St John
and St
Francis Church School 
English
English at St John and St Francis Church School
English Leads – Mrs Kim Shanahan & Mr Lee Butt
Rationale:
At St John and St Francis Church School, we are striving to equip all children with the tools required to read and write at a level that allows success across all areas of the curriculum and life. Through the acquisition of these skills, we hope to instil a love of reading and writing that is formed in the earliest stages of our early years provision, nurtured and developed through KS1 and 2 and then continues to flourish as the children transition into KS3 and beyond.
Following a progressive curriculum in both reading and writing, children are targeted to meet the age-related expectations for their year group.
Our English policy details further information about how we teach English at St John and St Francis.
Subject organisation:
English is taught on a daily basis, with all areas of the English curriculum being addressed throughout the day. Teachers plan opportunities for children to read and write each day, including writing across the curriculum.
English learning occurs daily within:
- Phonics lessons (EYFS and KS1 and Year 3)
- Spelling lessons (KS2)
- Daily English writing lesson incorporating our SPAG progression of skills and genre coverage (See English Policy)
- Daily teaching of reading lessons (KS2) and guided reading (KS1)
- Daily whole class shared reading
How we teach English:
Our English curriculum is based on the National Curriculum objectives and follows a sequential and progressive structure which allows children to secure a fundamental understanding of the English language (in both written and word form).
Our writing curriculum follows our own personalised progression document which details the expected grammar and punctuation knowledge and skills our children will be able to apply by the end of each unit of writing. By following a systematic genre coverage, we are able to expose children to a range of writing styles each year. Every unit of writing is supported by a specific SPaG toolkit to help children identify the elements of grammar and punctuation that they have used.
We teach writing by following the following cycle of teaching:
Spelling:
At St John and St Francis Church School we use ‘Spelling Shed’ for the Teaching and Learning of Spelling across Key Stage 2 (Y3, Y4, Y5 and Y6) and in Year 2 when pupils have secured their Stage 6 Phonics Teaching and Learning.
You and your child will also be able to access what Spelling Shed has to offer at home too. Logon details to follow.
Click on this link to explore Spelling Shed and what it has to offer both at school and at home.
The teaching of spelling at St John and St Francis, using Spelling Shed as its core, follows teaching:
Parental Guides:
The documents below will provide assistance with the language used in school which your child is familiar with