English

At Tree Tops we understand the positive effect that the successful achievement of speaking, listening, reading and writing skills have on life-long opportunities.

Speaking and listening skills underpin all reading and writing, and we believe that by teaching effective communication whether in this way, or through signing, through art or through drama children gain confidence, independence and a clear understanding of their own learning steps.

We use exciting rich stories, often with a familiar setting, high quality information texts, information technology and continual access to on-line learning to stimulate the children’s enthusiasm and motivation to learn important skills.

Reading

As an Academy we have a clear focus on reading and we encourage the children to read every day at home as well as at school.

Guided reading is carried out through a focused ‘reading workshop’ session on a daily basis to enable children to read and understand many different texts. The children love to read and we encourage them to read as much as possible and share their love of books with others in their own classes and across the school. Vibrant reading corners in classes, bookshelves bursting with real books along corridors and a cosy library area all encourage a passion for books and reading. We make every effort to enthuse the children through our own love of reading, and make time to read to the children each day.

The children are exposed to a wide range of text types including a variety of poetry, non-fiction such as instructions, information texts and recounts. With consistent high expectations of all children, we teach an awareness of the importance of the presentation of work and considering sentence structure, punctuation and grammar.

Writing

We see the ability to write effectively as giving each child a ‘toolkit’ which they can use to apply to different writing situations with confidence.

The pupils will learn about writing in a range of styles and the curriculum encourages writing for lots of different purposes that are real and relevant to them.

Writing in a creative and sophisticated style helps the children learn about playing with words, rhyming patterns and the use of ambitious vocabulary.

Please click here for Top Tips for Reading to Children