Meet our KS2 English Lead
Mrs Cheema is our passionate and dedicated KS2 English Lead, overseeing English for children in Years 3 through 6. Her commitment ensures our curriculum is vibrant and effective. Our pupils participate in a stimulating whole class reading session where they engage with diverse texts—fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. To sharpen their comprehension skills, children answer essential VIPER questions in class daily. This structured approach, combined with the daily opportunities for reading at school it is equally important children read daily home. This is fundamental for developing fluent, insightful readers.
Furthermore, during our dynamic whole class writing lessons, we follow Pie Corbett’s ‘Talk for Writing’ program. This innovative and immersive method prioritises oral language (oracy) as the cornerstone of written expression. Children first “learn” a core text to internalise its structure and vocabulary. Using this solid foundation, they then create their own exciting versions, incorporating their unique perspectives and shared ideas. This ensures all our children are empowered to produce creative, sophisticated, and enjoyable writing. We are truly proud of the progress our young writers and readers make under Mrs Cheema’s expert guidance.
Dinner Table Quiz: What’s a VIPER Question?
V.I.P.E.R.S (Vocabulary, Inference, Predict, Explain, Retrieve and Summarise / Sequence)
Q1 (The V): What kind of VIPER question asks you to find and understand a tricky or interesting word in the story? (Answer: Vocabulary Question! It helps you build your word bank! 📚)
Q2 (The I): If a VIPER question asks you to figure out what a character is feeling without the story explicitly telling you, what type of question is it? (Answer: Inference Question! You have to be a reading detective! 🕵️♀️)
Q3 (The P): Which VIPER question asks you to use clues in the text to guess what might happen next in the plot? (Answer: Prediction Question! What’s your best guess? 🔮)
Q4 (The E): If a question asks you “How does the author make the setting feel scary?” or “What effect does that short sentence have?”, what VIPER question is it? (Answer: Explanation/Evaluation Question! It’s all about how and why the writer made those choices! 🗣️)
Q5 (The R): Where does a retrieval question send you to find the exact, factual answer? (Answer: Right back into the text! Look carefully for the fact! 🔎)
Q6 (The other S, sometimes used!): Which optional VIPER question asks you to give a quick overview of the most important parts of the whole text? (Answer: Summarizing Question! It’s the ‘short and sweet’ version! 📝)