English
At Laleham C of E Primary School, we believe that English and communication are key life skills. Through the English curriculum, we will help children develop the skills and knowledge that will enable them to communicate effectively and creatively through spoken and written language and equip them with the skills to become lifelong learners.
English is at the heart of all children's learning. It enables children both to communicate with others effectively for a variety of purposes and to examine their own and others' experiences, feelings and ideas, giving these order and meaning.
We believe that reading is a life skill that every child should be entitled to have. Without the ability to read and decode text, so much is closed off to a child and later as an adult. We want not only to inspire children through books but also to promote a love of reading to empower our children to become lifelong readers. Books should not be seen as a chore but as a gateway to other worlds, the opening of our imaginations.
English is central to children's intellectual, emotional and social development it has an essential role across the curriculum and helps pupils' learning to be coherent and progressive. Our school values can be seen throughout the subject where we use texts to reinforce tolerance, respect, cooperation, responsibility and positivity.
Laleham C of E firmly believes that the teaching of the English curriculum will be inclusive to all children, inspiring them through an outstanding learning experience, which will enable them to make good progress and leave us as responsible, happy citizens with a love of reading.
Find out what our children have to say about writing here
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Find out what our children have to say about reading here
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Writing
At Laleham C of E Primary School, we endeavour to create a love for literacy. We want every child to leave us with the confidence and ability to write with fluency and have an author’s voice, to think about the purpose and impact of their writing, to draw on a wide range of vocabulary and to be confident to use adventurous spoken and written language.
We equip our pupils with the skills needed to plan and organise writing to effectively suit the genre in which they are writing, and ensure that all pupils take pride in their work through care and attention to presentation, spelling, grammar and punctuation. We advocate learning from mistakes and reflecting on how we have progressed, with a focus on re-reading and editing writing. Pupils are encouraged to make improvements in order to produce writing to the best of their ability.
Writing Intent Implementation Impact
Reading and Phonics
At Laleham we value reading as a key life skill. We are dedicated to ensuring that all pupils are equipped with the skills and knowledge to read and comprehend what they have read. We believe the active encouragement of reading for pleasure should be a core part of every child’s educational entitlement, whatever their background or attainment, as extensive reading and exposure to a wide range of texts make a huge contribution to students’ educational achievement and as a result we place reading and books at the centre of the curriculum.
Throughout the school, each classroom has a dedicated book corner and display as well as our school library where children can choose to read a wide range of quality stories, plays, and poetry and information books.
In the Foundation Stage we establish a language-rich environment and model and share reading with the children, demonstrating that it is an active part in the process of constructing meaning. We discuss how texts are structured, how to use book language and learn about the rhythm and expression needed for reading aloud. Our aim is to build on and extend children’s understanding of language so that they develop early reading skills and most importantly a love of books. The love of reading is nurtured throughout the school. In Reception, children are given a reading buddy from year 4 with whom they read a variety of stories together each week.
Across the school, pupils take part in daily individual small group or whole class guided reading sessions. During these they are supported in reading (decoding) and fully understanding the text (comprehension). Our pupils are given time to read text, discuss word meanings and think about the authors' word choices, as well as answering challenging questions and finding evidence from the text. We also have an emphasis on the acquisition of a full range of vocabulary and look for opportunities to introduce pupils to words which can be reinforced across the curriculum.
We love reading at Laleham and we wanted to share some reasons with you as to why reading is so important in a child's life. The poster below shows what we do in school to support and celebrate reading, as well as things you can do at home to help improve reading skills.
Reading Intent Implementation Impact
Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPAG)
Children have always been taught how to use punctuation and how to spell but, with the implementation of the new primary curriculum, children are now expected to learn grammar from year 1 to year 6. In order for your child to reach the required level of knowledge, we teach SPaG through one dedicated lesson per week as well as always having a SPaG focus in each of our English lessons. The weekly homework spellings also link directly to the expectations of your child’s year group.
English Newsletters
Reading Newsletter 2023 - 2024
Reading Newsletter 2022 - 2023
English Year Group Overviews
Reception
Reception Maths and English Overview Autumn 2024
Year 1
Year 1 Maths and English Overview Autumn 2024
Year 2
Year 2 Maths and English Overview Autumn 2024
Year 3
Year 3 Maths and English Overview Autumn 2024
Year 4
Year 4 Maths and English Overview Autumn 2024
Year 5
Year 5 Maths and English Overview Autumn 2024
Year 6
Year 6 Maths and English Overview Autumn 2024
50 Recommended Reads & Checklists
Recommended-Reading-List- (ID 1037)
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Best Reading Books for Early YearsPlease click on the button for more information
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Best Reading Books for Year 1Please click on the button for more information
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Best Reading Books for Year 2Please click on the button for more information
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Best Reading Books for Year 3Please click on the button for more information
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Best Reading Books for Year 4Please click on the button for more information
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Best Reading Books for Year 5Please click on the button for more information
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Best Reading Books for Year 6Please click on the button for more information
Enrichment
Laleham children love to read
Congratulations to all our pupils who completed the Summer Reading Challenge. We have some amazing readers at Laleham school who truly appreciate the benefits of reading. All our pupils received a special certificate awarded by Mrs Alongi.
The book reviews that the children in in Year 5 have written shows just how much our children love to read. The detailed reviews included a synopsis of the plot, character descriptions and event cause and effect statements of some of the events in the book.
Author Visit
In the spring term we were delighted to be visited by the author Clare Luther. Clare Luther is a children's author based in South West London. Clare writes rhyming children's books, aimed at 3-8 years old, for head and heart matters. Her stories instil values and help young children to explore their thoughts and feelings by thinking their emotions.
The workshops were filled with laughter, enjoyment and engagement and the children came away enthused and excited having learnt about how it is good to share your thoughts and feelings.
Here are just some of the responses from the teachers and the children
Teacher
Clare shared her lovely books that she skilfully used to encourage children to think about their emotions and feelings. The session was fully Interactive with lots of audience participation and lots of giggles.
Children
We loved the visit by Clare, she helped teach us to use our imagination to be budding authors of the future.
We learnt that authors don’t write books in one go; they often use rhyming words and build their stories over time.
Clare’s visit will help me to improve my writing skills because I will try to use more expression now and make sure I make a draft and then edit.
Phonics and Early Reading Policy
Laleham C of E is a Reading School