The Teaching of English at The Pilgrim School

We aim to provide a language rich environment within which all pupils can learn to communicate efficiently and purposefully and with enjoyment through the spoken, written and printed word.  We aim to teach the children to read independently both for practical pros for pleasure as early as possible and to encourage them to become competent communicators in the written word.  They will be made aware of the conventions of written language, grammar, syntax and spelling and be guided into using the style or form most appropriate to their particular need.

There is a literacy hour for each class daily.  This is broadly divided into four segments of approximately:

1. 15 minutes whole class shared reading or writing.
   
2. 15 minutes whole class word and sentence work.
   
3. 20 minutes small group guided reading or writing.
   
4. 10 minutes whole class thinking about what has been learned and what the next steps will be.

During the literacy lesson shown below the children had to make some Coconut Snowballs and then write up how they carried out the task.