English

At Frogmore Infants, English is seen both a subject in its own right and the medium for teaching and we recognise that fluency in English language is an essential foundation for success in all subjects. The documents below, detail our approach to the teaching of English to ensure children make rapid progress in key skills as well as developing a love for reading and writing. We plan our English Curriculum so that children are exposed to quality literature which inspires, motivates and develops each child as a reader and a writer.

Reading is a crucial part of the entire curriculum (not just during English sessions). High quality texts are chosen during English sessions as inspiration for writing, during guided reading sessions to focus on developing age appropriate reading skills and to develop a culture of ‘reading for pleasure’.

Phonics is taught daily in EYFS and Key Stage One using the Read Write Inc scheme. Opportunities are provided throughout the curriculum for application of these phonic skills. We ensure that children practice and read aloud accurately from books that are consistent with their developing phonic knowledge and that do not require them to use other strategies to work out words. This is why we have invested in ‘decodable’ books from the Read Write Inc scheme.

Children are encouraged to think and create both shorter and extended pieces as writers. The curriculum is planned to enable children to write for a range of purposes, with formal teaching of writing skills as well as creative writing opportunities. The children are taught to plan, draft, structure and edit and improve their work. Children are taught to present their work in a legible, fluent, joined style of handwriting using the Charles Cripps scheme.

Spelling is taught using key words, phonic rules and patterns and the “Look, Cover, Write, Check” method. Spellings are often taught discretely however subject specific vocabulary and spelling will be taught as appropriate. Grammar and punctuation are taught through genre specific units of work, embedded within the unit of work. At times discrete teaching of these skills will be needed but children will always be given the opportunity of application within context.

Whole school policies and guidelines