsletter.
Here is a copy of information regarding the Teaching of Phonics in school and our school Phonics Strategy.
Implementation
Please click for a copy of our whole school English long term overview.
Further details about the implementation or English can be found by contacting Mrs Davies (our English Lead) or by reading the Writing Policy and Reading Policy.
