At Olympic school we love our English lessons and the skills learnt in these lessons, weave throughout the rest of our curriculum. We use different teaching strategies improve speaking and listening, reading and writing. These are taught in accordance with the guidance of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS) and National Curriculum.
Read, Write, Inc
At Olympic Primary School we use the Read, Write, Inc (RWI) programme to get children off to a flying start with their English skills. RWI is a method of learning centred around letter sounds and phonics, which we use to aid children in their reading and writing from EYFS to Year 6.
Link to Ruth Miskin Website – www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents
We promote the love of reading in many ways at Olympic Primary. Quality texts support our English and Topic work. Children are also encouraged to read through using our school library on a weekly basis and reading at least five times a week for homework is an expectation. The Teachers carry out guided reading groups daily and there are whole class reading sessions focusing on key skills. Throughout the year there are activities and event to promote reading and every year we celebrate World Book Day each year and regular book fairs to give the children access to new reading material.
Speaking and Listening
Actively advancing the communication skills of our children is key at Olympic Primary. Speaking and Listening skills are promoted in all lessons through talk partners, questioning and feedback. Teachers also carefully select media and texts and then plan activities for the children to enhance their skills. Communication is also promoted through our Maths curriculum and our topic work, using language for debate and problem solving. Show and Tell is becoming a key part of our school life as a way of encouraging children to talk confidently in front of the class.
Quality texts are chosen to provide an excellent basis for language models and to inspire the children’s own writing in different genres. Writing skills learnt in our English lessons continue to be built upon and practiced through our topic work. We also have an Olympic saying- ‘Great presentation is a cause for celebration!’ and throughout the school all children learn to present their writing neatly by learning to use cursive handwriting. The ’Penpals for Handwriting’ scheme is followed from Year 2 to Year 6 (RWI handwriting scheme is followed in EYFS and Year 1), to ensure children develop well-formed and neat handwriting. Good use of punctuation, grammar and spelling are also encouraged throughout the school in line with this as a key emphasis of the new National Curriculum. A great buzz around writing is also created through our whole school topics like Shakespeare Week and taking part in the BBC2 500 word writing competition.