Developing excellence in English
Active Ingredients:
Method:
Start by ensuring you have a strong reading for pleasure culture embedded into your
school where all children, all the way through, experience regular story time and are
giving permission to just enjoy the cuisine – tasty texts.
Next, take steps to enable your staff community to value and have regular
opportunities to discuss the menu, delicious literature, they are sharing and teach
them the skills required so that they know how to bring stories to life.
Children need to acquire baking skills, a high-quality SSP programme should be
delivered with passion and enthusiasm (yes, this is possible), keeping expectations
high and having systems in place to relentlessly ensure all pupils can be given the
gift of reading!
Mix in a good scoop of research-informed practice (the Education Endowment
Foundation provides a great starting point) to develop teacher expertise so that
impactful and enjoyable whole-class guided reading sessions can be implemented,
built on a ‘sea of talk’. Spend time collaborating and reading, lots, to ensure that your
reading curriculum remains ambitious, diverse and inclusive.
Weave in plenty of great reading around the curriculum too, so key concepts can be
deepened, using the full and very tasty range of approaches from ‘Opening Doors’.
Overarch this with Ron Berger’s key principles to create an ‘ethic of excellence’
where pupils value each draft and have the opportunity to unpick what makes an
expert writer, as well as providing opportunities for authentic audiences.
At Ashby C of E, we are making progress with our ‘baking’ but we are aiming to
create a banquet here, this is high tea for the most prestigious of occasions. We
remain inspired by master bakers too, do try and pop along to sample their food (St.
Matthews Research School and Sonia Thompson and team are a good starting
place for a taster menu!).