English Overviews

English at St Anne's

At St Anne’s Catholic Primary School we promote high standards of language and literacy and provide children with a wealth and variety of reading, writing, speaking and listening opportunities that develop, secure and embed key English skills for lifelong learning. We also place great emphasis on building solid vocabulary foundations, as we believe that developing a love of language is vital in achieving success at school and in later life.

‘High thoughts must have a high language.’ Aristophanes

As a school, we aim to ensure that all pupils:

• read 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 a 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 to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding of ideas
   

National Curriculum Aims

“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. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know.”  (National Curriculum in England: English Programmes of Study, 2014)