Our English Intent:
Through reading, writing and the spoken language, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know; writing and spoken language allow them to communicate confidently and well with a range of audiences. At Manor Leas Infant School, we believe literacy is the bedrock of success in education. We value reading, writing and spoken language as key life skills, and are dedicated to enabling our pupils to become confident and independent lifelong readers and communicators. We believe that all our children can become fluent speakers, readers and writers, regardless of starting point, disabilities, differences or disadvantages.
Our curriculum is developed from the National Curriculum, with knowledge and skills mapped within and across each year group to ensure systematic progression and which are revisited throughout the year. This will enable children to apply previous knowledge to new objectives, so they can know more, remember more and do more.
To support early literacy development, we use a systematic and synthetic phonics programme called Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is an inclusive programme for all children learning to read and spell. We start teaching phonics at the beginning of Reception and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school. As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read. We also model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects and want all children, including Pupil Premium pupils, to expand their vocabulary and cultural capital.
We value reading as a crucial life skill so, by the time children leave us, we aim for them to be reading confidently for meaning and regularly enjoying reading for pleasure. Our readers are equipped with the tools to tackle unfamiliar vocabulary. We encourage our children to see themselves as readers for both pleasure and purpose and all teachers in school are responsible for promoting this. Because we believe teaching every child to read is so important, we have a Phonics and Reading Leader whose aim is to drive the phonics and early reading programme in our school. This person monitors and supports the teaching of phonics and reading so everyone teaches with fidelity to the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme.
We use Talk for Writing as a methodology to develop the children’s writing. This is powerful because it is based on the principles of how individuals learn. It is a fully inclusive method of teaching writing, with progressive movement from imitation to innovation to independent application, that can be adapted to suit the needs of learners of any stage.
Aims
The aim of our English curriculum is to promote the highest standards of language and literacy by equipping children with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature.
We aim for children to be able to: