Welcome to English

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” 

Stephen King 

At St Barnabas and St Paul’s, we believe it is essential that all pupils leave our school being able to communicate their thoughts and feelings effectively. We want our children to become confident, articulate, creative writers and develop a lifelong passion for reading. Because of this, we aim to expose our children to an appropriate range of vocabulary and genres to instill a deep appreciation of English literature. Taking inspiration from the wide variety of texts available, we also want our children to gain a deep understanding of how the English language works and how sentences are constructed, underpinned by a thorough knowledge of English grammar. 

We deliver daily Whole Class Reading lessons across all key stages to ensure that pupils develop their reading skills and become confident readers. In KS1, children use Read, Write, Inc which is linked to their phonics. We have planned the Whole Class Reading provision so that pupils are able to read a range of genres in Fiction, Non-fiction and Poetry. Each class also takes part in a daily SQUIRT (Silent or Quiet Uninterrupted Reading Time) session to expose children to a range of high-quality children’s literature that can help to promote a love of reading.

To support the National Curriculum for English, we follow Pathways to Write, which is a text-based approach for writing sessions. The programme focusses on mastering the English skills and allowing children to embed the skills needed to be not only confident, but creative writers.