English
At St Marie's we beieve that English is at the heart of all children's learning. It enables children both to communicate with others effectively for a variety of purposes and to examine their own and others' experiences, feelingas and ideas. English is central to children's intellectual, emotional and social development. It has an essential role across the curriculum and helps pupils' learning to be coherent and progressive.
We recognise the foundations for teaching the English National Curriculum begin in Early Years with the development of a high quality programme planned within Communication, Language and Literacy. As an inclusive school, our curriculum recognises the varied needs of our children and allows every child to maximise their learning potential and achieve English. Our aim is to prepare them for the application of English skills across the whole curriculum and to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding to be come life long learners and excellent communicators.
We endeavour to ensure that we provide pupils with a 'language rich' environment, ensuring that vocabulary is taught across the curriculm and address gaps in pupils knowledge and skills. We believe that reading is a life skill that every child is entitled to have. Without the ability to read and ecode text, so much is closed off to a child and later as an adult. We want not only to inspire children through books, but also to promote a love of reading to empower our children to become life long readers. Reading is at the core of our English curriculum, we immerse pupils in the wonders of quality texts to instil a love for reading, a passion for descovery and a confidence to explore their imagination.
English is a sacred subject
Through the study of English, we enable our pupils to discover the multi-faceted beauty of communication, understanding, and exploration of relationships with themselves, each other, and the mysterious nature of God’s world; to recognise that language plays a fundamental role in the growth of our identity and self-image, leading to human flourishing which transcends limitations and barriers. Exposure to a rich variety of literature and the development of high-level literacy skills gives the tools to participate as a global citizen.