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STUDYING THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM

National Curriculum programmes of study ensure that our students are assessed in three main areas:

ATTAINMENT TARGET 1 - SPEAKING AND LISTENING

ATTAINMENT TARGET 2 - READING

ATTAINMENT TARGET 3 - WRITING (INCLUDING
SPELLING AND PRESENTATION SKILLS)

AT1 - SPEAKING AND LISTENING

In lessons, students will often be asked to discuss ideas and work together as a group.

Activities that involve both speaking and listening are essential for the kind of assessments the National Curriculum requires us to make. Students might be asked to give a talk to their class; report back to the class on a discussion; take part in a debate, interview a visitor etc. Your child's teacher will assess him/her on how well they perform in a range of situations. In addition to the teacher's record our students will be encouraged to keep their own assessment record recording their own experiences and successes.
AT2 - READING

We would like to improve the reading standard of EVERY student. We believe that our students need to develop the skills of effective reading. At least once a fortnight, hopefully once a week, students will visit our community library. We expect all students to be members of the library while they are with us, so that they can choose and read books from the wide selection available.

We aim to develop skills in selecting reading materials for different purposes, including research. We encourage an enjoyment of reading and we feel that all students should be given the opportunity to study a wide range of reading materials. Our students are expected to keep a brief record of all the books they have read.

One of the English homeworks, that are set each week, will be private reading which we ask you to monitor.

AT 3 WRITING
We would like to improve every student's writing skills. We want our students to be fluent writers who can express their ideas competently and accurately. We believe that students need to learn the skills of drafting and planning their writing so that they are able to present their thoughts in a logical and coherent way.

We have a full set of dictionaries in each English classroom. We also have copies of "Choose Your Own Words", "The Word Finder" and "Roget's Thesaurus". These reference materials are useful for developing the range of vocabulary used by our students and for developing good habits in spelling. Develop the habit of "Look, Cover, Write, Check!"

WHAT WILL TEACHERS BE LOOKING FOR WHEN THEY
MARK MY CHILD'S WORK?
1.         Is there sufficiently good detail/ideas/description or supporting material?
2.         Does the writing suit its purpose and intended audience?
3.         Has the writing been drafted carefully?
4.         Does the writing fit together well?
5.         Is the work paragraphed correctly?
6.         Has the work been checked thoroughly so that obvious mistakes in punctuation and spelling have been corrected?
7.         Can I see that this pupil is making a real effort?
8.         What signs are there that this pupil is improving?
9.         What areas should the pupil be targeting in order to achieve success in the future?
10.       What rewards can I offer for this piece of work?