English at St Thomas's

Our English vision is to foster a love of language and literature through the use of quality texts and books; this inspires, excites and engages our children giving them the opportunities to develop their skills so they leave St Thomas’s as skilled communicators.

"English helps children flourish by fostering empathy, understanding different perspectives, and developing their communication skills through engaging with diverse literary characters and exploring various real-world contexts through reading and writing. English lessons at St Thomas's help children flourish by fostering empathy, understanding different perspectives, and developing their communication skills through engaging with diverse literary characters and exploring various real-world contexts through reading and writing."

This year we have adopted Literacy Tree to support our teaching of English. Literacy Tree is made up of:

Writing Roots which are book based planning sequences that provide comprehensive curriculum coverage, engaging children to write with a clear audience and purpose. This forms the backbone of our Teach Through a Text pedagogy.

Spelling Seeds: We teach spelling and vocabulary in context through investigation and application. These sequences complement Writing Roots using the same texts for additional short writing opportunities.

Literary Leaves: Literacy Leaves enhance reading comprehension with sequenced activities that guide children through whole books, creating critical readers. We use novels, poetry collections and high quality non-fiction books connected to Writing Roots through Literary Themes.

Spelling Shed