At Larmenier & Sacred Heart, our English curriculum is planned and sequenced so that new knowledge builds upon what has been previously learnt. Inspired by high-quality texts, children are taught to speak and write with fluency, so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions effectively. Our children are given the opportunity to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually, through books and a shared love of literature. Exposure to carefully selected texts develops children’s ability to capture the interest and imagination of an audience, when speaking and writing. We want every child to have access to quality experiences of literacy and become confident, happy and enthusiastic readers and writers, equipped with strong language skills for their futures.
Reading
Reading is given high priority across the curriculum and we are passionate that every child becomes a fluent and confident reader. The curriculum is developed to ensure that children develop competence to a high standard in both word reading and comprehension (listening and reading).
We prioritise the teaching of early reading through phonics (word reading), using the ‘Unlocking Letters and Sounds’ scheme.
Reading VIPERS are used to frame the teaching of the comprehension aspect of reading. VIPERS is not a reading scheme but rather a method of ensuring that teachers ask, and children are familiar with, a range of questions. They allow the teacher to track the type of questions asked and the children’s responses to these which allows for targeted questioning and skills development.
Reading VIPERS is an acronym to aid the recall of the 6 reading domains as part of the reading curriculum. They are the key areas children need to know and understand in order to improve their comprehension of texts.
- Vocabulary
- Inference
- Prediction
- Explanation
- Retrieval
- Sequence (KS1) or Summarise (KS2)
The school library plays a vital role in our children’s reading experiences. All children have equal access to a breath of reading material, regardless of the number of books they have at home. The school library is a vibrant environment, at the heart of the school, in which children have the opportunity to experience pleasure in books and engage in ‘book talk’ with their peers.
Children in Years 1 – 6 are challenged to read a selection of high quality books to ensure they experience a wide range of high quality texts throughout their school life.
Writing
The curriculum is developed to ensure that children develop competence to a high standard in both transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating and structuring ideas in speech and writing). In addition, children are taught how to plan, edit and evaluate the composition of their written work.