English

Vision

English sits at the heart of our curriculum at Overchurch Junior School – it is through language, story and text that children learn to form concepts, connect ideas and express themselves. Through literacy, in all its forms, children learn to both make sense of the world and shape their place within it. Our aim is to promote a life-long love of language and communication by learning literacy skills through the use of quality children’s texts and books that will interest, inspire and excite our pupils. Therefore, in order to ensure we maintain high standards in learning and progress, it is essential that teaching and learning in this subject is consistent.

Implementation

Reading

At Overchurch Junior School we use the Literacy Counts Steps to Read programme for the daily teaching of reading. The primary aim of the Steps to Read programme is to teach reading comprehension skills and strategies explicitly.

Writing

We teach writing throughout the curriculum and expect high standards of SPaG across all subjects rather than just in English books.

Support for writing

Additional short-focussed interventions are provided for pupils who are making slower than expected progress. These sessions are tailored to the needs of the pupils and closely monitored to ensure accelerated progress.

Spelling

Spelling is taught following the National Curriculum framework using the Spelling Shed Scheme. Children are set a weekly list of spellings, matched to their spelling level to learn both at home and at school. For children who need additional support for spelling, intervention is provided through our Rocket Phonics Scheme and additional Spelling Shed word lists.

Handwriting

At Overchurch Junior School we strive for our children to take pride in the presentation of their work. Using the Letter-Join scheme, cursive-joined handwriting is taught in Year 3 and consolidated in Years 4, 5 and 6.

Assessment

Teachers use assessment well to inform future planning and to identify pupils who are making slower than expected progress. Using our school tracking system (Scholar Pack), pupil attainment and progress is recorded and monitored. In addition, attainment is also assessed using the Accelerated Reader ‘Star Reader’ test and spag.com assessments.

Professional Development

At Overchurch Junior School, we are committed to supporting and training our staff. We are determined that our pupils are taught by knowledgeable experts and create opportunities for regular, quality professional development sessions. We work closely with external stakeholders such as Literacy Counts, Rising Stars and The English Hub