Literacy Provision
Purpose of Study
English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society. 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, 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. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society; pupils, therefore, who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are effectively disenfranchised.
Aims
The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:
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read easily, fluently and with good understanding
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develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
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acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
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appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
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write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
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use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
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are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.
At Barton St Lawrence we provide the children with a challenging and engaging curriculum based on the Lancashire planning for Literacy. We select texts which are interesting to the children and cover a wide range of genres, authors and text types. The children in each year group are guided to pick through the text in detail discussing text type and features such as language choices, grammatical concepts, interesting vocabulary, etc. The children then use this knowledge and understanding as a starting point to create their own pieces of writing in a topic based theme. Extended writing opportunities are offered throughout the curriculum to allow the children to apply their skills in a variety of contexts, giving them the confidence to write for pleasure and with purpose.
Guided Reading sessions occur daily in a mix of whole class and small guided groups where children focus on their reading and comprehension skills. Children engage in group discussions about texts and challenge one another in both similar and mixed ability groups. The texts covered in guided reading sessions are often linked to the text type being covered in Literacy lessons to allow for further exploration of the genre.
In the files section below you will find our progression grids showing how skills and understanding are built upon as children move through school. The statements in the documents are taken from the Lancashire planning documents and cover the National Curriculum and EYFS Statutory framework programmes of study.
