English key stage 1

Statutory content 

Teaching should ensure that work in 'speaking and listening', 'reading' and 'writing' is integrated.

Explanatory notes

In English, during key stage 1 pupils learn to speak confidently and listen to what others have to say. They begin to read and write independently and with enthusiasm. They use language to explore their own experiences and imaginary worlds.

Speaking and listening: during key stage 1 pupils learn to speak clearly, thinking about the needs of their listeners. They work in small groups and as a class, joining in discussions and making relevant points. They also learn how to listen carefully to what other people are saying, so that they can remember the main points. They learn to use language in imaginative ways and express their ideas and feelings when working in role and in drama activities.

Building on the early learning goals
Pupils' prior experience of speaking and listening includes:

  • using language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences

  • attentive listening and response

  • interacting with others in play and to get things done.

Knowledge, skills and understanding

Speaking

1. To speak clearly, fluently and confidently to different people, pupils should be taught to:

  1. speak with clear diction and appropriate intonation
  2. choose words with precision
  3. organise what they say
  4. focus on the main point(s)
  5. include relevant detail
  6. take into account the needs of their listeners.

Listening

2. To listen, understand and respond to others, pupils should be taught to:

  1. sustain concentration
  2. remember specific points that interest them
  3. make relevant comments
  4. listen to others' reactions
  5. ask questions to clarify their understanding
  6. identify and respond to sound patterns in language [for example, alliteration, rhyme, word play].

Group discussion and interaction

3. To join in as members of a group, pupils should be taught to:

  1. take turns in speaking
  2. relate their contributions to what has gone on before
  3. take different views into account
  4. extend their ideas in the light of discussion
  5. give reasons for opinions and actions.

Drama

4. To participate in a range of drama activities, pupils should be taught to:

  1. use language and actions to explore and convey situations, characters and emotions
  2. create and sustain roles individually and when working with others
  3. comment constructively on drama they have watched or in which they have taken part.

Standard English

5. Pupils should be introduced to some of the main features of spoken standard English and be taught to use them.

Language variation

6. Pupils should be taught about how speech varies:

  1. in different circumstances [for example, to reflect on how their speech changes in more formal situations]
  2. to take account of different listeners [for example, adapting what they say when speaking to people they do not know].

Explanatory notes

Note on standard English

The paragraphs on standard English, language variation, language structure, and language structure and variation in speaking and listening, reading and writing provide a coherent basis for language study.

When teaching standard English it is helpful to bear in mind the most common non-standard usages in England:

  • subject-verb agreements (they was)

  • formation of past tense (have fell, I done)

  • formation of negatives (ain't).

Breadth of study

7. During the key stage, pupils should be taught the Knowledge, skills and understanding through the following range of activities, contexts and purposes.

Speaking

8. The range should include:

  1. telling stories, real and imagined
  2. reading aloud and reciting
  3. describing events and experiences
  4. speaking to different people, including friends, the class, teachers and other adults.

Listening

9. The range should include opportunities for pupils to listen to:

  1. each other
  2. adults giving detailed explanations and presentations [for example, describing how a model works, reading aloud]
  3. recordings [for example, radio, television].

Group discussion and interaction

10. The range of purposes should include:

  1. making plans and investigating
  2. sharing ideas and experiences
  3. commenting and reporting.

Drama activities

11. The range should include:

  1. working in role
  2. presenting drama and stories to others [for example, telling a story through tableaux or using a narrator]
  3. responding to performances.

This content relates to the 1999 programmes of study and attainment targets.