English 

At Christ Church School we believe that a quality English Curriculum should encourage all children to become passionate about reading and writing.

It is our intention to create a positive reading and writing culture by immersing pupils in quality texts to instil a love of reading, a passion for discovery and confidence in all pupils. We intend to reach these aims through a curriculum with clear progression and depth to support all learners.

Speaking & Listening

Spoken language is important to the development of our pupils across the whole curriculum. It underpins the development of reading and writing. The quality and variety of language that pupils hear and speak is vital in developing their vocabulary, grammar and understanding for reading and writing. At Christ Church we ensure pupils continually develop confidence and competence in spoken language and listening skills, not only in English but across the whole school curriculum. Children are supported to develop their ability to discuss their ideas and opinions with others. They learn to explain their understanding of books and other reading and to use the conventions for discussion and debate to develop their understanding across the curriculum.

Reading

We prioritise developing early reading and comprehension skills to enable every child to reach their full potential. We provide a robust synthetic phonics programme using the Read Write Inc phonics scheme to ensure progression and regular assessment and intervention throughout Early Years and Key Stage 1. When children leave at the end of Year 6 we expect all children to be avid readers. Children who read widely and fluently are able to express their opinions and preferences about a variety of texts. Throughout their time at Christ Church we aim to provide children with access to a wide and varied range of text types, genres and authors.

Comprehension skills are developed during weekly discussions with the teacher and pupils in shared, guided or individual reading sessions. These activities allow the children opportunities to respond to texts they have read themselves or texts, at a higher level, that they have listened to. All pupils are encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live.  

Writing

Children are encouraged to begin writing and mark-making as soon as their learning journey begins at Christ Church, with writing opportunities provided in all areas of provision in EYFS. All year groups learn the rules of spelling and the conventions of grammar through a structured and progressive programme of lessons.  Children are encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their work, and are supported to develop fluent, legible cursive handwriting. Pupils are taught that effective composition involves forming, articulating and communicating ideas, then organising them coherently for a reader. They are encouraged to be aware of their audience and context, writing for a real purpose wherever possible.

We nurture writing skills so children can take pride in their writing and clearly and accurately write for a range of purposes. We want pupils to acquire a wide vocabulary, a solid understanding of grammar and be able to spell new words by effectively applying the spelling patterns and rules that they learn throughout their time at Christ Church.