English

At The Willows Primary School we recognise that an important part of all our teaching is to develop pupils’ ability to use language to think, explore, organise and communicate meaning in a range of different situations.

Our English Curriculum aims to

enable pupils to develop basic literacy skills in order to access all other curriculum subjects
enable pupils to acquire the language skills to express themselves correctly and appropriately.
enable pupils to read accurately and with understanding.
enable pupils to understand the relationship between reading and writing.
provide pupils with learning opportunities which integrate reading, writing, speaking and listening
provide real contexts for language learning in English and across the curriculum.
encourage pupils to have an interest in words, their meaning and a growing vocabulary.
develop the thinking skills of pupils to help them on the path to becoming reflective, independent learners.
provide opportunities for pupils to use ICT to facilitate and extend their learning in speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Working together to achieve literate primary pupils who are able to:

Read and write with confidence, fluency and understanding.
Use a full range of reading cues and strategies.
Monitor their reading and correct their mistakes.
Understand the sound and spelling system and use this to read and spell accurately.
Have fluent and legible handwriting.
Have an interest in words and their meanings.
Develop a growing vocabulary.
Understand, use and be able to write a range of non-fiction.
Know, understand and be able to write in a range of styles within fiction and poetry.
Know about the narrative structure - setting, character, plot.
Plan, draft, revise and edit their own writing.
Be interested in books and read for enjoyment.
Develop imagination through reading and writing

Ensuring reading for pleasure

‘Reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s success.’ (OECD 2002)

We value reading for pleasure highly and work hard as a school to grow our Reading for Pleasure pedagogy.

We read to children every day. We choose these books carefully as we want children to experience a wide range of books, including books that reflect the children in our school and our local community as well as books that open windows into other worlds and cultures.
Every classroom has an inviting book corner that encourages a love for reading. We curate these books and talk about them to entice children to read a wide range of books.
In Nursery/Reception, children have access to the reading corner every day in their free flow time and the books are continually refreshed.
Children from Reception onwards have a home reading record. Parents are asked to record comments about their child's reading to share with the adults in school and the adults will write in this on a regular basis to ensure communication about reading between home and school.
As the children progress through the school, they are encouraged to write their own comments and keep a list of the books/authors that they have read.
Each class visits the school library every week.

Why reading and sharing stories matters

It’s the most important thing you can do to help your child succeed. Research shows that involvement in your child’s reading and learning is more important than anything else in helping them to fulfil their potential.
Books contain new words that will help build your child’s language and understanding. Children who are familiar with books and stories are better prepared to make the most of the literacy teaching in school.
Reading together is fun and helps build relationships. Reading with children, or talking about what they have read, is a wonderful way to show that it is an important and valued way to spend free time.
The impact lasts a lifetime. Readers are more confident and have greater job opportunities.
Children learn by example, so if they see you reading, they are likely to want to join in.

The Willows Quality Text Spine

One Million Minutes of Reading

All children at The Willows have been given an extra special reading challenge – to read collectively for a total of 1 MILLION MINUTES every academic year.

This challenge is part of our whole school “Read to Succeed” initiative where we want children to develop their reading skills because being able to read is a vital life skill.

Reading regularly is a really important part of every child’s language development and overall progression in learning.

There is a 1 million minutes reading challenge chart in each class and the children will mark off every hour of reading that they have completed. Weekly totals will be collected and displayed on the whole school reading challenge display in the main building. Please support your child/children to read as much as possible – 10 minutes a day WILL make a REAL difference to them achieving their full potential.

Year 3 English
Year 4 English
Year 5 English
Year 6 English

Common exception words

Year 1 - Common exception words
Year 2 - Common exception words
Year 3-4 - Common exception words
Year 5-6 - Common exception words