The overarching aim for English is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.     

 We aim 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.

Words

In life, words are extremely important and powerful. Without words, we would find it incredibly difficult to communicate, our thoughts, feelings, dreams, hopes and fears. They are vehicles of communication and as such the ability to understand, say, read and write them is of paramount importance to enable us all to communicate and enjoy the many riches that the spoken and written word has to offer.

We use words to communicate in many different ways and contexts: we use them to communicate with others by speaking and listening, receive messages in print, for example, in newspapers, magazines, comics and books, labels on tins and food packets; we need to be able to use words effectively to send and receive text messages and by posting and messaging friends on social media, such as Twitter. We are surrounded by words and language and because they are so central to our lives here at Dymchurch, we strive to offer our children the richest opportunities that develop a natural love for words (vocabulary) and how to use them effectively in a range of contexts for different purposes.
 

Writing

At Dymchurch, we believe that language is a powerful tool for learning and social development and are committed to developing children’s spoken and written form. We understand that reading and writing go hand in hand; children need to be capable and fluent readers in order to become capable and fluent writers.

We recognise that writing is a complicated process and therefore, in order for children to succeed, our planning provides a range of scaffolds to support their success. These scaffolds include drama and role play, technology, writing for a range of purposes and audiences, explicit grammar teaching in context, exposure to high quality texts, visual and language models as well as the systematic teaching of spelling and handwriting.

All year groups have regular opportunities to write at length across a range of subjects, topics and genres. In addition to this, we have a ‘Take One Book’ focus at regular points across the academic year. This is designed to encourage the children to focus on and apply as many of the skills they have already been taught during the previous units of work and produce piecves of writing with increasing independence and enthusiasm. These writing initiatives will also provide opportunities for teachers to assess the child's writing on a regular basis, when less support is given. 

Parents can support children’s writing by encouraging them to write for a range of real-life purposes and audiences at home. For example:

• Shopping lists/ to do lists
• Diaries
• Letters
• Story writing
• Captions for photographs