English

At Clatford Primary School we believe that English underpins and supports children's access to the whole curriculum. The ability to read and write is integral to nurturing safe and happy lifelong learners.

We want our children to be able to harness the power of the spoken and written word and use it to their advantage. Through carefully planned learning opportunities, we teach children to express themselves imaginatively and to communicate effectively. In doing this we hope that children will begin to develop a love of language in all its forms.

We foster a love of reading through engaging whole class shared texts, which spark both discussion and interesting and creative writing opportunities. We then use these writing opportunities to teach the more technical components of spelling, handwriting, punctuation and grammar.

We are an inclusive school; we set high expectations and recognise the importance of accurate and regular assessment. As a Christian school, all that we do is based on our faith and the values we hold. The intent of our English teaching is that we want all children to become fluent readers, good listeners and willing writers but, most importantly, we want our children to have a voice in the world. 

"Reading and writing cannot be separated. Reading is like breathing in; writing is like breathing out." - Pam Allyn

Key features of our English curriculum:

• Aspirational expectations for every child
• Focus on oracy and developing spoken language
• Phonics comes first when teaching early reading
• Reading for pleasure actively promoted across the school
• Whole class reading with engaging texts for each age group
• Carefully planned writing opportunities covering a range of genres
• Clear purpose and audience for writing