English
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'Learning Together for Life'
We aim to develop pupils’ abilities within an integrated programme of Speaking & Listening, Reading and Writing. Pupils will be given opportunities to interrelate the requirements of English within a broad and balanced curriculum: with opportunities to consolidate and reinforce taught Literacy skills. We aim to equip pupils with knowledge and skills and the ability to apply these to meet the needs of present and future society.
At Hartford Manor we aim to encourage pupils to:
Speak fluently and listen with attention and understanding
Read and write with confidence, fluency and understanding
Be able to use a full range of reading cues (phonic, graphic, syntactic, contextual) to monitor their reading and correct their own mistakes
Have interest in words and their meanings; developing a growing vocabulary in spoken and written forms
Understand a range of text types and genres – be able to write in a variety of styles and forms appropriate to the situation
Have fluent and legible handwriting
Plan, draft, revise and edit their own writing
Be interested in books. Read with enjoyment and evaluate and justify their preferences
Develop their powers of imagination, inventiveness and critical awareness
Talk for Writing
At Hartford Manor we teach children to write through Talk for Writing. This is a teaching approach that has gained popularity in primary schools in recent years. It involves breaking down the writing process into three stages: imitation, innovation, and invention. During the imitation stage, children learn to orally retell a model text through various activities such as drama, story mapping, and actions. In the innovation stage, they then adapt and change the model text to create their own versions, practicing the use of language features and grammar. Finally, during the invention stage, children use the skills they have learned to independently create their own pieces of writing. Talk for Writing has been found to be highly effective in improving children's writing skills, as it provides a structured and engaging approach that focuses on developing both oral and written language skills.
Phonics at Hartford Manor
We use the Floppy’s Phonics Sounds and Letters programme to deliver teaching of systematic, synthetic phonics.
Lessons are taught daily in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and 2. For some children they will have more than one session a day.
Children are assessed every 4-6 weeks to ensure they ‘keep up’ and don’t have to ‘catch up’. Where they are at the risk of falling behind, they are given additional support such as daily flashcard practice, pre-teach sessions or a re-teach. The impact of this intervention is measured at the subsequent assessment point.
Parents are invited to attend a Reading Meeting at the beginning of the academic year to ensure they understand how to support their child. They also have access to the online teaching platform used in school so that they can re-practice any previously taught sounds.
Children take home their activity sheets to share with parents so that they get another opportunity to practice and parents are fully involved with their child’s learning.
