English

English

Our aim at Gomeldon Primary School is to teach children key English skills which allow them to achieve and succeed in all areas of the curriculum. We use the New National Curriculum (2014 ) to ensure excellent coverage of speaking and listening, reading and writing and provide a range of interactive, cross-curricular learning experiences linked to our topic learning.

We encourage our pupils to become confident speakers, attentive listeners and excellent communicators. Creative and exciting drama activities, which inspire children to learn, are used in many subject areas. Speaking and listening is a priority and children have many opportunities to extend their performance skills through superb musical shows and drama productions.

We teach early reading from Reception onwards using the Little Wandle phonics scheme. Little Wandle books are sent home each week so pupils can share their new learning with their families. During English lessons and Guided Reading, the children are taught reading skills that enable them to read independently and to have an excellent comprehension of texts. We aim for our pupils to become confident readers who take great pleasure in reading. Our great library provides a diverse range of excellent books for readers of all abilities. Children are taught library skills from a young age, including how to access information independently using book bands for fiction and the Dewey system for non-fiction texts.

To help our pupils progress as writers, we read and analyse a wide range of excellent authors and genres. We teach key spelling rules and introduce pupils to vocabulary that allows them to write imaginative and creative texts. Our teaching of sentence structure and grammar encourages pupils to become competent and mature writers. Writing skills are applied and developed through all subjects in the curriculum.