Introduction

TESL, is a one-to-one scheme for bilingual children who need help to improve their English language skills. Working closely with the child’s teacher, volunteers usually visit their child at home each week, after school or at the weekend, to increase his or her confidence in using the English language by helping with general reading and writing skills. Our volunteers provide the extra attention that some parents are unable to give, and busy teachers often do not have time to devote, that can make such a difference to a child’s achievements.

1. Guide to Key Stages
2. Quick tips
2.1. Reading 5-11 years
2.2. Writing and spelling 5-11 years
3. Learning Objectives
3.1. Foundation Stage (4-5 years)
3.2 Year 1 (5-6 years)
3.3 Year 2 (6-7 years)
3.4 Year 3 (7-8 years)
3.5 Year 4 (8-9 years)
3.6 Year 5 (9-10 years)
3.7 Year 6 (10-11 years)
3.8 Progression year 6/7 (11-12 years)

 

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1. Guide to Key Stages

Age	Year	Key Stage (KS)	Assessment
3-4		EYFS
4-5	Reception	EYFS
5-6	Year 1	KS1
6-7	Year 2	KS1	Teacher assessments in English, maths and science
7-8	Year 3	KS2
8-9	Year 4	KS2
9-10	Year 5	KS2
10-11	Year 6	KS2	National tests in English, maths and science
11-12	Year 7	KS3	Ongoing teacher assessments
12-13	Year 8	KS3	Ongoing teacher assessments
13-14	Year 9	KS3	Teacher assessments foundation subjects
14-15	Year 10	KS4	Some children take GCSEs
15-16	Year 11	KS4	Most children take GCSEs or other national qualifications

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2. Quick tips

2.1. Reading 5-11 years:

• When you read to your child, make the experience interactive – ask questions about the story, the pictures, and what they think of the characters
• As their reading skills grow, gradually let them turn the tables until they’re reading to you
• Use dictionaries together for difficult words – a picture dictionary can make exploring language more interesting
• Enrol your child at the local library so they can try new books regularly
• Keep an eye out for the themes that catch your child’s imagination at school – and help follow it up with more reading
• When you come across an unusual or funny-sounding word, help your child find out what it means and write it on the fridge door with magnetic letters
• As your child gets older encourage them to pick up other books around the house to boost familiarity with ‘grown-up’ language.
• Suggest a reading list, and encourage your child to write down thoughts on the books they have read.

2.2. Writing and spelling 5-11 years

It’s easier to get into good handwriting habits early on than to correct poor writing later, when the pressure of schoolwork is greater. The same goes for spelling. Help your child to see writing and spelling skills not only as fun, but as something important and to be proud of:

• help younger children by writing words and sentences for them to copy
• emphasise the links between drawing and writing, and make sure your child always signs finished artwork
• encourage your child to be inspired by examples of beautiful handwriting in museums, galleries and books

Older children can develop their writing and social skills together by finding penfriends through school or clubs, or keeping in touch with friends met on holiday

 

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3. Learning Objectives

http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/strands/34758/34266/110199

3.1. Foundation Stage (4-5 years)

Speaking:

• Enjoy listening to and using spoken and written language and readily turn to it in play and learning
• Use talk to organise, sequence and clarify thinking, ideas, feelings and events
• Use language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences
• Speak clearly and audibly with confidence and control and show awareness of the listener
• Extend their vocabulary, exploring the meanings and sounds of new words

Listening and responding:

• Listen with enjoyment and respond to stories, songs and other music, rhymes and poems and make up their own stories, songs, rhymes and poems
• Sustain attentive listening, responding to what they have heard by relevant comments, questions or actions
• Extend their vocabulary, exploring meanings and sounds of new words

Engaging and responding to texts:

• Listen with enjoyment to stories, songs, rhymes and poems, sustain attentive listening and respond with relevant comments, questions and actions
• Show an understanding of the elements of stories, such as main character, sequence of events, and openings and how information can be found in non-fiction texts to answer questions about where, who, why and how
• Use language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences

3.2 Year 1 (5-6 years)

Speaking:

• Retell stories, ordering events using story language
• Tell stories and describe incidents from their own experience in an audible voice
• Interpret a text by reading aloud with some variety in pace and emphasis
• Experiment with and build new stores of words to communicate in different contexts

Listening and responding:

• Listen with sustained concentration, building new stores of words in different contexts
• Listen to tapes or video and express views about how a story or information has been presented
• Listen to and follow instructions accurately, asking for help and clarification if necessary

Engaging and responding to texts:

• Select books for personal reading and give reasons for choices
• Visualise and comment on events, characters and ideas, making imaginative links to their own experiences
• Distinguish fiction and non-fiction texts and the different purposes for reading them

3.3 Year 2 (6-7 years)

Speaking:

• Speak with clarity and use appropriate intonation when reading and reciting texts
• Tell real and imagined stories using the conventions of familiar story language
• Explain ideas and processes using imaginative and adventurous vocabulary and non-verbal gestures to support communication

Listening and responding:

• Listen to others in class, ask relevant questions and follow instructions
• Listen to talk by an adult, remember some specific points and identify what they have learned
• Respond to presentations by describing characters, repeating some highlights and commenting constructively

Engaging and responding to texts:

• Read whole books on their own, choosing and justifying selections
• Engage with books through exploring and enacting interpretations
• Explain their reactions to texts, commenting on important aspects

3.4 Year 3 (7-8 years)

Speaking:

• Choose and prepare poems or stories for performance, identifying appropriate expression, tone, volume and use of voices and other sounds
• Explain process or present information, ensuring that items are clearly sequenced, relevant details are included and accounts are ended effectively
• Sustain conversation, explain or give reasons for their views or choices
• Develop and use specific vocabulary in different contexts

Engaging and responding to texts:

• Share and compare reasons for reading preferences, extending the range of books read
• Empathise with characters and debate moral dilemmas portrayed in texts
• Identify features that writers use to provoke readers’ reactions

3.5 Year 4 (8-9 years)

Speaking:

• Offer reasons and evidence for their views, considering alternative opinions
• Respond appropriately to the contributions of others in the light of differing viewpoints
• Tell stories effectively and convey detailed information coherently for listeners Use and reflect on some ground rules for sustaining talk and interactions

Engaging and responding to texts:

• Read extensively favourite authors or genres and experiment with other types of text
• Interrogate texts to deepen and clarify understanding and response
• Explore why and how writers write, including through face-to-face and online contact with authors

3.6 Year 5 (9-10 years)

Speaking:

• Tell a story using notes designed to cue techniques, such as repetition, recap and humour
• Present a spoken argument, sequencing points logically, defending views with evidence and making use of persuasive language
• Use and explore different question types and different ways words are used, including in formal and informal contexts

Engaging and responding to texts:

• Reflect on reading habits and preferences and plan personal reading goals
• Compare the usefulness of techniques such as visualisation, prediction and empathy in exploring the meaning of texts
• Compare how a common theme is presented in poetry, prose and other media

3.7 Year 6 (10-11 years)

Speaking:

• Use a range of oral techniques to present persuasive arguments and engaging narratives
• Participate in whole-class debate using the conventions and language of debate, including standard English
• Use the techniques of dialogic talk to explore ideas, topics or issues

Engaging and responding to texts:

• Read extensively and discuss personal reading with others, including in reading groups
• Sustain engagement with longer texts, using different techniques to make the text come alive
• Compare how writers from different times and places present experiences and use language

3.8 Progression year 6/7 (11-12 years)

Speaking:

• Use exploratory, hypothetical and speculative talk as a tool for clarifying ideas
• Tailor the structure, vocabulary and delivery of a talk or presentation so that it is helpfully sequenced and supported by gesture or other visual aid as appropriate
• Use standard English consistently in formal situations and promote, justify or defend a point of view using supporting evidence, example and illustration which are linked back to the main argument

Engaging and responding to texts:

• Read a range of recent fiction texts independently as the basis for developing critical reflection and personal response
• Explore the notion of literary heritages and understand why some texts have been particularly influential or significant
• Write reflectively about a text, distinguishing between the attitudes and assumptions of characters and those of the author and taking account of the needs of others who might read it