English in the Lower School Department

At Newfield School, it is our intention to provide pupils’ with a high-quality education in English that will develop pupils' ability to speak, read and write with great fluency. We strive to ensure that all our pupils master the mechanics of both reading and writing and develop a love and a true interest for English so that they can communicate their thoughts, ideas and emotions effectively. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where pupils take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We want to inspire pupils to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and who can use discussion to communicate and further their learning.

Reading

We are very lucky to have a wide range of reading books in our school and each classroom has a selection of books in their classroom. Every morning, we spend time enjoying reading for pleasure in our classrooms during a dedicated reading for pleasure time. When we read for pleasure, pupils are able to choose the books they wish to read and enjoy or read the 'First News' newspapers to read about the world around them. Pupils who are not yet ‘free readers,’ will work through our lower school reading scheme (Project X) – these are levelled books which match the pupils’ current reading age. Project X is a modern, lower school reading programme that combines phonics and comprehension development in a character adventure series that's perfect for engaging boys. Every Monday, the pupils’ are taught to develop an understanding of the texts through reading comprehension - exploring the key themes, events, and plot of the texts being studied. 

Writing

With regards to writing, we intend for pupils’ to be able to plan, revise and evaluate their writing. To be able to do this effectively, pupils’ will understand and apply the fundamental principles of spelling, grammar and punctuation in their writing. They will also develop an awareness of the audience, purpose and context and will evaluate, improve and redraft their writing. We also intend for pupils’ to leave lower school being responsible, competent, confident and creative writers using fluent and legible handwriting.