English

The English Department at St Hugh’s structures its teaching upon three principles:

• Our children must understand what others mean.
• They should have the ability to make their own ideas understood.
• They need to be able to express themselves orally with clarity and confidence.

Whilst these aims are closely connected there are particular approaches and activities which underpin our ambitions as the children develop their ability to become reflective, independent and enthusiastic communicators. 

In Pre-Prep, for example, we teach early reading and spelling through the highly successful Read Write Inc. (RWI) Phonics programme. Through daily phonics lessons, in small groups, children learn to recognise sounds, blend them to read words and apply them in their writing. Teaching is carefully matched to each child’s stage of development, helping every pupil to make strong progress and grow in confidence. Alongside phonics, we nurture a love of books and storytelling, laying the foundations for lifelong reading success.

For further examples of our approach to English throughout the yeargroups at St Hugh's, please click on the link in the bullet point list above. 

Teaching English to children from 4 to 16 is fascinating and challenging.  Children’s skills develop at markedly different rates but we believe that with diverse and individual attention all of our children will leave St Hugh’s with the confidence to succeed in the English classroom with whatever challenges their senior schools present.

As Wittgenstein said, ‘The limits of my language are the limits of my world.’  Our department aims to give our pupils the widest horizons.