English

At Winchester House, English is a fundamental component of the whole curriculum, as we believe that sound literacy skills are pivotal to learning in every subject area.  Helping children to communicate effectively through spoken and written language is vital for their academic progress and future successes within a global community.  We want all our children to be able to communicate on a sophisticated, precise and creative level, whilst at the same time enjoying their English lessons and having fun.

Children read a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction texts, together with poetry and drama, both modern and from the literary cannon, gaining access to the ideas and experiences that shape our culture and those from around the world.  As important, is our desire to encourage our children to be active readers who enjoy what they read.  We believe that good readers make good writers. We teach our children how to adapt their writing for different audiences and purposes, with creativity and technical accuracy, making vocabulary, spelling, punctuation and grammar a key component of our lessons. Confidence with spoken language skills are developed through a variety of activities such as debating, the annual Public Speaking Competition and poetry recital.

Children leave Winchester House School with the confidence to express themselves though the written word and orally, together with the ability to analyse how writers convey meaning with the language and literary techniques that they use.