The school is determined that every pupil will love and value their English learning. We will support them to reach their potential, regardless of their background, needs or prior attainment.
At Allenton we follow a mastery approach to whole class shared reading which is guided by our English Overview. We all follow the Reading Expectations which outline our topic areas across school. From Y2 – Y6, teachers complete two short sessions and one long session per week. In Year 1 teachers teach shared reading daily and use role-play and fluency to understand one text.
Each lesson follows the mastery approach and we follow the Allenton Way and use Review, In focus (fluency element), Let’s learn and Journal.
Planning is through each curriculum area and books are sourced from the ELS library service. These are age and topic related. On the English overview teachers have an exploration text which coincides with their topic and there are 6 of these over the year.
Teachers generate their own questions using the text and following the same comprehension template that is used across the school.
Every other week, children complete CFU’s (check for understandings) and these are instead of the comprehension questions and an opportunity for children to share their learning in another way.
At Allenton we follow an authentic writing process as seen in the English Journey map. The process immerses the child in both the curriculum topic they are studying and the text type they will be publishing with a purpose and an authentic audience in mind from the beginning. Often the start of the writing journey will begin with an enrichment event and promoting aspiration and career knowledge. After this discovery phase children develop their writing voice, supported by teacher modelling and text scaffolding seen in the English working wall of the classroom, with initial composition. Each initial composition will be followed by self and/or peer critique overseen and added to by the teacher. Children will then create a final published piece and these will be celebrated through display or used for the purpose designed at the start of the unit. (i.e. sent if it is a letter).
This develops children’s understanding of the writing process and develops the child author’s voice. To support children’s understanding of the mechanics of writing, we have a strong emphasis on vocabulary and developing children’s grammatical knowledge. Children daily will be exposed to age related texts and expectations so that they have a clear model of success to aspire to and teachers support to achieve.