"Reading and writing float on a sea of talk" - James Britton
“Books allow us to see through the eyes of others. By transporting us to other worlds, they help us to understand our own.” Chris Riddell
“You can make anything by writing.” C. S. Lewis
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you will go.” Dr. Seuss
At Thomas a Becket (TAB) Junior School, we put the learning of English and therefore literacy at the forefront of our curriculum. We aim to provide a high-quality education in English that enables children to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others, and through their reading and listening, others to them. We value reading as a tool which enables children to both acquire new knowledge and to build on what they already know, as well as the opportunities it affords to foster children’s cultural, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual development.
Overall, we aspire to ensure that children are equipped with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and indeed to develop a love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment, in order that our children grow up to become empowered, active and fully participating members of society.
Children are taught English every day at TAB Junior. In line with the national curriculum for key stage 2, our school’s curriculum is split into two phases: one for years 3 and 4, and one for years 5 and 6. We have developed our English curriculum with the aim of ensuring that during the first year of each phase (i.e. years 3 and 5), children are introduced to and explicitly taught the specific knowledge and skills pertinent to that phase and year group. During the second year of each phase (i.e. years 4 and 6), children are provided with the opportunity to consolidate their understanding of the knowledge and skills already taught and build on these further. As the children's understanding of the intrinsic relationships between spoken language, reading, writing and grammar, punctuation & spelling grows, they develop both their competence in their knowledge of English and their confidence in its application.
Our school’s core values underpin the learning philosophy of teaching and learning in English:
Respect for all
Embrace challenge
Being responsible
Community spirit
Our aim is for children to transition to the next stage of their education as competent and confident speakers and listeners, readers and writers who have developed a love for the English language and its literature. By teaching the knowledge and skills in our curriculum, we endeavour to provide children with the tools required to support their learning of English as they move into key stage 3 and beyond.
By the end of their time at TAB, we aim for the children to have a clear understanding of what makes effective writing and to have developed their knowledge of how to be critical readers. We aim for them to be able to analyse the reasons behind authors’ language choices and the impact these have on the reader/audience. The children's vocabulary knowledge will have developed for them to be able to draw on appropriate language choices when speaking, when writing or when interpreting what they have read.
Websites and other links to extend and further learning at home:
The Literacy Shed - https://www.literacyshed.com/ - A website filled with ideas for literacy learning using visual resources such as film, animation, photographs and picture books.
Interactive English games and activities:
http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/interactive/literacy.html
BBC Schools website for ages 4-11 - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zv48q6f
Short Kid Stories - http://www.shortkidstories.com/ - Hundreds of short stories for children on this site, from timeless classics to modern, original stories.
1001 Stories - http://www.storymuseum.org.uk/1001stories/ - Audio and video recordings of imaginative, inspirational tales from around the world. You can search by theme, origin or age group.
Storyline - http://www.storylineonline.net/ - Popular children's stories read by famous actors, with related activities.
Games to Learn English - http://www.gamestolearnenglish.com - Lots of games to practise grammar and vocabulary.