Primary English Language Curriculum

The English curriculum is designed to offer children a language experience which integrates oral language, reading and writing based on Cambridge international standards. Our curriculum notes that language is crucial in the learning process. Children learn about language and also learn through language. Oral language is of particular importance throughout the curriculum, as it is central to the development of the child’s general language ability. Speaking and discussion are encouraged in every curriculum area.

It helps children to:

• Develop their ability to communicate and use language socially
• Improve cognitive skills
• Develop reading and writing skills
• Enhance their language experience and imaginative powers. The approach to reading presented in the English Curriculum is based on this integrated language experience. From the lower elementary stage children should experience a print-rich environment in which they have access to rich prints, stories and written texts. As their reading skills develop, children
• Read for pleasure and information
• Learn to locate and use books for a variety of purposes
• Develop the higher order comprehension skills
• Learn to read for functional and social purposes.

The ability to write clearly and expressively is developed through the process of writing. When they write, students:

• have opportunities to write for a variety of purposes and in a range of genres
• develop the ability to self-correct their own writing, through a consistent experience of drafting, editing and redrafting.
• develop a command of the conventions of grammar, spelling and punctuation, and progressively become independent writers.

By using a range of assessment tools, the teacher can monitor the children’s progress in language development at every stage in order to identify difficulties as early as possible, and provide appropriate support.