At St Joseph’s we aim for excellence in English achievement throughout the school.

We believe that a high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others, and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Through reading in particular, pupils will have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. We also believe that reading enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know.

We promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping all of our pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and we develop a love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. By the end of Year 6, we 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

English lessons at St. Joseph’s are organised as follows:

Early Years Foundation Stage

• Daily discrete phonics lessons using the Read Write Inc. programme
• Opportunities to develop a love of reading
• Opportunities to develop word level and comprehension skills
• Opportunities to develop their communication, language and literacy skills on a daily basis in both adult-led and child-initiated activities
• Encouraging opportunities to write and mark-make through use of role-play areas, outdoor learning and child-initiated activities
• Early letter formation is taught through Read Write Inc.

Key Stages 1 and 2

• Daily phonics/early writing lessons continue (using the Read Write Inc. programme) until children achieve the required standard
• Years 2–6 are taught writing lessons daily; these sessions are planned and mapped using Ready Steady Write, to ensure full coverage of the English curriculum (please see Curriculum Overview documents)
• Years 2–6 are taught reading lessons daily, following the Ready Steady Read Together programme for reading fluency and comprehension; this programme also has a focus on promoting and developing reading enjoyment and engagement
• Teachers read aloud to the children, across a range of text types, every single day 
• Spelling is taught discretely three times a week in Years 2–6, following the Ready Steady Spell programme
• Literacy skills are taught, practised and developed across the curriculum
• Provision is made for children who require extra support through adaptations in class teaching; targeted teaching groups in English lessons and through intervention groups
• Children are taught basic letter formation through the Read Write Inc. programme in Reception and the Autumn/Spring terms of Year 1
• Continuous cursive handwriting is taught from the Summer term of Year 1 onwards. We use the Handwriting Rescue Scheme, initially to teach continuous cursive handwriting (in Years 1 and 2) and subsequently to practise and refresh skills where necessary
• All children work their way up our Handwriting/Presentation Success Ladder during their time in school. This awards their progress with licenses for using pen and then red pen for underlining. The ladder refers to confident use of continuous cursive handwriting and also to careful use of the DUMTUMS system (Date, Underline, Miss a line, Title, Underline, Miss a line, Start) for presentation in books

Handwriting and Presentation Goals: These are the books of St. Joseph's children who are members of the Red Pen Club!