Intent for English

At Church Hill C of E Junior school, we believe that reading fluency and comprehension is essential for success in later life. We aim to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language in order to express their emotions and ideas in an everyday, real world context and to further their learning. We believe it is imperative to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment and therefore develop avid readers who are able to express preferences and opinions about what they’ve read; in this way we encourage each individual child’s light to shine.

We embed reading across the curriculum, helping children gain the skills necessary to become lifelong learners and understand how to communicate effectively in a wide range of situations for a variety of purposes. Through the use of “Book Talk” by Jane Considine and through the teaching of specific comprehension skills, we equip children with the necessary skills to become lifelong and avid readers.

Using the Book Talk approach, we begin each cycle of work with a class “Book Talk” lesson, using the “reading lenses” to unpick language, discuss characters, share opinions, dig deeper for evidence as well as many other vital skills. We also aim to develop children’s conversational and elaboration skills around a book during these sessions. Over the next lessons, a specific reading comprehension skill is taught, modelled, practised and applied by children through the use of a range of text types, books and extracts.

We aspire to make clear links between reading and writing through the use of the “lenses” with the overlap of the “Fantastic lenses”. This allows children to unpick an author’s intended impact of vocabulary and sentences and to then magpie for their own future writing.

Fundamentally, we intend that through our teaching of English and our well-stocked library, we promote a love of reading and empower children to become lifelong readers and learners.

 

The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

• read easily, fluently and with good understanding.
• develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information.
• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language.
• appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage and that of other cultures.
• write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences.
• use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas.
• are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.

(National Curriculum in England: English Programmes of Study, DfE 2014)

 

Here are some useful websites for Reading:

Read theory:   https://readtheory.org/

Oxford owl:   https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page

Love reading:  https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/

Books for topics:  https://www.booksfortopics.com/

Book trust:  https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/

10 Top Tips for parents to support children to read : https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-top-tips-to-encourage-children-to-read/10-top-tips-to-encourage-children-to-read