English

Intent

We believe that a quality Literacy (English) curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion. We have a rigorous and well organised English curriculum that provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion.

Our curriculum closely follows the aims of the National Curriculum for English 2014 to enable all children to:

Read easily, fluently and with good understanding
Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
Appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
Use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
Are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.

These aims are embedded across our literacy lessons and the wider curriculum. We will provide the means for children to develop a secure knowledge-base in Literacy, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum. Rigorous assessment and review will ensure that we are able to provide targeted support so that all children experience success in literacy; we believe that a secure basis in literacy skills is crucial to a high quality education and will give our children the tools they need to participate fully as a member of society.

Implementation

Early reading is supported through the Sounds Write scheme. Regular training and development days ensure that staff are equipped to teach with the expertise and skills required to promote excellent progress, as well as a love of reading. Each class’s timetable is organised to enable weekly access to the KS1 and KS2 library, with an up to date selection of books to provide quality reading materials for all children to promote reading for enjoyment. The children also take part in organising and developing their classroom reading area and an annual competition ensures that efforts are recognised.

Phonics-Sounds Write

We use the Sounds~Write linguistic phonics programme to teach our children to read, spell and write. Children are taught to understand the relationship between spoken language and written words. It starts with what the children naturally acquire, spoken language, and teaches them the relationship between sound-spelling correspondences. Teaching children to read through Linguistic Phonics allows them to develop their decoding skills; this supports children in learning to blend graphemes (letters) for reading, segment phonemes (sounds) for spelling and manipulate phonemes (sounds) to develop accuracy in reading and spelling. All of our teachers receive training to deliver the Sounds~Write phonics programme.

Pathways to Write

Pathways to Write is a proven methodology built around units of work which develop vocabulary, reading and writing skills through the mastery approach. The units, for use with pupils from EYFS to Y6, provide clear detailed lesson plans and resources, linked to high-quality texts to ensure engaging and purposeful English lessons. Effective teaching strategies to challenge greater depth writers are included within each unit of work.

Please refer to individual class pages to view some of the texts your child will be studying this term.

Assessment for Learning is embedded in literacy lessons and children are active in reviewing the successes in their work and identifying, with support from their teacher, target areas for development to ensure a continuous and individualised approach to improving their work.

Spelling

From Year 2 to Year 6 we are teaching spelling linked to the Pathways to Write units, as well as the Babcock spelling scheme. Children will often receive spelling homework tasks linked to the spelling patterns they have been taught that week.

Reading

All of our early reading books enable children to take their first steps into reading and have success. The simple, decodable texts enable them to practise the skills and code knowledge they are learning. Children enjoy these quirky stories about children and their unusual pets. The books are matched to the Sounds-Write units in the Initial Code.

When a child has sufficiently developed their reading skills they will be moved onto our banded books, children at this stage are able to choose from a wide range of reading material in our school library.

Reading for Pleasure

We actively encourage reading for pleasure and recognise it as a core part of every child’s education, regardless of their background or attainment. We make reading a key part of our curriculum and expose pupils to a wide range of texts in a variety of different situations. We take the view that extensive reading and exposure to a wide range of texts makes a vital contribution to every child’s educational achievement. Reading for pleasure aims to establish each child as a lifetime reader. Studies emphasise the importance of reading for pleasure for both educational as well as personal development. They show that promoting reading can have a major impact on children, their future and their life chances.

Impact

The organisation of the English curriculum, has realised a community of enthusiastic readers and writers who enjoy showcasing their developing literacy knowledge and skills. Outcomes of work in books evidence the high quality of work and the impact of varied and cross curricular writing opportunities. These enable children to write across a range of forms and adapt their writing successfully, considering the purpose.