English

The English curriculum at Pear Tree will promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. The school will follow the National Curriculum which will ensure all our pupils:

• read easily, fluently and with good understanding
• develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
• appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
• write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
• use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
• are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate

At Pear Tree, we firmly believe that oracy is just as key to future success as reading and writing. Consequently, oracy is seen as a core subject at Pear Tree which forms our English curriculum alongside reading and writing.

Oracy

Oracy is a key pedagogy at Pear Tree and features heavily in our Teaching and Learning practice. We believe that children should have the opportunity to talk in every lesson, sharing their views and understanding what makes good talk.

Each week the children take part in an oracy assembly, designed to give them the knowledge, skills and opportunity to become excellent speakers.

Oracy Knowledge Organisers

Oracy Toolkit

Reading

Reading is fundamental at Pear Tree. High quality texts underpin our curriculum and children are given regular opportunity to read for pleasure across the school week. We expect the children to read at home regularly and ensure that children are heard by an adult in school at least once a week.

We follow the SoundsWrite phonics programme across school to support children who are new in their reading journey.

Reading Knowledge Organisers

Reading Progression

Writing

Children are encouraged to write for a range of purposes across their time at Pear Tree, including fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Most writing units follow a three week cycle - Saturate, Dabble and Publish. In the Saturate phase, children become immersed in the text type and the wider knowledge required to write about a theme. The Dabble phase contains teaching about the mechanics of writing, including sentence construction and grammar. Finally, the Publish phase allows children to apply their knowledge independently and then edit their work to create a final published piece.

All writing themes link to the wider curriculum topics to ensure that children have a good grasp of the knowledge they need to write successfully.

To support children's writing for pleasure, there are opportunities for children to take part in 'Free Write Friday'. This is where children are given a stimulus and are able to write in whatever way they choose.