English

The study of English at Laleham Lea starts with our youngest Students in Nursery and Reception who begin their learning journey with daily Phonics lessons to teach them how to read, write and spell.

English lessons are cross-curricular in order to enthuse and develop inter-connected lessons that capture Students’ imaginations. Planned opportunities during lessons allow for class discussions and exploration of higher order questions or thoughts which arise from our Students themselves.

Phonics

At Laleham Lea we use the Phonics programme ‘Sounds-Write’ which is a linguistic-based scheme that teaches children to hear the sounds that are used in words, and then the letter(s) that make those sounds.

Pupils from Nursery to Year 2 are taught to recognise letters, understand the sound they make and then blend them together to create words. Some words, which cannot be phonetically sounded out, are taught at each phase. These are ‘tricky words’ and are taught through sight recognition.

From Year 1 Students are encouraged to become confident readers and weekly spelling tests focus on ‘high frequency’ words. The importance of neat handwriting and presentation skills is instilled from an early age and Students learn to write using a pre-cursive script.

Writing

Students at Laleham Lea are involved in several English lessons each week. They enjoy  Comprehension lessons, Grammar and Punctuation lessons, Creative Writing lessons and a weekly spelling test. Students learn to write in a variety of genres and develop their use of inference and deduction in Comprehension.

English is divided into three main topics; Narrative: plays and scripts, Non-fiction and Poetry. Within each main topic several themes and topics are covered: stories with historical settings, stories set in imaginary worlds, information texts, newspapers and reports are just a few of the exciting topics we explore.

As well as Reading and writing, our English curriculum involves the development of children’s speaking and listening skills. This is developed through a range of activities such as, making a clear and convincing argument, asking for / providing clarification / explanation, group discussions, expressing ideas, as well as presenting information to a range of audiences.

Junior Students take part in weekly Drama lessons with our Italia Conti Drama specialist and LAMDA examiner Mr McDowall which also supports the development of spoken language, articulation and confidence building.

Reading

Students at Laleham Lea take part in a range of Reading activities daily. These can vary from oral storytelling, learning and reciting poetry, library sessions, whole class shared reading, guided reading and story time.

We promote an enjoyment for Reading through regular opportunities to read and choosing books from the School Library. Our library is an exciting learning hub that has a class set of Chrome Books and iPads for pupils to access an online reading platform with a range of genres to support cross-curricular learning and develop linguistic knowledge through a range of e-books including bilingual titles.