English
Our Philosophy
At Brighton Avenue Primary School, our priorities are teaching our children to read and comprehend, nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing and can write clearly and accurately and passionately, and be able to inspire our children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening. English has a pre-eminent place in education and society. It is a subject in its own right and the medium for teaching. For our children, and for many of whom join our school not being able to communicate in English at all, teaching our children to read, write and speak fluently provides access to the whole curriculum. Through being taught to read, write and speak fluently, pupils learn to communicate their ideas and emotions to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, spiritually and socially. Literature especially, plays a key role in such development. All the skills of language are essential in participating fully as a member of society. Brighton Avenue Primary School is an inclusive school. The prime aim of our school is to give each of our children the opportunity to develop their own potential through knowledge, experience, understanding and awareness of good moral values. We feel that this can best be achieved by laying the foundations of a balanced education. Brighton Avenue Primary School will promote high standards of literacy by equipping our children with a strong command of the written and spoken word, and develop a love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.
Our Aims:
English is a core subject within the National Curriculum. The principals of teaching English at Brighton Avenue Primary School are consistent with our school philosophy and take into account the National Curriculum Guidance for English. (See English Policy for further information).
Principles of Teaching English:
- To be able to read and write with confidence, fluency and understanding;
- To be able to use a full range of reading cues (phonic, graphic, syntactic, contextual)
- To be taught how to speak fluently and listen with attention and understanding;
- To be able to monitor their reading and correct their own mistakes;
- To understand the phonics and spelling system and use this to read and spell accurately;
- To have fluent and legible handwriting;
- To have an interest in words and their meanings, an understanding of grammar and a growing vocabulary; (made specific through all areas of the curriculum)
- To know, understand and be able to write in a range of genres in fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
- To plan, draft, revise and edit their own writing to a high standard appropriate to their age.
- To take part in their learning progress and be proactive in addressing their next targets
- To have a suitable technical vocabulary for English through which to understand and discuss their reading, writing;
- To develop the habit of reading widely and often
- To appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
- To read with enjoyment and evaluate and justify their preferences;
- Through reading and writing, develop their powers of imagination, inventiveness and critical awareness.
- To ensure teachers make effective links with others areas of the curriculum as much as possible.
- To ensure teachers have access to quality CPD and good practise is shared within and outside of school.
Statutory Requirements
All children have a statutory entitlement to access to the Programmes of Study for English as set out in the National Curriculum 2014:
Policies
What are we learning?
Progression in handwriting
What do our children think of English?
Able (Year 1)- I love RWI as we get to learn new spelling rules and we get to work with partners to help us with our reading. Our teachers, can sometimes be very silly as they make silly mistakes in sentences and we have to correct them. We love doing this!
Julia (Year 2)- I love English and I loved writing poems based on 'Ten Things Found in an Enchanted Forest'. I loved how we got to use our senses to describe and feel different objects found in a forest before we came up with some appropriate noun phrases.
Billie (Year 2)- I love handwriting sessions as I have been trying really hard to join all my letters correctly. I now have my pen licence as well so I am really pleased.
Leo (Year 3) – I like when we do a lot of writing in paragraphs. They help the reader understand. First you write in boxes and the next day we write it up into our extended writing books. We use the planning sheets to help us. We love extended writing. It’s our favourite lesson.
Emma (Year 5) - I have enjoyed learning about the 'Book eating Boy'. I was able to use a lot of description. I sometimes get my own vocabulary from my own reading. Metaphors are when we say something is something else and we use it to engage the reader.
Eva (Year 5) - I am really proud of my newspaper report because I used many different writing features. I feel like I could write one about any story I am given.
Shreya (Year 6)- I really enjoy English and being able to improve my sentence structure and adding in new targets like multi-clause sentences!
Bill (Year 6)- In English, I enjoy being able to write our own stories based on the books we've been reading! I love creating my own stories.
Latest News
2023-2024
KS1 Writing
Thursday 21st March
This half term, we have continued to make amazing progress in our writing across KS1 and we are all becoming a lot more confident using our targets. We have been writing, narratives, dairy entries, character descriptions and recounts. Some of our children have once again, taken part in the Young Writers' Competition and we can't wait to hear whether their work will be published. Take a look at the amazing writing we have produced!
UKS2 Writing
Monday 12th February 2024
Over the Spring 1 term, UKS2 have been developing their narrative writing skills in their Greek Myths unit through building up characterisation through dialogue, using rich and exciting figurative language to describe setting and characters as well building in more complex sentence structures and punctuation. UKS2 children have also been developing their non-fiction writing skills through writing in a formal tone when presenting a balanced discussion text. Once again, UKS2 tried to use a range of strong sentence openers to clearly structure their writing!
Also, a huge well done to one of our Year 6 children who entered the Young Writer's Competition and has had their piece of writing published! Take a look at some of our amazing writing below...
UKS2 More Able Writers
16.01.24
Terry Caffrey
On Tuesday 16th January, 6 UKS2 more able writers attended Kelvin Grove to spend the day working with the author Terry Caffrey! The children had an amazing day developing their poetry writing skills.
Bill, who attended the say, had quoted, "I liked that we made our own poetry book, even though it was only 6 pages! It inspired me to want to be an author even more!"
11.01.24
KS1 Young Writers' Competition
Last half term, the children had the opportunity to take part in a 'Young Writers' Competition' where they had to write their own story about a pet. We are so pleased to announce that the children's work has been chosen to be published in the anthology! A HUGE well done to these children, you should be so proud of yourself .... we have some authors in the making!
15th December 2023
KS1 Writing
Over the last few weeks, the children have been working really hard to achieve their targets in writing. The children have been busy writing narratives, character descriptions and poems. The children especially enjoyed writing poems and feeling the different objects from an enchanted forest to produce noun phrases. Take a look at our fantastic writing, we are making AMAZING progress.
27th November 2023
UKS2 Writing
Over the past few months, UKS2 have been working really hard on developing their writing skills, from widening their understanding of how to adapt their writing to suit the given audience and purpose of the piece of writing to applying a range of UKS2 writing targets. Take a look below at some of our amazing writing, including: poetry, informal letters and information texts. You have all worked so hard to include some very challenging sentence structures and vocabulary!
Wednesday 25th October
KS1 writing
This half term, in KS1, the children in Year 2 have been writing character descriptions, narratives and instructions. We discussed different adjectives we could use as well as ways to make our sentences more interesting. The children were able to use different sentence types such as exclamatory sentences to engage the reader. We have also been looking at the use of time conjunctions to structure a recount.
Latest News
2022-2023
Wednesday 19th June
KS1 writing
This term, in KS1, the children in Year 2 have been writing character descriptions. We discussed different adjectives we could use as well as ways to make our sentences more interesting. The children were able to use different sentence types such as exclamatory and interrogative sentences to engage the reader. We have also been looking at the use of time conjunctions to structure a recount.
UKS2 SPaG Cafe
24.5.23
A huge thank you to all the parents who attended the Year 5 SPaG cafe- we looked at lots of the challenging terminology before playing some games of SPaGopoloy! We discussed how this terminology is used throughout the Year 6 SATs papers and applied in the children's writing!
LKS2 Writing/SPaG Cafe
23rd May 2023
A huge thank you to all the parents and carers who attended our Writing/SPaG cafe this afternoon. We spent time discussing what writing looks like in our school as well as taking part in an actual English lesson. We talked about using SPaG Starters in each of our lessons and what the end of LKS2 writing targets look like. Finally, we had a go at writing our very own poems to enter into the Young Writers' Competition. The PowerPoint from the session is available below in case you missed the session or would like to revisit anything we talked about.
If you have any requests about what you would like to find more about in the future, please let a member of staff know and we will be sure to arrange a cafe to help support you, and your children.
UKS2 Writing
17th April 2023
UKS2 have been writing some fantastic pieces of writing over the Spring term, from writing explanation texts and information texts about Mars Curiosity Rover to writing informal diary entries based on My Secret War Diary by Marcia Williams. We have been so impressed with your use of sentence structures, vocabulary and layout devices.
LKS2 Writing
24th March 2023
The Incredible Book Eating Boy
Over the past few weeks, LKS2 have all been learning how to write in the style of an author who is trying to engage and excite the reader. We used the story of The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers as a hook to our learning. We talked about how we can use a range of writing techniques to describe how characters are feeling as well as create tension in our stories. Take a look at some of the examples below and I am sure you will agree that they are fantastic!
Thursday 30th March
KS1 Writing
Once again, we have been super busy developing our writing skills and ensuring we apply our Y1 and Y2 targets into our writing. We have been writing; recounts, character descriptions and narratives this half term based on what we have been reading in class. Lots of children in Year 2 have now gained their pen licence and they were over the moon! The progress our children have made is amazing and we are so proud of them!
LKS2 Writing
9th February 2023
Instructional Writing
We have been getting in the mood for Valentine's Day by asking the children to write a set of instructions which inform the reader how to make the most delicious and tasty biscuits to give to that very special someone. We talked about the structure of instructional writing, how it flows and what writing techniques we should be using to keep the reader the engaged and informed. Take a look at the instructions below and see if you can follow them to make your very own Valentine's Day treats!
Friday 20th January 2023
UKS2 Young Writers- A Twist in the Tale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPUdR9z-8vU
Wow! A huge well done to the UKS2 who entered the Young Writers competition called A Twist in the Tale! You had some amazing ideas in your writing and I can't wait to see your work published in the anthology! You have all been so creative!
Thursday 19th January 2023
KS1 Young Writers'
Before the holidays, the children had the opportunity to participate in 'A Twist in a Tale' and we had some fantastic entries. We've received some fantastic news this afternoon that some of our children's writing will be published in Young Writers' Competition. We are so proud of all the children that took part in this competition and we can't wait to see your work published! We will be participating in more Young Writers' Competitions ... so watch this space!
EYFS Writing skills- From developing our language in play, early mark making, strengthening your core, recognising your name to drawing and labelling. Nursery and Reception have been busy this term.
UKS2 Writing
22.12.22
Take a look at some of the amazing winter themed poetry that UKS2 have been writing this half term. Some of the children based their poetry on the Dreadful Menace video and other children described winter as a battle between the Winter and Autumn. Some children even decided to alternate writing a verse from the point of view of the mountain and then the explorers! UKS2 had some really creative ideas which we loved. They included a wide range of figurative language to describe winter which definitely hooked the reader.
Lower Key Stage 2 Writing
We have had an extremely busy half term with our writing! From newspaper reports about washed up creatures on beaches, to diaries written as a Roman Slave watching the Munera, to non chronological reports all about the Rotten Romans, the children in Years 3 and 4 have knocked our socks off with their ability to apply their writing skills independently. Below are just a few examples of their incredible work!
KS1 Writing
22/12/22
It has been another busy half term but we are so amazed at the progress the children are making in KS1. They are applying what they have been taught in English into their extended writing pieces at the end of the week. We have focused on Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood and Room on the Broom. Following on from reading these, the children in Y2 even wrote their own twisted stories. Take a look at them … I was on the edge of my seat when reading them.
KS1 writing
21/10/22
Wow, what a busy half term of writing we have had! We have been developing our writing skills using a range of books including; The Three Little Pigs, Look up! Clean Up! How to wash a wolly mammoth and Amy Wu and the perfect Bao. The children have been building up to their extended write pieces at the end of the week through a range of activities including speaking for listening. Take a look at some of our final pieces of writing, such amazing progress has been made in such a short space of time. Well done KS1!
Latest News
2021-2022
Young Writers
Adventure Hunters and This is Me
24th March 2022
This week in UKS2, we had an exciting delivery from the Young Writers! We had a delivery of the Adventures Hunters books including our amazing pieces of work. We also had some certificates delivered for the poetry competition of This is Me! Well done UKS2! We can't wait to see our poetry pieces of work published in the This is Me book.
LKS2 Able Writers' Day - 16th March 2022
This week, 4 of our amazing children were lucky enough to attend a workshop at Kelvin Grove School hosted by award winning author Anne Stairmand. The children took part in a range of writing activities with the aim of helping them create engaging and exciting stories. They worked on thinking about how they could open stories without using traditional 'Once upon a time' or 'One day...' and jumping into the middle of an exciting moment. Take a look below at just some of the children's ideas. We couldn't be prouder of how hard they have worked during the day!
World Book Day
Thursday 3rd March 2022
2021-22
On Thursday 3rd March 2022, Brighton Avenue celebrated World Book Day 2022. We came dressed in our PJs and spent the day taking part in lots of book themed activities. From guessing what the Masked Readers were reading, researching our favourite authors to having a Reading Cafe and taking part in Virtual Author sessions, we had so much fun! The winners from the Library Poster competition were presented during assembly! The children had some great ideas for promoting the school library!
This is Me - KS2 Poetry Writing Competition
Our amazing Key Stage 2 children are in the process of planning, writing and editing their incredible poems around the theme of 'This is Me'. They have been able to really delve into what makes them who they are and express themselves through a wide variety of poetry styles. Come back soon to find out who the lucky children are who get their work published! Above is a short video which explains the competition if you want to get involved at home! Good luck everyone!
Adventure Hunters
Writing Competition
4.2.22
UKS2 entered the Adventure Hunters Writing Competition earlier on this year. Take a look at some of our competition winners looking really proud with their certificates! Lots of UKS2 are excited to enter the next competition of 'This is Me'!
5th November 2021
Young Writers' Competition
KS1
This week, we got some very exciting news that the poems that the children wrote in Autumn 2 were going to be published in the Young Writers' book. The children who worked incredibly hard to write their poems I am so proud that they are now authors! We can't wait for their work to be published.
Latest News - 2020/2021
Examples of Extraordinary Extended Writing!
July 2021
At Brighton Avenue, we enjoy nothing better than creating a piece of writing which is a culmination of a week's worth of incredible lessons. The children are able to apply all the targets which they have been studying throughout the week within their own independent pieces. Take a look below at just some of the latest pieces of work our amazing pupils have been creating!
Examples of Extraordinary Extended Writing!
April 2021
Friday 19th March 2021
Congratulations to our Year 5 and Year 6 stars who were recently recognised in the Young Writers competition and had their work, based on the hook Wander in the Woods, published in the anthology! Amazing job guys! We can't wait to see your work published
Tuesday 16th March 2021
Last year in December, some of the KS1 children wrote a story for the Young Writers' competition based on an adventure of a character. I am pleased to say that some of the the children's work got published in the anthology and they can't wait to see it. Take a look at the photos of the children with their certificates. Well done, you are all super stars!
Friday 20th November 2020
Congratulations to Wasi in Year 5S who received an award recently for his writing which was also published in the Young Writers book!
Tuesday 10th November
Young Writers Competition
This week, Y2 received a very exciting package in the post. At the beginning of the year, we entered a Young Writers competition where the children had to write an acrostic poem. The children wrote some amazing poems and a lot of the children had their work published for the Young Writers anthology. I was so proud of them. Take a look at their photos with their certificates.
Year 2 - Young Writers
Latest News - 2019/20
Friday 6th March 2020
Letters to and from David Attenborough
Y5 have been busy learning about climate change and plastic pollution therefore we wrote letters to David Attenborough. We were thrilled and delighted to receive a letter back from. Take a look at the letter for yourselves!
Year 6 - Explore Learning - 'Tropical Island'
Friday 24th January 2020
On Wednesday, we were visited by Juliette and Katie from Explore Learning who specialise in teaching English and Maths across the North East. They transported us to a desert island where we found a lonely man and it was up to us to come up with his story. Was he lost? Had he been shipwrecked? What was he going to do? The children created some amazing stories using a wide range of vivid and exciting vocabulary! They then had to write a 'message in a bottle' to someone; asking for help or for someone to save them. Take a look for yourselves...
Dear anyone,
I was on my boat and it started to sink, so I made my way to the nearest island. I am lost! I can see beautiful palm trees with coconuts on. The golden hot Sun is shining. I am worried that I will never be able to find my way back home. All of sudden, a huge shark with razor teeth was coming towards me. I jumped into a bush; I'm really scared! Please come and save me! Soma
Dear whoever sees this letter,
I am stuck on this tiny island, which about the same size as me, and I need help. It is kinda crazy because I have no room to move! I am running out of food (coconuts) and something dangerous is happening: a deadly, sneaky shark is about to attack me! Please HELP! Ana
Dear Police,
I have been stranded on this island for many months. I have seen a boat being eaten by a shark and I'm so hungry! Will you please send a golden tomahawk steak with a side of fillet mignon and asparagus?!? Please send help! A helicopter just passed by; leaving me unnoticed. Also, bring some spicy chicken nuggets as I have never tried them before. Piotr
Year 6T - Explore Learning- Creative Writing- 23.01.20
Year 6T had visitors from Explore Learning in this week to help us work on our Creative Writing skills. We worked together to think of descriptive vocabulary to describe the desert island before using this to create a creative piece of writing using figurative language and ensuring we write to engage the audience. We then used our imagination to write a note to a strange asking for help! Take a look at some of our work from the session:
Ali
A mixture of feelings has entered my body. Thirst. Resilience. Hope. A deep cut of determination appears on my body. Help me. As this long day goes on, the strong feeling of hope slowly fades away. Stranded. The boiling sand sticks to my body like glue sticks to paper. It feels like I'm lying in a bed of volcanic lava.
Charlotte
Dear unknown person,
I must say what I've been through has been heartbreaking. Whoever is reading this, I hope you read on. Another thing ... I'm never travelling on a boat again. First I was relaxed and staring at a bright, blue sky (which was so clear I could almost see my reflection). I was listening to the calming song of the sea and the warm, soft sand beneath me. Sounds great, doesn't it? Well it was until I stepped into the real world. My ship was... sinking. What was I to do? I could try to swim to the boat and get it running but ... there was a shark? A deadly shark as scary as your biggest fear. There were many things on my mind... how would I escape this evil, little trap. Please save me.
From stranded person...
Year 4M - Spooky Stories - 01.11.19
This week, Year 4M have been working hard to create stories around the theme of Dracula's Castle. We watched a video to help us create the vocabulary we would use in our stories. We then spent time building suspense-filled sentences, using a range of subordinating conjunctions. I'm sure you will all agree that the children have created some amazing short stories that could chill you to the bone...
Cautiously, I snuck into the cold night. I had spine-chills! I looked around I looked around and saw flowed facing down as if they didn't like me. Why wasn't anyone there? I looked over the edge and saw an ancient haunted ship in the angry, choppy sea.
Michael
Quietly, I walked towards the castle doors. My heart heart was pounding very fast. I shivered with fear. Slowly, I opened the creeky, rusty door. I looked around me...no one was there.
Taleen
As I walked through the spine-chilling castle, I felt like I was being watched. But by what? Even though I was terrified, I still walked in. Then I saw two eyes and two blinding white fangs. I ran as fast as I could...
Sarah
Year 1 - Writing - 13.12.19
Our wonderful Year 1 children have been doing some incredible writing this week. Check out some of the character descriptions, fairy stories and instructional writing for yourself...
Able Writers' Day
4th July 2019
Today, the children visited Kelvin Grove Primary school to participate in a poetry work shop by Terry Caffery. Terry made the day fun and educational in order for the children to realise that reading and writing are positive experiences which should be enjoyed by all. His session was creative and developed the confidence in our able writers to write their own poems. He gave the children invaluable tips and demonstrated how poets work and craft ideas from his notebook and raised their awareness to the importance of planning, being prepared to make mistakes in the journey to completing a poem. The children were able to develop their imagination and writing skills and had a fantastic day.
BBC Newcastle
28th February 2019
The school was approached by BBC Newcastle for an opportunity for some pupils to contribute to their regular radio feature Little'uns.
This involved BBC Newcastle’s mid morning presenter, Lisa Shaw, visiting the school and talking to the children. Lisa showed them a picture of a place, person or object and asked them to describe what they could see. Their clues were then edited and played out on air and listeners are then asked to get in touch and guess what the Little’uns are talking about.
This was a great opportunity for the children to practise their speaking and listening skills. Ensure you listen out to hear the recordings played on BBC Newcastle (95.4FM) on weekdays between 10:10 am and 11:10 am.
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Cluster Writing Project
Here at Brighton Avenue we have certainly been on a whirlwind of adventures all over the globe! Based on a wide range of stimulating hooks, the children produced writing which engaged all who were lucky enough to read it. The range of genres covered was vast and the pupils didn’t shy away from the challenge. To celebrate this, children were chosen from each year group to attend a celebration event at Kingsmeadow School. The children once again did us proud and we even had some overall winners. Ava in Y2W won best writer for KS1 and Luke in Y6B was a runner up in KS2. However we are proud of all the children that took part. Well done, you are all winners!
