English Curriculum Overview

" Inspiring us all to create a better world"

Matthew 5: 13-15 " You are the salt of the earth...you are the light of the world."

At Holmer C of E Academy, we believe that literacy and communication are key life skills and that it is our role, through our broad and rich curriculum, to help children develop the skills and knowledge that will enable them to communicate effectively and creatively with the world at large, through spoken and written language. Through a love of reading and writing that is shared across our school, we strive to ensure all children enjoy and appreciate literature and its rich variety.
 
Our philosophy helps to build the foundations for learning at Holmer C of E Academy. We are driven by the shared belief that, in order to achieve success, children need to be taught the skills of spoken conversation, before learning the grammatical elements of the English language, allowing them to become successful writers with a strong sense of achievement. Through carefully chosen shared texts across school, and a strategically planned English curriculum, we ensure our children leave primary school with a solid foundation in the spoken and written word, having had the opportunity to master these essential life skills.
 
As a school, we aim to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping children with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading both across the curriculum and at home. As a school, we aim to ensure that all pupils aspire to achieve and are therefore the writing culture within the school ensures that all teaching: 
 
•    provides children with the exposure to different types of texts;
•    nurtures confident story tellers through imitation who have mastered the art of speaking whilst acquiring a wide and rich vocabulary skills set; a solid understanding of grammar; and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language;
•    demonstrates high quality teacher modelling of both spoken and written language skills;
•    provides children with the opportunity to write their own during invention;
•    allows children to edit, evaluate and publish pieces of writing using the curriculum skills they have been taught.

This Literacy policy outlines in depth how Literacy is taught at Holmer:

By following the Literacy policy throughout the school, we aim to help children to become happy, confident story tellers who can transfer these skills into their writing. The English Curriculum can be broken down into the following areas and the documents are designed to teach you more about your child's journey throughout the school: