English KS4

Reading can take you places you have never been before

Dr. Seuss

Curriculum Vision

At New Bridge we believe that a high-quality education in English will teach pupils to reach their destination by becoming proficient communicators, able to read and understand texts and express themselves in the wider community.  We want our young people to participate as fully as possible as members of society by learning how to speak, read and write to the best of their ability.

The New Bridge English Curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils within the main body:  

• read easily, fluently and with good understanding 
• develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information 
• extend their vocabulary and acquire an understanding of grammar and knowledge to develop their level of 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  and are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate .

What does an English lessons at New Bridge School

Reading  

Pupils are assessed using a range of baselining tools to ensure an accurate starting point.  Once the pupils have completed the diagnostic assessment, a personalised reading path is created for them. There is a single reading lesson each week which is tailored to pupil abilities. This ranges from developing phonological awareness and decoding to developing inference and deduction skills.  Pupils follow the ‘Pearson Rapid Reading’ reading scheme. This is a low-level, high interest reading scheme for older pupils.  To encourage reluctant readers to read for enjoyment, all pupils have access to ebooks/audio books through Epic and BorrowBox apps. 

Speaking and Listening

Teachers use a wide repertoire of activities to create real dialogue and depth of thought within classroom discussions.  These include:  

• teacher-pupil talk 
• pupil-pupil talk 
• debates
• questioning 
• presentations 
• discussions 

Specialist Support and Interventions  

All areas of literacy create significant barriers to learning for young people on the autism spectrum.  Where required, intervention groups are created to focus on developing these skills through structured learning programmes. Examples of one-to-one and small group intervention groups include:  

• The Hickey Multi-Sensory Approach for dyslexia-like tendencies 
• The Hyperlexia Reading Kit for hyperlexia-like tendencies  
• Visualising and Verbalising for hyperlexia-like tendencies 

Pupil Voice