English school trip ideas for primary schools

English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society. A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate with others, and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. (Yes, that’s the practical outcome of quality English teaching – but it’s about more than that. It’s about your pupils’ creativity thriving, their imaginations running wild, and developing a joy in reading.)

Literature especially plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. (It doesn’t stop there. Reading enables empathy and helps pupils to understand different perspectives. Discussing or acting out scenes from books also helps build pupils’ skills and confidence in speaking and listening.)

Key Stage 1 – Pupils should be taught

Spoken language

• Listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers

• Ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge

• Articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions

• Give well-structured descriptions

• Speak audibly and fluently 

• Participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates

Reading – word reading

• Apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words

• Read accurately by blending sounds in unfamiliar words 

• Read aloud accurately 

• Re-read these books to build up their fluency and confidence

Reading – comprehension

• Develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by

• Understand both the books they can already read accurately and fluently and those they listen to

Writing – transcription

• Spell words containing phonemes and common exception words 

• Name the letters of the alphabet

• Add prefixes and suffixes

• Apply simple spelling rules and guidance

Handwriting

• Sit correctly, holding a pencil comfortably and correctly

• Begin to form lower-case letters in the correct direction

• Form capital letters

• Form digits 0-9

Writing – composition

• Write in sentences 

• Write narratives about personal experiences and those of others 

• Write about real events

• Write poetry

• Consider what they are going to write before beginning

• Make simple additions, revisions and corrections to their writing

Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

• Begin to punctuate sentences using a capital letter, full stop, question and exclamation marks

• Use a capital letter for names of people, places, and days of the week

• Use sentences with different forms: statement, question, exclamation, command

• Use expanded noun phrases to describe and specify 

• Use the present and past tenses correctly 

Key Stage 2 – Pupils should be taught

Reading – word reading

• Apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes 

• Read further exception words

• Apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes 

Reading – comprehension

• Listen to and discuss fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books 

• Read books that are structured in different ways 

• Use a dictionary

• Prepare poems and play scripts to read aloud and perform

• Understand what they read, in books they can read independently

• Maintain positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read

Writing – transcription

• Spell words that are often misspelt

• Place the possessive apostrophe accurately 

• Spell words with ‘silent’ letters

• Use a thesaurus

• Write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed 

Handwriting

• Use the diagonal and horizontal strokes that are needed to join letters

• Increase the legibility, consistency and quality of their handwriting 

Writing – composition

• Plan their writing 

• Draft and write by building a rich vocabulary, organising paragraphs, and creating settings, characters and plot

• Evaluate and edit by proposing changes, proof-reading and reading aloud

Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

• Choose nouns or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion and to avoid repetition

• Use conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to express time and cause

• Use fronted adverbials

• Using and punctuate direct speech

• Recognise vocabulary and structures that are appropriate for formal speech and writing 

• Use expanded noun phrases, modal verbs and relative clauses 

• Use commas, hyphens, brackets, dashes, semi-colons and colons