English Reading and Writing - British Curriculum - Year 5 & Year 6
(Ages 9-11)
Year 5 & 6 (Ages 9-11)
Reading and Writing at British Learning Centre
By the beginning of year 5, pupils will be taught to read aloud a wider range of poetry and books written at an age-appropriate interest level with accuracy and at a reasonable speaking pace. They will be able to read most words effortlessly and to work out how to pronounce unfamiliar written words with increasing automaticity. If the pronunciation sounds unfamiliar, they will be encouraged to ask for help in determining both the meaning of the word and how to pronounce it correctly. They should be able to prepare readings, with appropriate intonation to show their understanding, and should be able to summarise and present a familiar story in their own words. They should be reading widely and frequently, outside as well as at British Learning Centre, for pleasure and information. They should be able to read silently, with good understanding, inferring the meanings of unfamiliar words, and then discuss what they have read.
Pupils will be taught to write down their ideas quickly. Their grammar and punctuation should be broadly accurate. Pupils’ spelling of most words taught so far should be accurate and they should be able to spell words that they have not yet been taught by using what they have learnt about how spelling works in English. During Years 5 and 6, British Learning Centre will continue to emphasise pupils’ enjoyment and understanding of language, especially vocabulary, to support their reading and writing. Pupils’ knowledge of language, gained from stories, plays, poetry, non-fiction and textbooks, will support their increasing fluency as readers, their facility as writers, and their comprehension. As in the lessons they learned in Years 3 and 4, pupils will be taught to enhance the effectiveness of their writing as well as their competence. It is essential that pupils whose decoding skills are poor are taught through a rigorous and systematic phonics programme so that they catch up rapidly with their peers in terms of their decoding and spelling. Support will be offered by the British Learning Centre for parents on how they can help their child at home. As far as possible, these pupils will continue to follow the Upper Key Stage 2 programme of study in terms of listening to books and other writing that they have not come across before, hearing and learning new vocabulary and grammatical structures, and having a chance to talk about all of these.
By the end of Year 6, pupils’ reading and writing should be sufficiently fluent and effortless for them to manage the general demands of the curriculum in Year 7, across all subjects and not just in English, but there will continue to be a need for pupils to learn subject specific vocabulary. They will be able to reflect their understanding of the audience for and purpose of their writing by selecting appropriate vocabulary and grammar. British Learning Centre will prepare pupils for secondary education by ensuring that they can consciously control sentence structure in their writing and understand why sentences are constructed as they are. Pupils should understand nuances in vocabulary choice and age-appropriate, academic vocabulary. This involves consolidation, practice and discussion of language.
Specific requirements for pupils to discuss what they are learning and to develop their wider skills in spoken language form part of this programme of study. British Learning Centre will offer opportunities that ensure pupils’ confidence, enjoyment and mastery of language can be extended through public speaking, performance and debate.