English

English at London Fields Primary School

The English curriculum has been designed so that pupils are taught how to speak and write fluently so that that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Pupils are exposed to a range of engaging and challenging texts and develop a love literature and read for enjoyment- at London Fields we are all avid readers! The curriculum also ensures that all pupils develop all the skills of language which are essential not only in order to access the rest of the curriculum but also to participate fully as a member of society and ultimately impact on their future life chances.

Our English curriculum develops essential characteristics of:

Readers:

• Excellent phonic knowledge and skills.
• Fluency and accuracy in reading across a wide range of contexts throughout the curriculum.
• Knowledge of an extensive and rich vocabulary.
• An excellent comprehension of texts.
• The motivation to read for both study and pleasure.
• Extensive knowledge through having read a rich and varied range of texts

Writers:

• The ability to write fluently and with interesting detail on a number of topics throughout the curriculum.
• A vivid imagination which makes readers engage with and enjoy their writing.
• A highly developed vocabulary and an excellent knowledge of writing techniques to extend detail and description.
• Well organised and structured writing, which includes a variety of sentence structures
• Excellent transcription skills that ensure their writing is well presented and punctuated, spelled correctly and neat.
• A love of writing and an appreciation of its educational, cultural and entertainment values.

Communicators:

• An exceptional talent for listening attentively so as to understand what is being said.
• A rich and varied vocabulary that gives clarity and interest to conversations.
• Clear speech that can be easily understood by a range of audiences.
• An excellent grasp of the rules used in English conversation, such as tense and the grammatical structure of sentences.
• A delight in initiating and joining in conversations
• Respect for others when communicating, even when views differ.

How English is Taught at London Fields

The English curriculum is designed to help pupils form an English schema within their long-term memories.

Schema theory states that all knowledge is organised into units. A schema is, therefore, a conceptual system for understanding knowledge. 

Our English schema is a way of organising English semantic and procedural knowledge in a meaningful way; it is an appreciation of how facts are connected and the ways in which they are connected.  It is distinct from information, which is just isolated facts that have no organisational basis or links.

Big Ideas help form the basis of the schema. Big Ideas are key concepts that underpin the subject. There are three Big Ideas in English:

• Reading
• Writing
• Communicating

Each Big Idea has facets of knowledge (knowledge categories) which help to strength the schema. Learning knowledge in each of the categories allows pupils to express and demonstrate their understanding of the Big Idea.

These Big Ideas are returned to over and over again so the pupils gradually build understanding of them.  They are returned to through a range of lessons including:

• RWI (early reading programme)
• English (post early reading programme)
• Handwriting
• Creative Writing
• Class Reader
• Storytelling
• Home Reading
• Book Club

The Big Idea of Reading

The Early Reading programme teaches the pupils to decode and have speedy recognition of familiar words. Pupils are then further supported to read with increasing automaticity so they can concentrate on the content of what they are reading. At London Fields, we are aware that the journey to adult fluency takes considerable and continuous practice and therefore see reading fluency as progressive and dedicate time to developing reading fluency. Fluent readers can redirect their cognitive resources to comprehending the text. 

At London Fields, the pupils read a wide range of high-quality texts. Pupils are supported to comprehend these texts through the teachers' scaffolding and explanations. To equip pupils to comprehend independently, they are taught strategies to develop the key comprehension skills such as predicting, summarising, asking and answering questions, clarifying words and making links between texts. The teaching of vocabulary is valued and carefully chosen texts ensures the pupils encounter words they would rarely hear or use in everyday speech. Pupils have the opportunity to revisit words over time and apply them in a range of contexts. 

Pupils across the school develop positive reading habits and teaching staff play a crucial role in expanding pupils' choices of books books beyond their favourites. The staff at London Fields are committed to ensuring our pupils choose to read- read a lot. The promote a positive reading culture and strive to ensure all pupils read for pleasure. Staff build the best class libraries in every classroom and they make sure that every book that comes into the classroom is worth reading. The class libraries are like mini bookshops where our pupils can browse. The beautiful, outward facing books do the talking and entice our pupils over. At London Fields we make sure that we get the books right. Books are selected:

• to elicit a response (excitement, interest, curiosity, anger). 
• expose pupils to a strong narrative structure and intriguing illustrations
• to extend children's vocabulary
• that connect with something our pupils know
• to help our pupils establish their place in the world
• to help our pupils find a voice

Story time is sacrosanct at London Fields and our pupils get to hear their teachers read to them every day. 

 The Big Idea of Writing

Writing at London Fields helps develop pupils’ competencies in two key areas- transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing). Carefully planned, regular writing opportunities also allow the pupils to develop their writing stamina, ensuring all pupils can write at length. Every week, the pupils are given the opportunity to write an extended piece for a range of real purposes and audiences and to apply their transcription knowledge. The pupils are given opportunities to develop their ability to think aloud, explore and collect ideas, draft and re-read their writing as it forms.  Pupils are also taught the importance of proof-reading and monitoring their own writing to make sure it is effective. At London Fields, the pupils are taught the relevant knowledge and receive an appropriate level of practice before being expected to produce complex pieces of extended writing. 

The Big Idea of Communicating

Spoken language underpins the development of reading and writing. The quality and variety of language that the pupils hear and speak are vital for developing their vocabulary and grammar and their understanding for reading and writing. Pupils develop their speaking and listening skills by being taught explicit knowledge and having frequent opportunities to develop their spoken language though meaningful talk opportunities such as whole-class debates, partner work, group work, reading aloud for performance or fluency and drama based activities. 

English across the curriculum

Pupils get to rehearse, apply and consolidate their learning in all other areas of the curriculum. Careful planning ensures pupils continue developing all areas of English in other subjects.

Visitors and Workshops

We strongly believe that trips, visitors and workshops are highly valuable for developing a deep understanding of the Big Ideas in English. We are extremely fortunate to be based in London with a wealth of cultural opportunities at our fingers tips. We are constantly looking for new experiences that will enrich the learning of our pupils. Previous enriching experiences have included:

• Story Telling workshop at the British Library
• Story Writing workshops with the Ministries of Stories
• Visits from authors
• Visits and workshops at Hackney Library
• Plus, all trips, visitors and workshops linked to other subject areas help support children’s comprehension of the world around them.

English at Home

There are lots of ways you can help support your child at home with English.  However the most important thing you can do is read to them! By reading aloud to your child from a young age you:

• prime your child for the individual sounds of language
• teach them how to pay attention- how to focus and share a common purpose
• show your child love and undivided attention
• teach them to understand that other people might have different perspectives
• expand their imagination
• broadened their vocabulary
• develop their knowledge of narrative structure

Without any explicit teaching, your child will have learned lots.

You can also support your child at home with English by:

• Talk to them and listen to them when they are talking to you. Try to extend their vocabulary range and their skill at talking in increasingly more complex sentences. For example, try to teach them alternative words for ideas, or nouns they already know.
• Encourage your child to record their writing in a variety of ways. They may wish to keep a diary, write a story or send a postcard. Support their ideas and give plenty of encouragement!
• Make use of your local library. Children love going to the library and having access to such a huge, diverse range of books.