Ofsted Quote:
"Pupils' high-level literacy and numeracy skills are evident in a wide range of subjects."
Our English Leader is Mrs Sprackling.
Our English Link Governor is Chris Plant.
English (or Communication, Language and Literacy)
At Harborne Primary School we believe the acquisition of good literacy skills is of utmost importance to all pupils. We believe that a sound understanding and knowledge of literacy, not only enables a child to develop as an individual, but also to access the curriculum as a whole.
We encourage and value the involvement of parents and the wider community in our children’s literacy learning. We communicate regularly with parents and carers and encourage you to support your child’s learning in various ways. We encourage learning beyond the classroom by sending home activities such as reading, spelling and handwriting for you to support your child. We have a system of Literacy Volunteers in place which brings additional adults in to support Literacy across the school.
The school benefits from a rich programme of book-related events over the academic year.
Speaking and listening
We believe that all children should be given the opportunities to develop speaking and listening skills in all areas of the curriculum. All children are encouraged to take an active role in their learning and contribute their own thoughts and ideas.
We aim to draw children’s attention to the intricacies of spoken language and how we use it. We encourage them to develop a love of language through various activities such as word games, spelling games, poetry and rhymes, good quality literature, songs, drama, role play and dictionary work.
Reading
At Harborne Primary School we love reading and we want all of our pupils to love it too. Children begin by learning to read and then read to learn. We understand that children develop at different rates and follow different paths into reading. We cater for individual needs and have a structured but flexible approach. We give children opportunities to develop the full range of reading skills and become mature and enthusiastic readers.
There is a detailed and well structured reading scheme in place based on Oxford Reading Tree and a variety of other materials. We use a whole word/look and say approach with a list of key words. Alongside this children take part in structured phonics lessons to develop their decoding skills.
Central to all our teaching of reading is the importance of reading for meaning with an emphasis on comprehension. Children are encouraged to develop higher order reading skills, such as inference and deduction through discussion with adults and with each other.
Writing
Children are given opportunities to write for a wide range of purposes, not only within specific literacy lessons, but across the curriculum. Children develop their understanding of a range of text types and how to write in a variety of forms. They are encouraged to develop their skills in spelling and handwriting and to redraft and improve their writing.