English
Battle and Langton English Curriculum
A solid foundation in English language arts is crucial for a child's overall development. It's the key to effective communication, critical thinking, and a lifelong love of learning. The following English curriculum aims to provide a rich and engaging learning experience for primary school students, fostering their language skills and preparing them for future success.
This curriculum will focus on developing the following essential skills:
Reading: Children will learn to read fluently, comprehend texts of varying complexity, and appreciate literature from diverse cultures.
Writing: Children will develop clear and effective writing skills, including narrative, persuasive, and informative writing.
Speaking and Listening: Children will learn to communicate effectively both orally and in writing, expressing their ideas clearly and confidently.
Vocabulary and Grammar: Children will expand their vocabulary and develop a strong understanding of grammar rules.
Throughout the curriculum, we will emphasize the importance of contextual learning and real-world applications. Children will have opportunities to apply their language skills in authentic situations, such as writing letters, giving presentations, and participating in class discussions.
By the end of this curriculum, students will be confident and competent in their English language skills. They will be well-prepared to meet the challenges of higher education and the demands of the modern world.
Year 1
Year 1 read lots of books throughout the year as they learn the 'Talk through stories' approach. This approach engages children with reading early, teaching them about story structure, character development, prediction and inference all whilst scaffolded by thier teacher's reading. There is also a huge focus on vocabulary and speaking throughout these lessons.
Later in the year they begin to write based upon these books and apply some of the knowledge they have learnt.
Read, Write Inc phonics lessons continue all year, as does letter formation practice in line with the handwriting policy. For more information about Phonics, please go here.
Here are some of the books Year 1 will read
Year 2
Year 2 continue to learn phonics through the Read Write Inc program, but are also enjoying rich English lessons where they will read a wide variety of texts.
They learn discursive writing, pursuasive writing, non-fiction writing and instructional writing alongside the traditional narrative work.
Here are some of the key texts from the year
Year 3
Year 3 begin to study more complex texts and poems; they use them as inspiration to write stories, poems, descriptive pieces, non-chronological reports and explanation texts to name but a few.
By this stage, all children are reading books chosen from our library. Children are tested to check thier level of reading comprehension and fluency, and book levels (or ZPDs) are chosen for them to ensure they are reading books of optimum difficulty. For more information about Accelerated Reader please go here.
Here are some of the texts that Year 3 will study.
Year 4
Year 4 begin to study a diverse range of classic and modern texts, from the Iron Man and Dickens' A Christmas Carol, to modern classics like Sam Wu is not afraid of ghosts.
They develop thier mastery of grammatical forms whilst writing in a variety of genres. Writing instructions for an imaginary event is a well loved lesson in Year 4. By the end of Year 4 children can writed compentently in a variety of styles with a level of support.
Children continue to read using the Accelerated Reader book levels to ensure they are reading books of optimum difficulty.
Year 5
By Year 5, children study texts in more depth. They keep a text approximately a half term and do lots of pieces of writing from them.
A particular favourite is the classic poem The Highwayman which develops the children's sense of metre and metaphor.
By this point we hope that all children will have a love of reading and will be choosing books that interest them within the range of optimal difficulty to read at home.
Children continue to read using the Accelerated Reader book levels to ensure they are reading books of optimum difficulty.
Year 6
Year 6 children study a few texts in great detail, as well as lots of short excerpts of texts in order to prepare for the summer's SATs tests.
They write in many different genres as thier writing improves in tone and becomes more suited to a wider range of audiences.
Children continue to read using the Accelerated Reader book levels to ensure they are reading books of optimum difficulty.
For further information about the curriculum please speak to your child's teacher or make an appointment to see Mr Alexander