Speaking and Listening

We are keen to develop an appreciation of language through speaking, listening, reading, writing and drama. These skills are extended through a range of activities in English and other cross curricular areas of the curriculum.

Intent:

Speaking and listening is central to our Shavington Curriculum and is developed from EYFS throughout our school, across the curriculum. We nurture children’s speaking and listening skills through a variety of approaches: exploratory play, Story time, role play and pre-teaching curriculum specific vocabulary. We develop these skills so that our children are capable of expressing their own ideas clearly and confidently, in a safe and supportive environment, in all aspects and areas of their school life and beyond. 

Implementation:

All staff in our school model the use of higher-level vocabulary within their speech and expanding children’s vocabulary is a key focus from EYFS. Our school follows the Floppy Phonics scheme, to enhance children’s phonetic knowledge. We have just started using Pathways to read and write to help enrich and expand children’s vocabulary. Subject specific vocabulary is embedded across the curriculum, through teacher modelling, in context. Contextual learning helps children to understand new words and supports them to use this vocabulary in their work. This model is reflected in shared and guided reading sessions, where children are given the chance to explore unfamiliar vocabulary and expand their knowledge of words, encouraging them to become resourceful beavers. We are keen to model the correct grammar in speech. Children are given the chance to orally rehearse ideas for writing regularly.

We work in collaboration with Speech and Language specialists within Cheshire East and across our Learning for Life Partnership. Our staff take part in mutual sharing and training sessions throughout our multi academy trust. The targeted children are invited to work with Elklan trained speech and language specialist teaching assistants. By having one to one sessions, the children are encouraged to correct their mistakes in a safe and fun environment, therefore giving them the confidence to engage in larger group activities and promote their resilience. 

Impact:

Speaking and listening give us the basic skills we need to communicate with the world around us. Children are given a range of opportunities to develop these skills, in a safe and stimulating environment. The wide range of speaking and listening activities – which are weaved throughout our curriculum – help to develop ideas, vocabulary and confidence, as the more we talk, the more we pick up on different words that other people use.