From an early age, the children at SMSP are immersed in a wide range of activities that foster a love of language and literature and enable them to express themselves articulately and creatively. We aim to develop children who are confident in the use of English in the areas of speaking and listening, reading and writing.
Spoken Language
We place a strong focus on developing children’s spoken language, as this is essential for learning to read, write, use maths and succeed across all subjects.
In Reception and Key Stage 1, children develop their communication skills through singing songs, learning nursery rhymes, storytelling and playing games.
Across the school, children take part in activities such as role play, drama, poetry, presentations and debates. These activities help children to listen carefully, take turns in conversation, respect the views of others and share their own ideas with confidence.
Children also learn subject-specific vocabulary in each topic and are encouraged to use new words from texts in their speaking and writing. Storytelling plays an important role in building children’s confidence and helping them develop the language needed for writing.
At SMSP, all children are supported and encouraged to express themselves clearly, confidently and fluently in a range of situations.
Reading
At SMSP, we believe reading is the key to academic success. Children who enjoy reading and read well gain access to new knowledge, ideas and opportunities, and develop creativity, curiosity and confidence.
Children are taught to read using a combination of phonics and whole-word approaches. In the early years, there is a strong focus on phonics to help children recognise sounds and read words confidently. As children grow, they develop both word-reading skills and reading comprehension through listening to, discussing and reading a wide range of texts.
We promote a love of reading across the school by sharing high-quality stories, poems and non-fiction. Staff regularly read aloud, recommend books and encourage children to explore different authors and genres. Through shared, group and independent reading, children practise important skills such as predicting, retrieving information, summarising and making inferences.
Reading also supports writing. By exploring different texts, children learn how authors use language and techniques to engage readers, and they apply these ideas in their own writing.
Children who need extra support receive targeted interventions, including booster groups and volunteer reading support.
Reading at home is an important part of our reading programme. Children from Reception to Year 6 take books home that match their reading level, and we encourage parents to read regularly with their child and discuss what they have read.
Our school library plays a key role in promoting reading. Children visit regularly to choose books, and additional opportunities include book fairs, visits to the local library and participation in reading challenges.
Phonics
We place a strong emphasis on teaching phonics in the early years because we believe this lays the foundations for successful reading and writing. Developing phonemic awareness, the ability to hear, identify and manipulate different sounds is a crucial skill and enables children to read with increasing fluency and speed.
We have invested in ‘Essential Letters and Sounds’, a DfE validated scheme and teach discrete phonics lessons daily and, for those children who need additional support, we have daily targeted interventions.
We allocate decodable books to support early reading development and these books are closely matched to each child’s current phonic knowledge so that they can practise decoding, whilst building comprehension and fluency, ensuring confidence and experiencing success in their reading. We use books from Oxford University Press including: Word Sparks, Hero Academy, Alien Adventures, Traditional Tales and the Little Blending Books.
Writing
We encourage children to develop a love of writing and equip them with the skills they need to become confident, independent writers. Writing is taught through structured composition, ensuring children understand how to organise and develop their ideas clearly and effectively.
Pupils are provided with engaging, purposeful writing opportunities through immersion in high-quality texts, both as whole-class readers and those closely linked to cross-curricular topics. We recognise that purpose and audience are central to effective writing, and teachers therefore plan sequences of learning that are motivating, explicit and carefully structured, enabling children to communicate their ideas with increasing confidence and clarity.
We place strong emphasis on the development of communication and language skills throughout the school to support writing. This includes a range of approaches such as storytelling, drama, shared reading, modelled writing, shared writing and structured opportunities for oral rehearsal, all of which support pupils in shaping and refining their ideas before writing independently. Vocabulary development is explicitly taught and revisited to strengthen children’s expressive language.
Children are taught the specific skills they need before producing a final written outcome, which is used by teachers to assess their learning. They are also taught to plan, draft, evaluate, revise, edit and publish their work, with clear emphasis on improving and refining writing over time. Where appropriate, children use success criteria to support self and peer assessment. Classroom
Vocabulary Development
Learning vocabulary is key to learning and making progress across the curriculum, since it allows children access to a wider range of words when writing and for them to understand and comprehend texts efficiently. Research has highlighted that vocabulary size at the age of 5 is the most important factor in helping children escape poverty. At SMSP we ensure the teaching of vocabulary is systematic and subject specific and, in order to widen children’s vocabulary at SMSP, we do the following.
- Share and display word of the week;
- Use knowledge organisers;
- Model and orally rehearse the correct use of vocabulary;
- Discuss new vocabulary in shared text;
- Use dictionaries and thesauri;
- Look at patterns in language and make links from known words;
- Develop understanding of shades of meaning;
Opportunities for Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) Development in English
Alongside the academic teaching of the curriculum at SMSP, we always look to provide opportunities for the children to broaden their understanding and links to SMSC in English. These opportunities are sometimes organic and can’t be planned for, but we feel it is important to recognise and acknowledge these opportunities when they arise to enable all children the chance to grow and flourish, underpinned by our School Vision and Values. Please click here to see where we have recognised opportunities to teach and explore SMSC in English.