Welcome to Elfrida's English Page

At Elfrida Mrs Rendell leads on English teaching and learning.

Speaking and Listening

A big part of what we do is based on the phrase “If you can’t say it, you can’t write it”.  With this in mind, speaking and listening is at the heart of what we do.  Children are encouraged to question, debate and discuss things with their peers and with the adults in school. 

We focus on the children’s ability to express themselves from the moment they start with us in the Nursery all the way through to the time they leave us in Year 6.

We have our own Speech and Language Therapist who works in school and she supports children, teachers and their parents to overcome barriers to speech and understanding.

Our Nursery teacher is trained in Makaton and is able to help children with few verbal skills to express themselves appropriately.

Talk partners and group discussion are used across the curriculum and drama and role play is highly valued in all year groups.

 

Phonics

Phonics is taught from Nursery to Year 2.  Children in Reception, Years 1 and 2 are all taught phonics from 9.00am-9.30am every day.  The children are streamed into small groups to ensure that they are taught at the correct level for their ability to maximise their progress. 

Children who are older than Year 2 and still need phonics support are welcomed into the right group for their ability as well as receiving more tailored support in their own class.

The school follow the letters and sounds program.

 

Reading

Developing a love of reading is key and children are encouraged to read for pleasure.  Reading is taught daily and children regularly read with adults in school.  Children are encouraged to read at home and complete home reading diaries, responding to the texts they are reading and completing appropriate activities. 

We use Lexia to support children’s development in core reading skills, which is an online package.

All topics are supported by high quality texts, ensuring that children have access to a wide range of books, some of which are beyond the children's reading level and are read to them, as class novels, by the teacher.

Children can read books and answer questions to support their understanding using the online platform: Bug Club.  Children all have individual log ins which are available from their class teacher. This programe follows the coloured book bands to differentiate levels.

 

 

 

Writing

Children are encouraged to write for a range of purposes all the way through the school.  We use Pie Corbetts’ Talk for Writing to support children’s development of specific skills as well as explicit grammar, punctuation and spelling instruction.

Children are taught to write for a range of purposes and audiences, such as writing stories for younger classes, reports for science or letters of persuasion. 

Children are taught to write in the cursive style and presentation of written work is valued.  Children are also taught to present work on the computer.

Emergent writing in the early years is highly regarded and children use a variety of media to explore early mark making.