Vocabulary
At South Failsworth, we know that a good understanding of a wide range of vocabulary supports success across the whole curriculum.
Improving children’s vocabulary is a whole school priority.
We want all our children to acquire a wide vocabulary and gain a good understanding of words. At the beginning of lessons, children are shown key words related to their learning to discuss and activate their prior knowledge. The learning environment supports vocabulary development with key words, images and contextualised examples.
Vocabulary is a key component of our curriculum. It is regularly referred to throughout all interactions. We provide opportunities for the children to encounter vocabulary through high-quality texts, all conversations, independent reading, being read to, modelled writing, direct teaching, assemblies, encounters on trips with experts and performances. Children in Nursery and Reception love finding out the wonderful words that 'Greedy Granny' has gobbled! Children in Years 1 - 6 examine words that the 'Vocabulary Thief' has stolen.
We use 'Word of the Day' in Years 1 -6 to develop children's subject specific vocabulary (Tier 3) in maths, English, science, history, geography and PSHE/SMSC. Key vocabulary is identified in our curriculum progression documents. It is also identified on our knowledge organisers.
In addition to our 'Word of the Day' , we plan to introduce the South Failsworth 1000 Word Project in September 2023. Each subject leader has identified 11 key words for each year group that they want children to know, understand and use well, from EYFS through to Year 6. Many more words are introduced each year but these 11 words have been identified as the most crucial words to learn during that school year. Our intention is that by the end of their primary education, all children will have a good understanding of at least 1000 subject specific words, are using these words in their speech, reading and writing and have developed a ‘word conciousness’ to help them understand academic vocabulary as they move into Key Stage 3 and beyond.
Click on the links below to see the South Failsworth 77 Word documents for each subject area.