At Cheviot Primary School, English is at the heart of all our work. English unites the skills of reading and writing; all our learning and teaching involve speaking and listening which are essential skills for life and we view them as a fundamental entitlement for all children.

The teaching of English at Cheviot is relevant to the whole curriculum. We believe English knowledge, understanding & skills should be taught to all children and applied to a high standard in every subject.
 
At Cheviot, we aim to enable children to achieve high standards of language and literacy by equipping them with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading both across the curriculum and at home. As a school, we aim to ensure that all pupils:
 

• read fluently with good understanding
• develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
• appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
• write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
• use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
• are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.

Phonics is taught systematically across Early Years and Key Stage 1 and spelling is taught formally from the point children have acquired appropriate, secure phonic knowledge. You can find more information in ‘CPS teaching of Phonics’.

Wider reading for enjoyment and for understanding is taught from the earliest days in school to the very end of Key Stage 2. We use a broad range of the highest quality texts to open the rich world of literature up for our pupils. You can find more information about our reading in ‘DERIC and whole class reading’.

Writing is taught using models from texts and is inspired by real experience and purposes as often as possible. We follow Pie Corbett's 'Talk for Writing' framework to support our children with language and vocabulary.