English

The overarching purpose of English at Brooke Priory 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 pleasure.

Aims

• To read easily, fluently and with understanding
• To develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
• To acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
• To write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
• To use discussion and collaboration in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
• Are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate

Talk for Writing

At Brooke Priory our English teaching is based on a framework developed by Pie Corbett called Talk for Writing. It is a powerful teaching method as it is based on the principles of how children learn. It enables children to imitate the language they need for a particular topic orally, before recording and analysing it, and then writing their own version.

The Talk for Writing approach enables children to read and write independently for a variety of audiences and purposes within different subjects. A key feature is that children internalise the language structures needed to write through ‘talking the text’ as well as close reading. The approach moves from dependence towards independence with the teacher using shared and guided teaching to develop the ability in children to write creatively and powerfully. The focus texts that are used to deliver the Talk for Writing approach include a range of fiction, non – fiction and poetry.