English
English makes a major contribution to the education of our children here at Waterloo Primary Academy. It forms the core of the children’s academic journey. We believe that all children are entitled to a broad and balanced English curriculum, which is delivered in a way which recognises the varied needs of all of our children.
We know that higher levels of literacy are linked with a better quality of life and a better incidence of choice in terms of education, career and economic well-being and we want all of our children, regardless of their background, to be able to achieve amazing things. Our English Curriculum allows each individual child to maximise their learning potential; preparing them for the application of English skills across the whole curriculum and life beyond education.
Our English curriculum follows the National Curriculum and provides many purposeful opportunities to develop the children’s love of reading, writing and discussion. In EYFS, English is taught through formal staff-led lessons and Continuous Provision. There are reading areas in all EYFS environments, and writing is a huge focus in many of the Continuous Provision activities.
We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing, enabling them to write clearly and accurately in a range of contexts through the promotion of a love of reading, through stories, rhymes, songs and poetry. We aim to inspire a love of lifelong learning for all our children, including those with SEND and EAL. We want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening, so that they can use discussion, debate and reasoning to communicate and further their learning across the wider curriculum.
At Waterloo Primary Academy, we value reading as a key life skill. We believe reading is key for academic success and we are dedicated to enabling our pupils to become lifelong readers.
We believe that a clear and consistent approach to synthetic phonics, is the route to enabling all children to leave our school being the best readers and writers that they possibly can be. In addition to daily English lessons, early reading is taught through Essential Letters and Sounds. Children have access to a wide and varied range of reading materials and reading books match the phonic ability of each child.
All children throughout school, continue to develop a range of reading and comprehension skills to prepare them for their next stage of learning.
Whole class guided reading takes place from Year 1. Children are exposed to novels, poems, songs and adverts that have been carefully chosen to challenge their thinking, widen their reading repertoire, encourage discussion and promote a love for reading.
We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge-base in English, which follows a clear pathway of progression through the primary curriculum to ensure that they are ready for the challenges of the next step of their education and they have the tools they need to participate fully as members of our community and take their place in the wider world.
Welcome to Waterloo Primary Academy
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