English

Vision

Avid readers, Eloquent speakers, Inspired writers

Mission

Cantonment Primary School’s English Department is committed to building an English language classroom that will produce young communicators who can articulate their ideas well; verbally and written and to encourage a love for the language.

To ensure our students grow into successful and responsible members of society, we believe that a strong foundation in the English language is essential. At the primary level, we place a strong emphasis on helping students master the fundamental skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Our goal is to cultivate a genuine love for the language, empowering students to appreciate its power and use it responsibly.

Throughout their learning journey, we provide our students with enriching and meaningful experiences that foster critical thinking, creativity, and innovation. These experiences are designed to deepen their knowledge and skills, preparing them to become thoughtful, independent thinkers.

The knowledge and skills our students acquire will empower them to take ownership of their learning, cultivating a natural curiosity about the world and a commitment to lifelong learning.

Signature Programmes

School Based Curriculum
In addition to the STELLAR2.0 programme, the department has developed a structured curriculum designed to engage, empower, and enable students to successfully build strong language skills.

English Language Oracy Programme
Oracy is recognised as a fundamental pillar of early childhood development. By engaging in oracy within the social context of the classroom, students actively participate in the development of their understanding, while making knowledge and skills their own.

Oracy encompasses the intricate ways in which language, interpersonal, and thinking skills intersect and influence one another in the school environment. It highlights the essential role of listening and speaking in children’s learning. The ability to listen attentively, speak clearly, communicate fluently, and engage in meaningful two-way interactions is considered a crucial component of children’s academic development and their success in mastering the English language.

This is a 5-year Oracy Programme which provides a platform for students to:

Appreciate the English Language through creative ways
Express themselves creatively through the English Language
Appreciate good quality works of literature
Work with peers to create works of literature

Level	Objectives	Oracy Programme focus
Primary 1	Enhance speaking skills Learn creative expressions of the language through movement and drama skills Build confidence in using the language	Dramatic reading
Primary 2	Build confidence and promote collaborative skills Explore language use for interpretation and self-expression Learn a wide range of expressive language through different media	Let’s talk
Primary 3	Enhance their oral skills and learn to engage with different genres of texts in a unique, enjoyable and gratifying way. Learn to use reading and speech to portray characters, narration or exposition. Learn to present in storytelling or poetry to bring clarity and purpose through oral interpretation. Build their ability to express themselves with fluency and confidence through the medium of oral storytelling and/or poetry.	Gen-I-US (Genre Writing)
Primary 4	Exposed to drama games to inject the joy in learning of English Drama games/activities allow students to have fun, build confidence, stretch their imagination and grow as a class. Energiser activities to keep students engaged. Develop oracy skills	Speak Write
Primary 5	To communicate thoughts, opinions, views and belief through the 3Cs: Critical analysis - Think deeply and independently and come up with solutions (Thinking) Communication - Communicate the solution persuasively to others (Speaking) Confidence - To be seen as confident and sure-footed (Winning) With the 3Cs, students will have more balanced opinions as they are trained to see both sides of every issue	Debating

Character Alive Programme

At Cantonment Primary School, we place a strong emphasis on celebrating reading. We aim to make reading an enjoyable experience for our students, highlighted by our annual English Language Week, where we bring characters to life. This event sparks students' curiosity about the fascinating characters within stories or theme. We encourage all students to explore the excitement of different literary genres. As part of the celebration, students have the opportunity to dress up as their favorite storybook characters and enjoy a fun-filled day of activities.

Our Time To Enjoy Reading (OTTER) Programme

At Cantonment Primary School, we are committed to fostering a love of reading among our students. This programme offers students the opportunity to explore books across various genres. Through book sharing sessions, students are introduced to a diverse range of titles that ignite their curiosity and encourage them to explore different texts. In addition to enhancing literacy skills, this initiative also provides students with a deeper understanding of the world and the diverse cultures that surround them.

Collaboration with Parents

To ensure that our students not only enjoy learning the English language but also become confident communicators, we greatly value the support of our parents.

Parents can play a key role in helping their child develop proficiency by providing access to English-language reading materials at home. By demonstrating that learning English is both enjoyable and practical in everyday life, parents can create opportunities for their child to listen, speak, read, and write in English.

Useful Links For Parents

National Library Board (NLB)

Access NLB catalogue and a list of eResources for primary school students

Book recommendations for Primary 1 to 6 are available https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/site/discovereads/children/reading-recommendations/booklists.

Games and activities - LearnEnglish Kids
LearnEnglish Kids has lots of free online games, songs, stories and activities for children to have fun while learning English.

Vocabulary - Learning Chocolate

This is an interactive website to help with learning English vocabulary which is very helpful for beginners.

Learning Platform - Starfall

Starfall is good for elementary or beginning language students. It has many reading activities that students can read and follow along while the story is being read to them.

Reading - TumbleBooks

TumbleBooks is a good resource for parents to use with the child. It has lots of reading materials and learning resources that parent and child can use together.

Reading - Epic books

Inspiring the next generation to develop a love of reading and learning.

The 'epic!' reading experience designed just for kids is an award-winning subscription service, which gives millions of families and classrooms instant, unlimited access to thousands of books, videos and quizzes from leading publishers to help kids everywhere read, learn and grow.