English
The All Saints’ Way…
Working together as a TEAM
Taking Risks – children who show courageous determination in their learning
Encouraging Learning – children being curious in their learning
Achieving Goals – children having the desire to be the best that they can be
Making Memories – in a school where children are respectful, show kindness and experience joyfulness!
The Lord says "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you" (Psalm 32 v8). This psalm gives us strength and courage in our convictions as curriculum designers.
English in the Early Years
At All Saints’ C of E Primary, we promote early reading and writing at every opportunity and place great emphasis on spoken language. We believe it underpins children’s natural curiosity of storytelling and enjoyment of books. Within every area of the classroom, we have carefully planned exciting and engaging texts that support prior knowledge as well as exposure to new skills. These texts also foster inclusivity, recognition of protected characteristics and modern British values- to allow our children to make sense of, interrogate and unlock the world around them, as well as laying the foundations for them to enrich their vocabulary.
Across EYFS literacy knowledge and skills are also developed through the continuous provision of the environment. Resources are available to be selected by the children to support their emergent reading and writing skills, in all areas.
In Reception, we begin to teach individual phonemes during our daily phonics session. In addition, we share a love of reading with high quality texts and traditional stories and rhymes.
English Curriculum Intent...
Our intent is for all pupils – irrespective of their needs, abilities or background – to learn to speak, read and write fluently and with understanding. We have a rigorous and well organised English curriculum that continues to excite, engage and challenge in all three areas.
For pupils to succeed in education, reading must be a priority. Pupils’ reading ability and knowledge acquisition are of great importance at All Saints’ C of E Primary. We cultivate a love of reading, through vocabulary rich and high quality literature. Through their reading and listening, they are able to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually.
Writing allows all children to find and use their voice – and affect the change they want to see in the world. We aim to equip our pupils with the ability to speak and write coherently for a range of purposes and audiences so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others.
Our curriculum aims to meet and, where possible, exceed the expectations of the Early Learning Goals and the National Curriculum for English 2014. The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread Reading for enjoyment. The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:
- read easily, fluently and with good understanding
● develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information to become life-long readers
● 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 English lessons and the wider curriculum. We will provide the means for children to develop a secure knowledge-base in English, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum. Assessment and review will ensure that we are able to provide targeted support so that all children experience success in English; 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 members of society.
Our holistic approach towards teaching reading, writing and oracy ultimately aims to allow all of our learners to see and use the power and magic of language.
Implementation...
The direct teaching of reading starts with oracy and phonics. Early reading is currently implemented using Read Write Inc. Phonics is taught daily and is monitored regularly.
We use two quality schemes – (Jane Considine and Read to Write units of work) - both of which have a progressive, sequential approach using high quality and engaging texts. When planning English lessons, teachers make links to other areas of the curriculum to ensure that cross curricular links and application provide further context for learning. Teaching blocks focus on fiction, non-fiction or poetry, in line with the 2014 National Curriculum and comprehension, grammar and writing are embedded in lessons. Non-fiction texts are used to support fictional writing. Lesson sequences themselves build progressively towards an extended piece of writing. Handwriting is also taught within English lessons, and outcomes in KS2 are recorded in English books to promote a high level of pride and presentation across all written outcomes.
Reading for pleasure is encouraged at all times. Each classroom has a reading area and we strive to keep our books current and of a high quality.
We place high-quality texts at the heart of the children’s learning, providing real examples of effective narrative techniques and rich vocabulary. Each unit of learning provides the opportunity to write for a particular purpose by developing, securing and independently applying a range of appropriate grammatical structures, text features and punctuation to suit each specific genre. Whilst developing a strong sense of audience, teachers use a range of drama and discussion processes to completely immerse pupils into fictional worlds - igniting curiosity, provoking enquiry and demanding critical thinking. Writing follows the cycle of Immerse, Analyse, Plan, Write and Edit.
Staff use Focus English to guide our sequencing and progression in applying phonics, reading for pleasure, accuracy, fluency and understanding. Focus English is also used for sequencing and progression in spoken language, handwriting, spelling, composition, grammar, punctuation, different genres of fiction, non-fiction and specific poetry.
Philosophy for Children (P4C) is also a tool we may draw upon to refine debating strategies and language.
Impact...
Our English curriculum and our constant promotion of the love of reading results in a community of enthusiastic readers and writers who enjoy showcasing their developing literacy knowledge and skills. Children are confident to take risks in their reading and writing, and love to discuss and share their ideas. Outcomes of work in both English and topic 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 and audience.
We use the process of moderation to within and across year groups as well as between different schools as part of our assessment of standards.
