At Berkswich, we strive for excellence in English achievement throughout the whole school to enable our children to be life-long learners; English skills are essential for progress across the curriculum and in preparing children to be successful future citizens. Teachers are ambitious in their expectations of all children, including SEND and EAL; it is essential that we provide ‘Greater Depth’ learning opportunities for every child across school, so that challenges are embraced with resilience. We aim for our children to take ownership of their writing with the purposeful and powerful choices that they make; share and promote their love of reading with a deep understanding of the authors’ intent; understand the importance of accuracy with their use of grammatical features and, above all, have faith in their ability as a young author. Across all classes, children are provided with opportunities to deepen their knowledge, understanding and use of spoken and written English, within a rich and excitingly challenging curriculum that promotes curiosity and questions, applying and consolidating these skills in a range of contexts.

 As Teachers, We...

• Recognise the effect that a confident, fluent and coherent understanding of English will have on a pupil’s progress, both inside and outside of the school environment.
• Provide all children with purposeful writing opportunities where they can combine, apply and embed their English skills
• Promote high levels of accuracy within writing, insisting on non-negotiables and independent, high quality proof-reading
• Develop a range of strategies for children to use independently so that they may take responsibility for their own learning, leading children to read and write with fluency, understanding and confidence.
• Understand how a strong grounding in English will impact the future learning and development of a pupil in all aspects of their life
• Provide a balanced and broad curriculum which encompasses writing practice, including handwriting, spelling, widening vocabulary, and writing for different styles, purposes, and audiences, as well as focussing on spoken English, reading, grammar and pronunciation.
• Encourage and foster a love of reading
• Develop their ever-growing vocabulary, through an interest in words and their meanings, ensuring that technical vocabulary is also built upon with understanding of grammatical terminology
• Ensure that children experience a range of text/media types and genres, across a range of contexts, to develop a deep understanding of how to write in a variety of styles and be able to apply characteristic features of texts to their own writing
• Provide endless opportunities for children to write for pleasure; to explore and develop their own ideas with purpose and intent
• Ensure that all pupils know how to plan, practise and evaluate their work.
• Ensure that all pupils understand all elements of English, as per the national curriculum.