As a part of the national curriculum, children are expected to learn English. It’s there to help build communication skills, thinking skills and broaden their understanding of the wider world. Progress can also trickle down and boost their grades in other subjects. Those like history and business for example, while unrelated, rely on a high standard of English as they will be expected to read and complete essays. Below are some more reasons as to why English Literature is a core subject at school.
This post was written with the help of an independent primary school in Cambridge.
Thinking Skills
English teaches children more than just how to read and write, it teaches them how to problem solve and think analytically. They will have the opportunity to explore a variety of texts, both modern and old and they will need to think critically about the messages they’re trying to convey.
Culture
There’s also a lot that English can teach children about themselves and their culture. When visiting historic texts, they can learn about the times that they were written in and appreciate how far we’ve come as a society.
Communication
English is undoubtedly one of the subjects that we need in our everyday life. We need it for comprehension, actually understanding what others say and communicating ourselves effectively. Poor SPAG and vocabulary can limit this and become a barrier for socialising which is why it’s a must for children to learn.
Employability
Good English and communication skills are therefore a necessity for any job. There’s not much that you can do without a GCSE in English.
Forming Arguments
Evidence is needed for any convincing argument. English gets children into the habit of doing this by teaching them how to dissect information and structure their arguments using PEE. Point, evidence, and explanation.
