The English Curriculum

“Teachers should develop children’ spoken language, reading, writing and vocabulary as integral aspects of the teaching of every subject. English is both a subject in its own right and the medium for teaching; for children, understanding the language provides access to the whole curriculum. Fluency in the English language is an essential foundation for success in all subjects.” (Page 8, National Curriculum 2014)  

At Chasetown Community School we believe that English is a fundamental life skill. English has a leading place in education and in society. English develops pupil’s ability to listen, communicate and write for a wide range of purposes. It enables pupils to express their ideas and emotions to others. They learn how language works by looking at patterns and structures and use their knowledge and understanding to become successful writers. We want pupils at Chasetown to discover their potential through developing skills in:

• Oracy
• Reading 
• Spelling
• Writing

We want to inspire our pupils to use English to make rich connections and develop the necessary skills to make them “deep thinkers”, acquiring English skills that can be recalled quickly and applied across the areas of English and then use their knowledge in other areas of the curriculum. 

Staff at Chasetown will encourage a lively and dynamic approach to the teaching of English, within the context of a holistic approach to language and literacy development. Whilst it is an integral part of all curriculum areas, English is timetabled in its own right both in KS2 and KS3. It is supported and underpinned by The National Curriculum (2014).  

In particular, the school recognises the emotional/behavioural and associated learning difficulties of the pupil intake, and therefore addresses the need to develop the capacity to use language as a sensitive means of articulating and communicating experiences. A high percentage of our pupils arriving at Chasetown will have experienced failure developing communication, literacy and writing skills therefore these pupils need the specialist support of staff to help them develop these skills. We will encourage pupils to achieve their highest capabilities in appreciating and responding to literature.   

Our English Policy can be found here