English
Our Vision and Rationale:
At Sutton Veny C of E Primary School, we aim to foster an organic love of language within all pupils; whether that be through authentic immersion in an inspiring book, writing an exciting adventure story, debating passionately with their friends or presenting confidently to a large audience. Creativity is valued above all else and our pupils are encouraged to express who they are, both verbally and in written form. All staff work with passion and commitment to embed the basic skills required, from the earliest possible stages in every child’s learning journey, so that every child’s confidence grows, and their courage to take linguistic risks flourishes as they progress through the English curriculum.
We recognise that a child’s ability to read impacts on their enjoyment of and attainment in every single subject. Authors’ stylistic decisions are explored and, through the carefully selected literature which the children encounter, they learn about the world around them, including a diverse range of people and their cultures; thereby strengthening their own ability to empathise, to appreciate things through the eyes of others, and to be at peace with others who are different to them in some way, by also recognising the commonalities and connections that link human beings.
Our hopes for our Year 6 children:
By the time our children leave Nelson Class in Year 6, our aspirations are that they can read and write with confidence and enjoyment across a wide range of genres and subjects, and that they can write for a wide variety of audiences, adapting and moulding their compositions in response to who they are writing for. They will have high standards for themselves, always ‘reaching for the stars’ and they will take pride in their work and their presentations. The children will also be able to confidently present their English work in a variety of digital forms. Our pupils will have the vocabulary to express their own thoughts fully and articulately. Through their regular exposure to philosophical discussions, our Year 6 pupils will be able to critically think and debate respectfully and with enjoyment and passion, recognising that their own individual views and opinions matter, as an expression of who they truly are. Our children will have learnt how to authentically apply their core set of values and to critically think and challenge in a respectful way. Our vision is that our English curriculum will have developed our children as human beings, as well as effectively equipping them as young global citizens in a fast-changing world.
Our approach and organisation:
Phonics and Spelling:
We have a rigorous approach to phonics acquisition, and this begins as soon as the children begin school. As a school, we continue to achieve results about the national average in statutory phonics assessments at Year 1. The children learn “jingles” to help them remember every new sound (phoneme). Our approach to phonics is sequenced carefully to enable excellent progression. There is also ample opportunity for revisiting key phonemes throughout Key Stage 1 in order to make sure that they are embedded. Where gaps are identified for individual children, fun interventions are put into place swiftly and with rigour. Our “jingles” for spellings remain a valuable prompt for pupils at Key Stage 2. Alongside these, new spelling rules are taught through the No Nonsense Spelling scheme, which ensures children are armed with a range of strategies and techniques for any unknown spellings, and that these are not a barrier when writing.
Phonics Jingles at Sutton Veny.pdf
Reading:
Each child is heard individually by their class teacher. Teaching partners and volunteers also play a valuable role in helping the children to develop their reading confidence. Our children participate in guided reading or whole class reading sessions from Year 1. At Sutton Veny C of E Primary School, we have a levelled reading scheme in place and every child has an individual reading book. The children progress through the scheme until they become “free readers” – they then choose books from their class book corner, or from the library. The children are always encouraged to expose themselves to a range of genres in order to develop their confidence and competence as young readers. A reading record book supports home/school dialogue and parents are also encouraged to hear their children read every night.
As a class, the children read different fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts. During English lessons, as well as our regular story time slots, the children listen to a wealth of literature. This includes the recommended Pie Corbett reading spine books for their age group, which provide the children with a wide variety of meaningful, poignant, diverse and contemporary high quality reading material.
Writing:
Our curriculum has been carefully mapped out so that the children encounter a wide variety of genres, linked to the topics which they are studying across the curriculum and the books that they are reading in their classes. The children are taught through a series of structured English lessons, which may involve whole class teaching, group, guided and independent work, according to the task at hand. There is ample opportunity for the children to immerse themselves in the different genres which they encounter through interactive “talk for writing” activities; the aim of which is for our pupils to become confident in saying what they want to write, before attempting any written task. Above all else, innovation and creativity is valued. The children are, however, also supported in developing a fluent handwriting style from an early stage in their educational journey, as well as a range of spelling strategies and techniques for any unknown words. Children will receive feedback on their writing through conversations with their teacher and will be fully involved in the process of identifying their personal successes, as well as their own areas for development.
Speaking and Listening skills:
All children partake in regular Philosophy for Children (P4C) discussions, using a wide range of curriculum areas and topics as stimuli or starting points. This approach helps the children to develop their confidence to speak out and express themselves respectfully within a group. With the teacher in the role of facilitator, the children learn to take ownership of these discussions and learn how to recognise that everyone has a voice and each individual’s thoughts, opinions and questions matter. This type of discussion encourages the children to ‘think outside the box’ and respond courageously to the unfamiliar. Every single child is also provided with additional opportunities to present to their classes, as well as to larger audiences; for example, through their annual ‘Special Person’ presentations during Friday’s Celebration Assemblies, every child will present to the whole school, as well as to their families.
Enriching opportunities:
The children will partake in exciting enriching opportunities throughout the school year. For example, World Book Day is celebrated in the Spring term and, as a part of this, the children always love to visit the Book Fair which is organised at school. In recent years, pupils have also been lucky enough to participate in question and answer sessions with recognised children’s authors, either in person or virtually.