English is an essential part of a child’s curriculum and it is essential to the overall development of the child.  At Sherwood Junior School we aim:

• to develop pupils’ abilities through an integrated programme of speaking, listening, reading and writing. 
• to ensure pupils are given opportunities to consolidate and reinforce the taught English skills.
• to ensure every child experiences an engaging and enriching English curriculum that provides them with the skills needed to communicate in the wider world.
• to ensure that everyone in the school community has a clear outline of expectations for the subject.

Reading is one of our priorities at Sherwood Junior School.

Spelling at Sherwood Junior School 

At Sherwood Junior School we believe that spelling plays a huge part in becoming a successful writer and develops not only confident writers, but confident readers! Therefore, we greatly value the teaching and learning of spelling at Sherwood Junior School. 

We teach spelling through the investigating and understanding of the statutory spelling rules outlined by the DfE, along with revising the Common Exceptions Words (both can be found below). By teaching children these spelling rules, it gives our pupils strategies to attempt to encounter unfamiliar words in their reading and writing, enriching their vocabulary and building their confidence. It also gives children the opportunity to investigate and understand the true meaning of words. 

Each week, the children are given 8 spellings to practice at home (sent home in your child's organiser) and will have a week to do so. Then when the children are tested on these 8 spellings, they will also be tested on a further 2 'Mystery Spellings' - these spellings may relate to the rule they've be investigating that week, they may be Common Exception Words or may link to a rule from a previous week that the teacher feels the class would benefit from more practice on.

Useful hints and tips on practicing spellings at home can be found on the links below - 

*Reading Rockets 

*Oxford Owl 

*Spelling Games at Home - see document below

Happy Spelling! 

Theme Days and Events

World Book Day

World Book Day takes place every year in March. World Book Day is a charity that changes lives through a love of books and reading. Their mission is to promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own. Reading for pleasure is a vital indicator of a child’s future success. We celebrate and participate in World Book Day every year.

Theatre companies and drama workshops 

Along with World Book Day, we have visits throughout the school year from theatre companies and providers from our local theatre to deliver performances and drama workshops to the pupils of Sherwood. These performances and workshops often link to work the children are completing in different areas of the curriculum and give them a wonderful opportunity to develop their speaking and listening skills through drama - plus, it's great fun! Take a look at the latest visit we've had via the link below! 

Book Donation from David Wilson Homes

We were very lucky to be chosen by David Wilson Homes to receive a donation of 15 books from our wish list. The books have all been added to our school library for all the children to enjoy. The books were donated in recognition of International Children’s Book Day. A huge thank you to David Wilson homes.