English

Our English Intent at Eastway is for all children to:

  • Fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum
  • Lay the foundations needed for successful early reading and writing through the robust delivery of our Phonics Scheme (Read Write Inc)
  • Cultivate a love for reading and writing
  • Develop a deep knowledge of grammatical skills that are essential to their future success in literacy including: text, sentence, word and punctuation skills
  • To close any gaps children may have in their reading and writing knowledge through quality teaching and targetted intervention so that no child is disadvantaged
  • Bring learning to life as children have real-life experiences and have a clear purpose for writing- we use a quality text led approach in which pupils are immersed in an age appropriate book and where they move through to analysing text and language features. Pupils finally plan and write their own text
  • Develop independent learners who are confident in their ability to read and write.

English Implementation at Eastway

To achieve these aims, we have carefully mapped out exactly what children learn in each year group.  Following the disruption to your child's education due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have a recovery curriculum in place.  The aim of this is to catch your child up as quickly as we can by identifying gaps in their knowledge and revisit previous terms and years learning through our approach to English. We also use a daily ‘Sentence Accuracy’ session to focus on these gaps.

 

Please see a summary of your child’s year group curriculum below:

Impact

To check your child has learned what we have intended them to, we complete independent writing pieces every 3-4 weeks. The purpose of this is for your child to apply the skills they have learnt and to see how much your child has understood through a unit of work. Teachers’ then adapt their lessons to meet your child’s needs.

 

To get a picture of what your child is retaining over time, we a daily sentence accuracy activity at the beginning of each lesson and look at the work they have completed in their books.

 

Every term, teachers review pupils writing and check pupils have remembered the key knowledge that has been taught in class and pupils are applying this in their writing. Also, from the end of Y1, children sit a reading and spelling test each term so that we can see what they have remembered when working completely independently. Anything pupils may not have grasped teacher will prioritise and give them time to consolidate it fully.  Teachers use all of this information to assess whether your child is meeting the standard expected each term.  Miss Dalby, our English lead, reviews all the assessments along with Mrs Morris and Miss Coverdale who meet with teachers to come up with plans to help children who may have fallen behind.

 

We will let you know how your child is getting on in reading and writing each term in their parent/carer meetings and reports.   We will also give you opportunities to see their work in their books throughout the year.  If you would like any further information, please contact your child's class teacher or contact the school office.