English is taught daily to ensure that each child has an excellent grasp of the skills of speaking confidently, listening attentively, reading fluently and writing creatively. Literacy lessons are taught with a specific focus: writing genres, phonics, handwriting practice, reading comprehension and grammar and punctuation. Children are still taught reading one to one and it is considered extremely important at Hopelands that this individual attention is maintained throughout KS1.
At KS2 children have five periods of English a week with specialist teachers. The approach is largely thematic, sometimes taking literature as a starting point and moving out from it to encompass many other aspects of the subject.
In the classroom, pupils work individually, in pairs and in groups (often teacher chosen). Whole class talks, discussions, presentations and debates encourage pupils to become articulate users of language and to listen quietly and sensitively to others. Drama lessons provide further opportunities for using language in different situations.
In KS1 and KS2 pupils are given the opportunity to write in a variety of forms – letters, dairy entries, personal accounts, stories, poems, magazine articles, scripts and reports. Various parts of grammar are covered along with work on spelling and punctuation, especially the setting out of direct speech and the use of the apostrophe. In KS2 drafting is seen as an all-important stage of the writing process and helps pupils to learn to plan their ideas and organise their writing into paragraphs. Rough books are used for this, while final drafts will be completed in class books. Whatever writing is taking place, technical accuracy and neat handwriting are encouraged. In KS1 and KS2 self-assessment is encouraged at the end of a topic which allows for both pupil and teacher comments, the progress made and for targets to be set for the next piece of work.
In KS1, children practise their reading skills daily across the curriculum and at home and literacy homework is set once a week. In KS2 reading is a central activity in many lessons: this may be a class novel, poetry, extracts from newspapers or a play. Children are expected to read every night and homework is set twice weekly. There are two formal assessments every year in reading comprehension and creative writing skills. Pupils from Year 1 to Year 6 are assessed in reading, spelling and reading comprehension. These results are communicated on parents’ evenings and in end of year reports.
