This document is a statement of the aims and objectives, principles and strategies for teaching and learning English at St. David's B.N.S.
It was developed through a process of consultation with teaching staff and with the aid of in service training in the Revised English Curriculum.

Development, Implementation and Review
The progress of the policy and the review process will be co-ordinated by Terry Eviston.
A review of the policy will take place during the academic year 2001/2002. Elements of the policy will be discussed as necessary at staff meetings.
The success criteria by which this policy will be judged include the following:
Teacher observation.
Classroom assessment including evaluation of assignments.
Standardised tests.

English in the Curriculum
Language is at the heart of children's learning. Through language they receive much of their skills. Language enables children both to communicate with others effectively for a variety of purposes, and to examine their own and others' experiences, feelings and ideas, giving them order and meaning.
Language also has an important bearing on the mental, emotional and social development of the child: it is the base on which successful teaching and learning in other areas must stand, not only at primary, but at all levels.

Aims

We endorse the aims of the English Language Curriculum as articulated in the Revised Curriculum to:

· promote positive attitudes and develop an appreciation of the value of language - spoken, read and written
· create, foster and maintain the child's interest in expression and communication
· develop the child's ability to engage appropriately in listener-speaker relationships
· develop confidence and competence in listening, speaking, reading and writing
· develop cognitive ability and the capacity to clarify thinking through oral language, writing and reading
· enable the child to read and write independently
· enhance emotional, imaginative and aesthetic development through oral, reading and writing experiences.

Broad Objectives
We endorse the Broad Objectives of the English Language Curriculum as articulated in the Revised Curriculum:
When due account is taken of intrinsic abilities and varying circumstances, the English language curriculum should enable the child to

· gain pleasure and fulfilment from language activity
· develop the skill of listening actively and appreciate the significance of tone of voice, facial expression and gesture
· learn to understand the conventions of oral language interaction and use oral language in a variety of social situations
· expand his/her vocabulary and develop a command of grammar, syntax and punctuation
· become fluent and explicit in communicating ideas and experiences
· explore and develop ideas and concepts through talk, directed discussion and writing
· identify and evaluate the key points, issues and central meaning of a text or oral presentation and organise efficiently the information gained
· justify and defend opinions and present a coherent argument orally and in writing
· use oral language to manipulate images in problem solving
· express intuitions, feelings, impressions, ideas and reactions in response to real and imaginary situations through talk, discussion and writing
· organise, clarify, interpret and extend experience through oral language activity and writing
· explore and express reactions to poetry, fiction and the arts, and refine aesthetic response through oral language activity and writing
· create, develop and sustain imaginary situations through talk, discussion and improvisational drama
· compose, relate and write his own stories and poems
· explore, experiment with and enjoy all the playful aspects of language
· develop print awareness, an understanding of the purposes of print, and a control over the different ways meaning is derived from print
· develop a range of reading skills and abilities that would include phonemic awareness, word identification strategies and a growing sight vocabulary
· develop and appropriate range of comprehension strategies
· develop an awareness of the richness and diversity of reading material available and read from a variety of texts of gradually increasingly complexity
· choose his reading material and engage in and enjoy sustained silent reading
· develop a sense of discrimination with regard to the use of language and images in the media
· write for different purposes and different audiences
· write in a variety of genres appropriate to school and outside needs
· learn to edit and refine writing and develop a sense of appropriate presentation
· develop a personal style of writing and learn to distinguish and to use appropriate levels of formality
· share writing and responses to reading experience with other children and adults
· use computer technology in learning to write and for information retrieval
· enhance reading and writing development through the involvement of parents or guardians
· to ensure the child has a sufficient knowledge of basic core words.

Principles
The following principles of language learning will form the structure of the English Language Curriculum:
General Philosophy.

. The integration of oral language, reading and writing in a coherent language learning process.

. The development of oral language is accorded particular importance in the English Curriculum. It is through oral language that much of our children's learning takes place.

. English in the curriculum is not just concerned with language learning but also with learning through language. The English Curriculum is divided into four strands to give expression to this principle:

. Receptiveness to language.
. Competence and confidence in using language.
. Developing cognitive abilities through language.
. Emotional and imaginative development through language.

.The act of writing is part of the language learning process. The ability to write clearly and expressively contributes to the child's cognitive, emotional and imaginative development. The pupils will have a consistent experience of writing, editing and redrafting on a wide range of topics in a variety of genres. In this way the child can become an effective independent writer.

. The ability to read effectively is an essential requirement if the pupils are to benefit fully from the educational process, to develop their potential and to participate appropriately as a citizen in society. Reading, comprehension and writing skills are acquired systematically and children with particular learning needs have to be identified at an early age and provided with adequate remedial support.

. The child's reading experience should be as rich and varied as possible. School and class libraries, as well as reading schemes, will enhance the child's reading experience.

Specific Objectives
The following is a class by class list of objectives that children will, in so far as possible be enabled to attain:

INFANT CLASSES

Receptiveness to language

Oral:
Experience, recognise and observe simple commands.
Listen to a story or description and respond to it.
Hear, repeat and elaborate words, phrases and sentences modelled by the teacher.
Use and interpret tone of voice expressing various emotions.
.
Mime and interpret gesture, movement and attitude conveying various emotions.

Reading:
Listen to, enjoy and respond to stories, nursery rhymes, poems and songs.
Become and active listener through the development of a range of listening activities based on stories read or told.
Play with language to develop an awareness of sounds.
Develop a sense of rhythm and rhyme.
Become familiar with a wide range of environmental print, beginning with print in the classroom.
Learn about the basic terminology and conventions of books.
Read texts created by himself and by other children in collaboration with the teacher.
Learn to recognise and name the letters of the alphabet.
Develop an awareness of some letter-sound relationships.

Writing:
Experience and enjoy a print-rich environment.
Receive help from the teacher, who will sometimes act as scribe to assist with accuracy and presentation.
Write and draw frequently.
Write for different audiences.
See personal writing displayed.
Read personal writing aloud and hear it read.

Competence and confidence in using language

Oral:
Talk about past and present experiences, and plan, predict and speculate about future and imaginary experiences.
Choose appropriate words to name and describe things and events.
Compose simple sentences.
Initiate and sustain a conversation on a particular topic.
Use language to perform common social functions.

Reading:
Experience the reading process being modelled.
Handle books and browse through them.
Encounter early reading through collaborative reading of large-format books and language-experience material.
Build up a sight vocabulary of common words from personal experience, from experience of environmental print, and from books read.
Learn to isolate the beginning sound of a word or syllable.
Learn to isolate beginning and final sounds in written words.
Learn to isolate the part of a word or syllable which allows it to rhyme with another word or syllable.
Use knowledge of work orders, illustration, context and initial letters to identify unknown words.
Engage in shared reading activities.

Writing:
Learn to form and name individual letters using various materials.
Write and draw.
Understand the left-right, top-bottom orientation of writing.
Develop a satisfactory grip of writing implements.
Copy words from signs in the classroom.
Copy letters and words informally as part of class activities.
Write his/her name.
Use labels to name familiar people and things.
Write letters and words from memory.
Become aware of lower-case and capital letters and the full stop.
Develop the confidence to use approximate spelling.
Begin to develop conventional spelling of simple words.
See the teacher model writing as an enjoyable experience.
Choose subjects for drawing and writing.
Choose the form of expression he finds appropriate.

Developing cognitive abilities through language

Oral:
Provide further information in response to the teacher's prompting.
Listen to a story or a narrative and ask questions about it.
Focus on descriptive detail and begin to be explicit in relation to people, places, times, processes, events, colour, shape, size, and position.
Discuss different possible solutions to simple problems.
Ask questions in order to satisfy curiosity about the world
Show understanding of text.

Reading:
Re-read, retell and act out familiar stories, poems or parts of stories.
Recall and talk about significant events and details in stories.
Analyse and interpret characters, situations, events and sequences presented pictorially.
Predict future incidents and outcomes in stories.
Differentiate between text and pictures.
Understand the function of text.

Writing:
Draw a picture and write about it.
Draw and write about everyday experience or about something just learned.
Write naming words and add descriptive words.
.

Emotional and imaginative development through language

Oral:
Reflect on and talk about a wide range of everyday experience and feelings.
Create and tell stories.
Listen to, learn and retell a rich variety of stories, rhymes and songs.
Respond through discussion, mime and role-playing to stories, rhymes and songs heard and learnt.

Listen to, learn and recite rhymes, including nonsense rhymes.
Listen to, learn and ask riddles
Recognise and re-create sounds in the immediate environment.
Experiment with different voices in role-playing.

Reading:
Associate print with enjoyment through listening to stories and poems read aloud.
Respond to characters, situations and story details, relating them to personal experience.
Perceive reading as a shared, enjoyable experience.
Record response to text through pictures and captions.

Writing:
Draw and write about feelings.
Draw and write about things he likes and dislikes.
Draw and write about sensory experiences.
Draw and write stories.
Hear a rich variety of stories, rhymes and songs and draw and write about them.
Use mime and role-playing to create imaginary situations and then draw and write about them.

FIRST AND SECOND CLASSES

Receptiveness to language

Oral:
Experience challenging vocabulary and sentence structure from the teacher.
Listen to stories, descriptions, instructions and directions and respond to them.
Listen to sounds and respond to them.
Become more adept in using appropriate verbal and non-verbal behaviour in order to secure and maintain the attention of the listener.
Use gesture and movement to extend the meaning of what he is saying.
Express in mime various emotions and reactions, and interpret the emotions and reactions of others.

Reading:
Continue to experience the reading process being modelled.
Engage in shared reading activities.
Visit the school library and the local library.
Continue to build a sight vocabulary of common words from books read and from personal experience.
Engage in activities designed to increase awareness of sounds.
Learn about the sounds associated with the part of a word or syllable that allows it to rhyme with another word or syllable.
Learn about the sounds associated with the beginning of a word or syllable.
Learn to connect the beginnings of words and syllables with their rhyming parts as an auditory and visual exercise.
Learn about common word endings, word families and roots of words.
Use knowledge of letter-sound relationships (grapho/phonic cues), grammar and syntax (syntactic cues) and surrounding text (contextual cues) when attempting to identify unfamiliar words.
Self-correct reading errors when what he reads does not make sense.
Develop reading skills through engaging with reading material appropriate to his stage of development.
Adapt his/her reading style for different purposes.

Writing:
Experience a classroom environment that encourages writing.
Observe the teacher as he models writing stories.
Seek help from the teacher in order to achieve accuracy and an appropriate standard presentation.
Experience how a story structure is organised by reading and listening to fiction.
Write regularly for different audiences.
Choose topics to write about.
Explore different genres.
Work with other children when writing.
Have writing valued.

Competence and confidence in using language

Oral:
Talk about and reflect on past and present experiences, and plan, predict, anticipate and speculate about future and imaginary experiences.
Experiment with more elaborate vocabulary and sentence structure in order to extend and explore meaning.
Experiment with word order and examine its implications for meaning and clarity.
Focus on the subject under discussion and sustain a conversation on it.
Initiate discussions, respond to the initiatives of others, and have practice in taking turns.
Engage in real and imaginary situations to perform different social functions.

Reading:
Read from a range of children's literature, choosing material for reading during silent reading periods. Engage in personal reading.
Learn to find books in a classroom or school library.
Read aloud to share a text with and audience.
Find information and share it with others.
Perform simple information retrieval tasks.

Writing:
Experience an abundance of oral language activity when preparing a writing task.
Realise that first attempts at writing are not necessarily the finished product and learn to undertake second drafts in order to improve writing.
Understand that the conventions of punctuation help to make meaning clearer in writing.
Spell words in a recognisable way based on an awareness of the most common spelling strings and patterns.
Use approximate spelling as an interim measure in mastering the conventions of spelling.
Spell correctly a range of familiar, important and regularly occurring words and use a variety of sources as aids to spelling.
Choose topics for writing after conferring with the teacher.
Have regular opportunities to write for himself or for others.
Decide whether or not to re-draft a piece of writing.
Confer with the teacher and others on the quality of presentation.
Write notes and messages to different audiences.

Developing cognitive abilities through language

Oral:
Give a description, recount a narrative or describe a process, and answer questions about it.
Listen to other children describe experiences and ask questions about their reactions to them.
Become increasingly explicit in relation to people, places, times, processes and events by adding elaborative detail to what he describes and narrates.
Listen to a story or narrative and ask questions about it.
Engage in real and imaginary situations involving language use.
Ask questions that will satisfy his curiosity and wonder.

Reading:
Pursue individual interests through independent reading of fiction
and non-fiction.
Adopt an active approach to a text by pupils posing their own questions.
Give recommendations to and receive recommendations from the wider community of readers on the choice of reading material.
Develop comprehension strategies.
Perform alphabetical order tasks.
Predict future events and outcomes in a book that is being read aloud.
Express a more formal response by giving a considered personal opinion of a book in oral or in written form.
Use information technology to increase motivation to read and to enhance reading development.

Writing:
Write in a variety of genres.
Write a version of a story told by the teacher.
Write about something that has been learned.
Write the significant details about an event or an activity.
Write an explanation for something.
Re-read work, confer with the teacher or others about it, and then rewrite it.
Write a simple sentence and add words to it to extend its meaning.
Listen to a story and write down questions to ask about it.
Write answers to questions asked by the teacher.

Emotional and imaginative development through language

Oral:
Describe everyday experiences and events.
Express feelings in order to clarify them and explain them to others.
Tell stories in his own words and answer questions about them.
Listen to, read, learn and recite a varied and appropriate repertoire of rhymes and poems.
Re-create stories and poems in improvisational drama.
Use play and improvisational drama to sustain imaginary situations.
Listen to and say nonsense words and unusual words.
Listen to, learn and tell riddles and jokes.
Clap the rhythms of poems and rhymes.
Listen to, read, learn and recite more sophisticated nonsense verse and rhymes.
Recognise and re-create sounds in the environment.
Create real and imaginary sounds worlds.
Use imaginative play to create humorous characters and situations.

Reading:
Continue to listen to and enjoy stories and poems being read aloud.
Engage in spare-moment reading and browsing by having ready access to reading material.
Engage with a wide variety of text.
Experience enhanced levels of self-esteem through success in reading.
Listen to entire stories read aloud in instalments.
Respond to characters and events in a story.
Explore different attitudes and feelings by imagining what it would be like to be certain characters.
Engage frequently in informal discussion of books with teacher and others.

Writing:
Express feelings in writing. Write about experiences.
Listen to the experiences of others and express reactions to them in writing.
Draw and write about sensory experience.
Write about feelings experienced in drama activities.
Draw and write stories and poems.
Express in writing likes and dislikes about events and characters in stories and poems.
Listen to music and write about it.

THIRD AND FOURTH CLASSES

Receptiveness to language

Oral:
Experience the teacher's use of challenging vocabulary and sentence structure.
Listen to, retell and tape a narrative or a description, taking turns giving the account.
Give and follow instructions on how to perform a particular task or process.
Become increasingly aware of the importance of gesture, facial expression tone of voice, audibility and clarity of enunciation in communicating with others.
Use mime to convey ideas, reactions, emotions, desires and attitudes
Discuss the use and effect of music, sound effects and non-verbal clues in audiotapes, videotapes and film clips.

Reading:
Use more than one strategy when reading unfamiliar text.
Identify unfamiliar words by reference to word parts, prefixes and suffixes.
Continue to self-correct reading errors.
Become an increasingly independent reader.
Understand the relationship between text and illustration.
Refine listening skills through hearing the teacher read aloud.
Listen to audiotapes while following accompanying text.
Look at videotape and read accompanying booklets afterwards.

Writing:
Experience a classroom environment that encourages writing.
Observe the teacher modelling different writing genres.
Use personal reading as a stimulus to writing.
Write stories that explore a variety of genres.
Re-read his writing for pleasure.
Choose the audience for which to write.
Choose both the subject and form of his writing.
See his writing valued.

Competence and confidence in using language

Oral:
Give and take turns in speaking and experience a classroom environment in which tolerance for the views of others is fostered.
Initiate conversations and respond to the initiatives of others in talking about experiences and activities.
Present ideas that are relevant to the subject in a logical sequence.
Summarise and prioritise ideas.
Discuss the meanings and origins of words, phrases and expressions with the teacher.
Become aware of new words and new connotations of words through his reading and writing experience.
Play synonym and antonym games.
Become familiar with the functions of words without necessarily using technical grammatical terms.
Practise the common social functions in the everyday context of class and school and through improvisational drama
Use improvisational drama to re-create well known characters.

Reading:
Have access to a plentiful supply of books both in the classroom and in the school library.
Use library facilities outside school.
Select personal reading material and develop personal taste in reading for pleasure and information.
Experience different types of text.
Engage with a wide variety of poetry and verse on a regular basis.
Develop basic information retrieval skills.
Use simple dictionaries effectively.

Writing:
Write regularly, and gradually extend the period over which a writing effort is sustained.
Engage with the writing of one piece over a period.
Experience varied and consistent oral language activity as a preparation for writing.
Learn to use questions as a mechanism for expanding and developing a story.
Give sequence to ideas and events in stories.
Develop an appreciation of how the intended audience should influence the nature of a piece of writing.
Develop an awareness of the difference between written language and oral language.
Learn to revise and re-draft writing.
Learn to recognise and use full stops, speech marks, question marks, capitals and paragraphs as part of the revision and editing process.
Learn to write with increasing grammatical accuracy through the process of revision and editing.
Use a range of aids and strategies, including the use of approximate spelling, to improve his command of spelling.
Write in a legible joined script with confidence and fluency.
Develop his ability to write using information technology.
Pupils to regularly select their own topics for writing.
Co-operate in writing a record of class activities.

Developing cognitive abilities through language

Oral:
Discuss issues that directly affect his life.
Discuss a story being read and predict future events and likely outcomes in it.
Discuss different possible solutions to problems.
Discuss what he knows of a particular topic or process as a basis for encountering new concepts.
Discuss causes and effects in relation to processes and events and predict possible outcomes.
Learn how to use the basic key questions.
Make presentations to the class about there own particular interests.
Justify personal likes and dislikes.
Argue a point of view and try to persuade others to support it.
Explore historical events through improvisational drama.
Explore reactions to ideas through improvisational drama.

Reading:
Extend participation in listening and silent reading activities.
Read short books in one sitting to experience success in reading.
Explore new interests and perspectives through reading.
Read books independently.
Seek recommendations for books to read and recommend books to others.
Continue to use information technology to increase motivation to read and to enhance reading development.
Know the structure and terminology of books.
Develop skills in locating and handling books through using well-stocked school and classroom libraries.
Continue to develop a range of comprehension strategies to deal with narrative, expository and representational reading material.
Use knowledge of printing conventions as an aid to expression and comprehension.
Keep a record of his reading in various forms.

Writing:
Write in a variety of genres with greater sophistication.
Read a story and write it in his own words.
Read a narrative or expository piece and summarise it..
Write down directions on how to perform a particular process.
Write a list of questions about a particular topic and prioritise them.
Write a sentence and elaborate on it by adding one or more ideas to it.
Expand and clarify his thoughts on a particular idea or topic through drafting and re-drafting.

Emotional and imaginative development through language

Oral:
Describe everyday experiences to the class or group and discuss them.
Discuss favourite moments, important events and exciting characters in a story, play or poem.
Express reactions to events and characters in stories.
Discuss reactions to poems.
Create and tell stories to the class or group and retell them after questioning, comparing the versions.
Express feelings and attitudes through improvisational drama.
Create and sustain imaginary contexts through improvisational drama.
React to poems through improvisational drama.
Dramatise stories.
Experience and enjoy playful aspects of language.

Reading:
Extend and develop his response to increasingly challenging reading material.
Engage in talk about books.
Talk about choice of books and the reasons for choices.
Recognise and discuss differences in reading tastes.
Share responses with other children and with adults to cultivate a community of readers.
Experience a shared response to fiction through the use of a class novel.
Read aloud with expression.

Writing:
Express in writing his reactions to particular experiences.
Write about experiences and feelings in diary form.
Write about feelings experienced in improvisational drama.
Create stories and poems.
Write extended stories in book form.
Write about favourite moments, characters and events in stories.
Express in writing his reactions to poems.
Express in writing his reactions to personal reading.
Use his own artwork and that of others as a stimulus to writing.

FIFTH AND SIXTH CLASSES

Receptiveness to language

Oral:
Experience from the teacher a growing elaboration and sophistication in the use of vocabulary and sentence structure.
Listen to radio broadcasts and discuss what has been learned.
Follow detailed instructions or directions from others in order to test their accuracy.
Be continually aware of the importance of gesture, facial expression, audibility and clarity of enunciation in communicating with others.
Use mime to convey ideas, reactions, emotions, desires and attitudes.
Interpret mood, attitude, emotion and atmosphere in video extracts,
advertisements, paintings and photographs.
Listen to or watch sound tapes, videos and films and discuss how sound effects enhance the content.
Listen to authors reading and discussing their own work.

Reading:
Achieve proficiency in word identification by refining the different word identification skills.
Improve his ability to recognise and understand words by using root words, prefixes, suffixes, and syllabication.
Engage with an increasing range of narrative, expository and representational text.
Become self-reliant, confident, independent readers, having time in class for sustained, silent reading.

Writing:
Experience a classroom environment that encourages writing.
Observe the teacher model a wide variety of writing genres.
Express and communicate reactions to reading experiences.
Experience interesting and relevant writing challenges.
Write for an increasingly varied audience.
Receive and give constructive responses to writing.
See his writing valued.
Experience a level of success in writing that will be an incentive to continue writing.

Competence and confidence in using language.

Oral:
Acquire the ability to give detailed instructions and directions.
Converse freely and confidently on a range of topics.
Give and take turns in an environment where tolerance for the views of others is fostered.
Discuss the positive and negative effects of jargon, slang and cliché,
and express examples of them in his own language.
Understand the functions and know the names of the parts of speech.
Learn about and name the basic properties of nouns and verbs.
Become familiar with compound and complex sentences, and know and understand the terms 'phrase' and 'clause'.
Explore the possibilities of language and sentence structure in expressing increasingly complex thoughts.
.

Reading:
Read widely as an independent reader from a more challenging range of reading material, including stories, poems, myths, legends, novels and non-fiction texts appropriate to his age and reading ability.
Engage with books in group or in whole-class settings.
Learn about the structure and appreciate the function of the component parts of a newspaper.
Participate in organised visits to the public library and avail of the mobile library service.
Read to satisfy personal interests.

Writing:
Write regularly on chosen topics.
Write for a sustained length of time.
Engage in the writing of one piece over a period.
Experience varied and consistent oral language activity as part of the pre-writing process.
Observe the teacher improving writing.
Write independently through a process of drafting, revising, editing and publishing.
Write, without re-drafting, on a given or chosen topic within certain time constraints.
Observe the conventions of grammar, punctuation and spelling in his writing.
Use dictionaries and thesauruses to extend and develop vocabulary and spelling.
Explore the possibilities of syntax and sentence structure in reading and writing.
Choose a register of language appropriate to subject and audience.
Choose a form and quality of presentation appropriate to the audience.
Help others with editing their writing.
Take part in co-operative writing activities.
Write fluently and relevantly in other areas of the curriculum.
Develop a legible, fluent, personal style of handwriting.
Develop skills in the use of information technology.

Developing cognitive abilities through language.

Oral:
Discuss issues of major concern.
Discuss ideas and concepts encountered in other areas of the curriculum.
Use a discussion of the familiar as the basis of a more formal or objective grasp of a topic or concept.
Argue points of view from the perspective of agreement and disagreement through informal discussion and in the context of formal debates.
Justify and defend particular opinions or attitudes and try to persuade others to support a particular point of view.
Respond to arguments presented by the teacher.
Discuss the value, truth or relevance of popular ideas, causes and proverbs.

Reading:
Listen to, read, learn, recite and respond to a challenging range of poetry.
Have access to a wide range of reading material in the classroom and school library.
Continue to keep a record of personal reading in various forms.
Use comprehension skills such as analysing, confirming, evaluating, synthesising and correlating to aid deduction, problem solving and prediction.
Develop study skills such as skimming, scanning, note taking and summarising.
Retrieve and interpret information presented in a variety of ways.
Support arguments and opinions with evidence from the text.
Read and interpret different kinds of functional text.
Explore appropriate non-fiction texts for various purposes.
Distinguish between fact and opinion, and bias and objectivity, in text and in the media.
Use the school, classroom and public libraries to develop greater insight into book location, classification and organisation.
Find information relevant to his purpose in non-fiction texts, graphs and pictorial and diagrammatic data, and through the use of information technology.

Writing:
Write in a wide variety of genres.
Examine characteristics that differentiate written and oral language.
Write for a particular purpose and with a particular audience in mind.
Reflect on and analyse ideas through writing.
Refine ideas and their expression through drafting and re-drafting.
Express and communicate new learning.
Use notes to summarise reading material and write an account from the notes.
Sketch an ordered summary of ideas and draft a writing assignment based on it.
Argue the case in writing for a particular point of view.
Argue the case in writing for a point of view with which he disagrees.

Emotional and imaginative development through language

Oral:
Discuss with others his reactions to everyday experiences and to local, national and world events.
Discuss the concerns of other children.
Discuss ideas, concepts and images encountered in literature.
Discuss personal reading and writing.
Express individual responses to poems and literature and discuss different interpretations.
Discuss plays, films and television programmes.
Experience and enjoy playful aspects of language.

Reading:
Hear the teacher model a response to poems, fiction, plays and parts of plays.
Respond to poetry and fiction through discussion, writing, drama, the visual arts and dance.
Relate personal experience to the ideas and emotions conveyed in the text.
Appreciate issues in fiction.
Examine similarities and differences in various types of text.
Browse through, handle, discuss, recommend and select books for independent reading.
Read aloud from a personal choice of texts to entertain and inform an audience.
Listen to books or extracts from books and poetry read aloud or presented on tape, radio or television.

Writing:
Analyse in writing his reactions to personal experiences.
Express in writing reactions to the experiences of others.
Write stories and poems.
Write longer stories or a series of related stories in book form.
Keep a personal diary.
Express a personal reaction to ideas, emotions and images encountered in literature.
Express and analyse reactions to poems.
Analyse different interpretations of poems in writing.
Write about the relationship between poems and personal experience.
Write short plays based on activity in improvisational drama.
.Express in writing reactions to music, artwork, films, television programmes and videos.

ORGANISATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

English learning goes on throughout the curriculum.

English is taught formally for 5 hours per week except in Infant classes where the time allocation is 4 hours.

The predominant mode of working in English is:
Whole class teaching with group work and individual tuition where appropriate.

Homework
Homework is used to support English through tasks such as:
Phonic work and practice
Spelling
Reading exercises
Writing assignments

Role of Parents
We acknowledge the crucial role that parents play in their children's language development and the following strategies are employed to enhance such involvement.
Parental collaboration is encouraged through inspection and checking of homework.
Parental involvement in Shared Reading Scheme.

Information and Communication Technologies
ICT's are used in the school to enhance language teaching and learning, in the following ways:
Use of computers involve reading on-screen instructions
Children read stories in CD format - e.g. Sherston Stories
Arthur's Teacher Trouble
My First Incredible Dictionary
Bailey's Book House
Sherlock-The Case of Missing Text
Textease
Creative Writer
Children's Dictionary (Oxford)
Oxford Wordbox (D.K.)
My First Reading Adventure
I Love Spelling
P.B. Bear's Birthday Party
Learning Ladder
P.C. Genius
Clicker 4
Wellington Square
Wordshark -to teach phonics skills
Oxford Talking Books
Encarta and the Internet are used as reference sources
Microsoft Word is used in children's drafting, editing and re-drafting of stories, poems and project work.
Desktop publishing packages such as Ms Publisher are used to improve the standard of presentation of children's work in projects such as Write A Book. Senior classes use Publisher to produce a regular newsletter
E-mail is employed to foster communications skills.

Handwriting
The style of handwriting adopted by this school will be based on a progression from script to cursive.
Nelson Handwriting Scheme is used.

ASSESSMENT, RECORDING and REPORTING

The school has set up and will continue to use an effective system of monitoring, recording and reporting children's progress using formal and informal assessment tests and standardised attainment tests as appropriate. Teacher observation and teacher designed tasks and tests are the most significant elements of our approach to assessment.

The following Standardised tests will be used: -
Drumcondra Reading Tests.

The results of same will be made available to the Principal and other Teachers, Inspectors (if requested)
The results will be entered on the pupils' records. These will form the basis for an oral report on each child being compiled by the class teacher for Parent/Teacher meetings

SPECIAL NEEDS.

Where children are deemed to have difficulties their strengths and weaknesses in English (reading) are further explored using diagnostic assessment. The importance of early intervention is recognised and remedial teaching is provided as soon as it is evident that a child is having difficulty. The progress of those attending remedial classes is reviewed regularly thus ensuring that those who would benefit most received same.

FEED BACK TO PUPILS:

As set out in Assessment policy;
Is achieved by consistently marking and by orally commenting on their work; by use of praise and recognition of their work;

RESOURCES

Textbooks/Workbooks/Schemes
Commercially available schemes of work are used in English to
provide a framework, which is supported by a variety of other
activities. The principal schemes in use in the school are:
Sunny Street: Junior Infants to Sixth Class.
Shared Reading Scheme.
S.R.A. Reading Laboratory.
Teacher Resources

Resources available
Text Books
Big Books
Pre-Reading Activities
Prim-Ed Publications
School Library
Class Libraries
Public Library
Pictures
Charts
Posters
Paintings
Photographs
Audio and videotapes (c.f. A.V and Video Index)
Computers/computer programmes
Brochures
Novels
Fiction books
Non-fiction books
Dictionaries
Thesauri
Jigsaws
Workbooks/Worksheets
Remedial Resources
Word games