Children at Parkfield are encouraged to express themselves in Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing.

Speaking and Listening

Talking is fundamental to a pupil's learning. Pupils are encouraged and helped to talk clearly, confidently and with expression in order to communicate ideas and feelings. Similarly, and just as importantly, is the need to listen carefully and respond appropriately. All children are provided with opportunities in all areas of the curriculum to develop skills in speaking and listening.

Reading

One of the greatest gifts that we can give a child is the ability to read. We encourage children to read everyday at home as reading regularly ensures children become more fluent and confident readers. We believe that reading should be an enjoyable activity, and our approach to reading is based on this. We employ a variety of techniques to ensure children have a 'love' of reading, which include listening centres in every class, chatter boxes, reading journals, comprehension activities, reading buddies, choosing books as well as individual and guided reading. We also have a new school library to ensure that children have experience of a real library where they can borrow and return books. At Key Stage 1 there is a greater emphasis on phonics and reading. At Key Stage 2 we extend and develop each child's reading skills.

Writing

Writing is best learned if children are encouraged to do it for real reasons - cards, letters, lists etc. Children are encouraged to see the marking comments as tips on how to improve their writing. The children know these tips as 'next steps' and will improve their work accordingly. We encourage pupils to read, check and improve their work, alone, in a group, or through peer assessment, building up a sense of purpose, confidence, pride and ownership in what they do. Handwriting, spelling, punctuation and grammar all play an important part in this process. Attention is giving to handwriting style. At first children learn to form letters correctly and then they are taught a model joined script, so they are able to develop a neat, flowing style of their own.