English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society. A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others, and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them.
The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.
(National Curriculum)
SJOJ Writing genres Years 1-6..pdf
Literacy Year Map 2024-2025.docx
SJOJ Bug Club Progression Chart 24-25..pdf
Reading
Children who read for pleasure gain a richer vocabulary, more knowledge, and critical thinking skills and become independent learners. Children work in focused partners and groups to develop their reading skills and their understanding of texts. We provide children with rich reading experiences within the English lessons and encourage them to appreciate the author’s use of language and writing techniques in order to develop their own writing skills.
Writing
At St John of Jerusalem COE Primary we aim for children to be independent writers. We encourage them to write clearly and with confidence in any given genre. Each class has a termly core teaching text, which provides engaging opportunities to write across different genres. Our children are taught to use punctuation and grammar accurately, to be able to proofread their own work and make amendments and improvements.
Speaking and Listening
Talking is fundamental to learning. Pupils are encouraged to speak clearly, confidently and with expression in order to state their ideas and opinions. Just as important is the need to listen carefully to others and respond in appropriate ways. At St John of Jerusalem COE Primary, pupils are given opportunities in all areas of the curriculum to develop their speaking and listening skills, in paired, group or whole class situations. Therefore, Role play, Small world and Drama activities are intrinsic elements of speaking and listening across the school.
Phonics
At St John of Jerusalem we follow the Bug Club Phonics Programme. Bug Club Phonics is a systematic synthetic phonics scheme that enables teachers and schools to teach phonics in a fast and engaging way so that all children become confident readers by the age of six.