English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society. A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them.

It places importance on all the skills of language, which are essential to participating fully as a member of society.

We:

1. Promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word.
2. Develop children’s love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.

Through teaching the National Curriculum for English, we ensure that all pupils:

• Read easily, fluently and with good understanding
• Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
• Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
• Appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
• Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
• Use discussion 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.

Reading at Tockholes

The National Curriculum focus on two dimensions for reading:

• word reading
• comprehension (both listening and reading).

Teaching at Tockholes focuses on developing pupils’ competence in both dimensions. Skilled word reading involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Underpinning both is the understanding that the letters on the page represent the sounds in spoken words. This is why phonics is effective in the teaching of early reading.

Good comprehension draws from linguistic knowledge (in particular of vocabulary and grammar) and on knowledge of the world. Comprehension skills develop through pupils’ experience of high-quality discussion, as well as from reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non-fiction. All pupils are encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, We seek to establish an appreciation and love of reading as we know that reading widely increases pupils’ vocabulary because they encounter words they would rarely hear or use in everyday speech. Reading also feeds pupils’ imagination and opens up a treasure-house of wonder and joy for curious young minds.

At Tockholes we use a variety of texts to engage children in reading. The children read a variety of 'real' reading books, Dandelion Readers, Big Cat Phonics, Ribgy Star and Oxford Reading Tree books.