English

Benedict House English lessons are designed to inspire creativity and fire the imagination of developing minds. Teachers extol a love for English language and Literature through the study of well-chosen texts that aid the development of writing, comprehension, spelling and grammar skills.

We aim to engender a powerful and extensive vocabulary so that ideas and plans can be brought into vivid reality on the page. All children are encouraged to publish their work for an audience and keep them in mind at all times to ensure that they are always writing for a purpose. Learners of all abilities are catered for and scaffolded, with achievement celebrated at all levels. We promote the development of strong communication skills, both written and verbal, so that the pupils feel able to express their thoughts and ideas with clarity.

Home-reading is strongly promoted and encouraged, alongside exposure to a wide range of genres, and text-types. We aim to equip our pupils with the tools to produce work in any written media; including newspaper reports, information texts, diary entries, reviews and more.

Our lessons are designed to be cross-curricular; incorporating elements from History, Science, Geography, Art and Music, with a strong emphasis on producing work using different media and technology.

Children are encouraged to appreciate the importance of the editing process, peer and self-editing their work, and sharing with others. Literary celebration days, special events or reactive writing, based on current events, are regular features of the calendar.

Benedict House pupils leave as confident, articulate and widely-read individuals who are able to express themselves clearly and concisely, with the ability to entertain, educate, amuse and inform the readers of their high-quality written work.