English at Grangehurst
English is at the heart of our curriculum at Grangehurst. Through the teaching of high-quality texts through the Literacy Tree approach, our children learn to both express themselves and better understand the world around them.
Writing
We read high-quality texts to inspire and engage children in the writing process. These texts are from a variety of different genres and are diverse in their viewpoints and authorship, providing a model for our children to aspire to.
Children at Grangehurst learn how to become confident and articulate writers across a range of text types through a carefully-sequenced learning journey where they are given numerous opportunities to:
- see and hear the writing process modelled by their teacher (“modelled and shared writing”)
- gather and learn new vocabulary
- practise and build up a bank of literary phrases for effect
- discuss their ideas before starting to write
- edit their own work both independently and in response to teacher feedback
Key to our children’s enthusiasm for writing is that teachers always make writing opportunities purposeful, with real audiences and reasons why the children need to express themselves.
Grammar and Punctuation
Wherever possible, grammar and punctuation is explored and taught within a real context: this may be done through a quality text that the children are reading, or it could be in the shared writing which all adults model as part of the teaching process.