At St Mark's our aim is for all children to leave us with the right tools and skills ready to start their new phase of learning in secondary school. In addition, we endeavour to instil a love of reading and writing in our children which will stay with them through all phases of their lives. We do this by following the National Curriculum (NC) for English – speaking and listening, reading and writing - through a creative approach which is underpinned by experiences and purpose. 

For skills progression in reading and writing from Y3 – Y6 we follow the National Curriculum. Being a Junior School, we recognise the importance of building on the foundations built through infant school. Therefore, our progression grids include the skills taught in KS1 as well. 

We teach writing skills as specified by the National Curriculum and follow the guidelines for age related content. Our outcomes for writing are purpose-led, linked to themes and are framed by four key principles: to entertain, to inform, to discuss and to persuade, and spelling and grammar skills are threaded through following our own year group-specific programmes of study.

The aims of teaching English, as outlined in the national curriculum are to 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.

Top Tips for Parents...

• Read to your children
• Listen to them read and ask them questions about what they have read
• Let them read for pleasure - comics, magazines, newspapers
• Let them read to younger brothers and sisters
• Enjoy books together
• Play games with spelling words e.g. hangman, word searches
• Handwriting practice using weekly spelling lists