Literacy

We believe that language is a powerful tool for learning and social development. We are committed to developing pupils’ competence in understanding and expression of spoken and written language.  Our aim is to develop in pupils a positive attitude to learning, language and each other: to develop pupils’ competence as listeners, talkers, readers and writers.

All children experience a daily Literacy Hour and the National Literacy Strategy is used in full to deliver these daily lessons. Following the NLS enables our teachers to follow a clear structure for planning and teaching with common, age related expectations.

In Key Stage 1 pupils learn to speak confidently and listen to others. They begin to read and write independently and with enthusiasm. They use language to explore their own experiences and imaginary worlds and speak clearly whilst thinking about the needs of their listeners.

During Key Stage 2 pupils learn to change the way they speak and write to suit different situations, purposes and audiences. They read a range of texts and respond to different layers of meaning in them. They explore the use of language in literary and non-literary texts and learn how language works. Pupils learn how to speak in a range of contexts, adapting what they say and how they say it to the purpose and the audience. They also learn to respond appropriately to others, thinking about what has been said and the language used.