Intent

At St Oswald’s we aim to motivate children and teachers as readers and writers, deepening understanding and refining skills so that children make accelerated progress and standards are raised.

Children will gain confidence and pleasure as a reader and writer. Our practice is grounded in the process of shared writing with a systematic focus on securing the basics of handwriting, phonics, spelling and grammar in relation to what children need to make progress in the text type being taught. It is also founded on the principle that children should read and be read to often, both at school and at home.

Implementation

In order to achieve our intended outcomes for our learners, teachers plan an engaging, fully inclusive and motivating English education. Teachers plan the opportunity for children to immerse themselves in a genre of writing, through explicit examples, reading, skill-work, drafting, editing and writing. Through this, children experience a wide range of genres of texts, linked to their topics or other school events, and are taught grammar within meaningful contexts.

Teachers also plan weekly spellings and handwriting lessons, teaching children spelling rules, misconception words and appropriate formation and joins for their abilities.

All lessons under the subject of English are delivered with enthusiasm, a high level of subject knowledge and to encourage enjoyment. Speaking and listening is built into every subject area, through subject-specific vocabulary and the encouragement for children to discuss and ask questions. Reading is at the heart of our school, encouraging children to challenge themselves, read for a range of subjects and topics and also to read for pleasure. The teaching of writing is built into the whole curriculum, connecting to topics and all subjects. Teachers hold the same English expectations across all areas of teaching.

Pupils will develop an over-arching ability to articulate themselves, read a range of texts and record their learning and ideas in a range of genres. They will learn a high level of Standard English, a fluency in reading, stamina in writing and a wide range of vocabulary. Children will be encourage to challenge themselves, take risks, go back and try again, improve their own work and to be proud in their achievements.

Children will be assessed continually through formative assessment by teaching staff. Incorrect handwriting, spellings and grammar will be identified across all lessons and children will be encouraged to make corrections. Weekly, children are tested on their spellings and teachers will progressively develop the level of spelling rules and misconception words learnt and used.

Impact

At St Oswald’s we believe that our English education will equip our children with skills that will carry them through life. We will develop confident individuals who can talk effectively in order to express themselves and their opinions, read to obtain information and for pleasure and with a level of writing ability that allows them to be successful in further education and their adult lives. Due to teacher’s level of differentiation and personalised learning, all groups of abilities will make good progress. Children will explore the creativity of writing techniques, take risks with their choices and solve problems in both reading and writing. Through applying a consistent expectation of English across the whole curriculum and the whole school, children are encouraged for all of their work to be the best that it can be. As all aspects of English are a primary part of the curriculum, cross curricular writing is excellent and skills taught in English lessons are transferred into other subjects; this shows a consolidation of skills and an in-depth understanding of how and when to use specific grammar, punctuation and spelling objectives. We hope that as children move on in their educational journey their creativity, passion for English and high aspirations continue so that they can continue to grow to be the very best that they can be.

English Assessment

Spelling Requirements Y1 – Y6

Whole School Diversity Reading Spine

Oracy at St. Oswald’s

Reading for Pleasure

Reading is not just a good way to fill the time. It has important and far-reaching benefits which go beyond a love of a good book.

When children and young people enjoy reading, they are more likely to create a habit and read more often which in turn will help to build vital reading skills and bring with it a wider range of benefits (Literacy Trust, 2024).

Researchers in the United States who had looked at the impact of parents reading with their children quoted the following figures in a news release about their findings:

Here’s how many words kids would have heard by the time they were 5 years old:

Never read to, 4,662 words

1–2 times per week 63,570 words

3–5 times per week, 169,520 words

daily, 296,660 words

five books a day, 1,483,300 words.

(Reading Framework, 2023)

Our wonderful Library!

Our school library is available for the children to use at break time and is ran by Miss Allison and our school librarians. 

We have a range of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and graphic novel books.

Each week, classes borrow books from the library to share in their class and to read for pleasure. 

Our Librarians for 2024 are: 

Carys, Lily, Rosabella and Jorja

Our local library is The Word in South Shields