English

English concentrates on three key skills that your child needs to get the most out of all their learning at school - speaking and listening, reading and writing. During key stage 2, pupils learn to change the way they speak and write for different situations, purposes and audiences. They read a range of texts and learn to say what they think about what they read. They explore the use of language in literary and non-literary texts and learn how language works.

1. Speaking and Listening

Children are taught to:

• speak to different audiences and use language for effect
• shape what they say with a clear beginning and ending
• listen carefully, picking out the main points of what people say
• ask questions or make comments
• work flexibly in groups
• write scripts or improvise plays
• comment on how successful their performances
• understand how language changes in different situations, and between speech and writing

At the end of Key Stage 2 (age 11), most children are able to:

• listen to discussions and presentations
• talk intelligently about what they have heard
• develop and shape ideas and stories, using language to interest the listener
• use some of the features of formal English

2. Reading

Children are taught to:

• read a broad range of materials
• use their knowledge of words, sentences and texts to understand meaning
• read challenging, lengthy texts on their own
• discuss the meanings of fiction and non-fiction with others

At the end of Key Stage 2 (age 11), most children are able to:

• understand important ideas, events, themes and characters
• give ideas about a text, and support them by referring to it
• use different ways to find information

3. Writing

Children are taught to:

• write in a range of ways to explore feelings, persuade, explain, review and comment
• plan and draft their work, checking it for spelling, punctuation and grammar
• write legibly in joined-up and printed styles

At the end of Key Stage 2 (age 11), most children are able to:

• organise ideas to draw them to the reader's attention
• use words adventurously, and for effect
• write in a lively, thoughtful way in a range of ways
• use punctuation to show where sentences begin and end, and to make meaning clear within the sentence
• spell words accurately, most of the time
• write legibly and fluently in joined-up writing