Spoken Language
Spoken language underpins the development of reading and writing. The quality and variety of language that pupils hear and speak are vital for developing their vocabulary and grammar and their understanding for reading and writing. At Holy Trinity, we believe that the four stands of spoken language: speaking, listening, group discussion and drama, form the foundations of all learning in English. Our children are encouraged to develop effective communication skills in readiness for later life.
We achieve this by:
- providing opportunities for all pupils to listen to and participate in stories, poems, rhymes and songs.
- using sentence-stems to scaffold oral responses in class discussions.
- encouraging pupils to explain their understanding of books and other reading, and to prepare their ideas before they write.
- giving our children confidence in themselves as speakers and listeners by showing them that we value and respect their conversations and opinions.
- being aware that as adults, we provide must model standard English in our daily interactions with pupils and with other adults in our school.
- helping them to articulate their ideas and provide purposes and audiences for talk within a range of situations and in different contexts.
- providing opportunities to perform to a larger audience, in assemblies and productions, where children’s efforts and skills are celebrated.
- providing a range of experiences where children can work collaboratively and participate in opportunities to reflect on talk and explore real and imagined situations through role play, hot-seating, drama and discussions.
- developing the children’s ability to listen with attention and understanding in all areas of the curriculum and where necessary, asking and responding to questions appropriately.
- differentiating activities for pupils that speak English as an additional language and using a variety of strategies to support them to develop proficiency in English.