English is an important part of the curriculum, which includes learning about language, literature and literacy through listening, speaking, reading, viewing and writing.
Rationale
The English program at St James the Apostle Primary School has been designed to use high impact strategies, which are underpinned by research.
The program focusses on maximising the literacy achievements of all learners particularly within their early years of schooling (Years Prep to 4). The teaching of synthetic phonics through reading and writing is an important part of this. Learners in Years 5 to 6 benefit from the structures and strategies in the Middle Years Literacy program. This is achieved through a structured assessment and monitoring program that is implemented throughout the school year.
The teaching of English is a structured process of the school day. Although English is taught every day, it looks different in different year levels of the School.
Curriculum
At all levels, students read, write, speak and listen as part of the English curriculum within the Victorian Curriculum.
The English curriculum aims to ensure that students:
- learn to listen to, read, view, speak, write, create and reflect on increasingly complex and sophisticated spoken, written and multimodal texts across a growing range of contexts with accuracy, fluency and purpose
- appreciate, enjoy and use the English language in all its variations and develop a sense of its richness and power to evoke feelings, convey information, form ideas, facilitate interaction with others, entertain, persuade and argue
- understand how Standard Australian English works in its spoken and written forms and in combination with non-linguistic forms of communication to create meaning
- develop interest and skills in inquiring into the aesthetic aspects of texts, and develop an informed appreciation of literature.