Curriculum English Overview

‘English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society. A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society; pupils, therefore, who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are effectively disenfranchised.’ (National Curriculum, 2014)

 

Aims

 

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
• 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.

 

Curriculum Intent

At St. Martin’s School, we recognise the importance of English as a core subject in the National Curriculum and acknowledge that understanding and communicating the English language is crucial if children are to progress both educationally and socially. Excellent English skills allow children to access the whole breadth of the National Curriculum, engage with the world through listening and reading and communicate creatively and imaginatively with the wider world through speaking and writing.

 

The underpinning principle of our English policy is that the provision of English education within our school meets the needs of all children within our diverse school community – all are unique and special, made in God’s image, with everyone welcomed and included.

 

Knowledge in English is defined as:

 

Knowledge in English-

 

Knowledge in reading refers to the understanding and application of effective reading strategies. When these reading strategies are secure and reading is fluent and automatic, children are able to interpret and evaluate a range of literature (see reading rationale). In writing, knowledge refers to the understanding and application of grammatical, structural and linguistic features. Our planning and teaching builds on children’s knowledge and allows opportunity for deliberate practice, e.g. use of grammatical, structural and linguistic features, once this knowledge is secure and fluent, children can apply this knowledge to a range of purposes and evaluate written text.

 

Substantive Knowledge-

 

In reading, substantive knowledge is the ability to decode and sight-read words. This allows children opportunities to read for pleasure, including reading and reciting poetry, and develop their vocabulary. Children are then able to apply their knowledge of reading strategies to comprehend a range of texts. In writing, substantive knowledge is the ability to effectively plan, draft, and construct writing for different purposes. When constructing writing, this involves knowledge of structural, grammatical and linguistic features as well as knowledge of handwriting and spellings. Through deliberate practice, this substantive knowledge becomes automatic and fluent leading to mastery and an alteration of the long-term memory.

 

Disciplinary Knowledge-

 

In reading, the disciplinary knowledge is the interpretation and comparison of themes and conventions, using text to back up arguments and discussions and evaluating the intentions of the author.

 

Curriculum Implementation

 

Phonics and Early Reading

 

"If you read, the world is yours!"  Michael Rosen

 

At St. Martin’s, Reading lies at the heart of our curriculum and is embedded throughout. From the moment children begin their St. Martin’s Journey, we endeavour to cultivate a passion and lifelong love of reading. Our aim is that children gain an extensive and rich vocabulary, essential reading skills and the motivation to read for study and pleasure.

 

We recognise that reading skills develop over time and we acknowledge that these begin with a good phonic knowledge. It is essential that our approach to teaching phonics and reading is accessible to all learners, regardless of their background.

 

We encourage understanding, interpreting, engaging with and responding to texts by providing classroom book corners with a wide range of reading matter and opportunities for children to select materials independently from both fiction and non-fiction.

 

We place a strong emphasis on the significance of phonic knowledge for the teaching and learning of both reading and writing.  Phonics teaching begins in EYFS and continues throughout Year 1 in daily sessions. We use the Little Wandle programme as our chosen and validated SSP (Systematic Synthetic Phonics) programme.  The children are taught in whole class groups and are assessed regularly; those children who are identified as needing support will receive ‘keep up’ intervention sessions which are taught in smaller groups or individually if and when required. The Little Wandle programme provides a library of phonetically matched books which are used to support the teaching of phonics.

 

By the end of the year 1, children are able to decode texts containing grapheme-phoneme correspondence from Phases 2, 3, 4 and 5. Key phonics skills which are taught in EYFS and Year 1, are consolidated in Year 2 and continue to be strengthened through independent reading, reading for pleasure and whole-class reading sessions. At this point, whole-class reading sessions focus on developing key skills: vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval and sequencing (VIPERS). Class teachers select high-quality and diverse class novels to focus on, alongside giving the children access to reading extracts which give the children access to a wide range of reading materials to extend cultural capital, as well as key reading skills. On completion of the Little Wandle phonics programme, children choose from a library of ‘Recommended Reads,’ which are age-appropriate, varied and challenging. Teachers keep track of what the children are choosing to read, so that further recommendations can be made.

 

In Key Stage two, children choose books to read for pleasure, alongside developing the skills to become fluent readers with appropriate expression. Children continue to experience whole-class reading sessions where they develop key skills: identifying vocabulary and word meanings, making inferences and predictions, explanations, retrieval, summarising and making comparisons (VIPERS). Teachers continue to select and read a class novel to demonstrate the importance of reading for pleasure, as well as how to read with fluency, expression and passion.

 

For those pupils in Key Stage two who still require access to the phonics programme, children participate in phonics intervention and have access to a guided reading session within the class to ensure exposure to specific vocabulary, the reading domains and skills required to apply their reading into the taught English units.

 

St. Martin’s School Library

 

We are extremely fortunate at St. Martin’s to have a wonderful library that has been recently developed and enhanced with up-to-date and diverse reading materials, both fiction and non-fiction. All classes have timetabled access to the library throughout the week. The library is a beautiful and relaxing space in which children can select books, take them to a comfortable space and read for pleasure, either independently or in pairs/small groups. The library is equipped with tables and chairs, comfortable bean bags, a reading den and even a book recommendations tree. The library is under constant development as we continue to gather children’s ideas and requests from pupil voice questionnaires carried out by our Year 6 Reading Ambassadors.

 

Writing

 

My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Psalm 45:1

 

We intend that all children at St. Martin’s will become confident, competent writers and will develop their own writer’s voice. Writing gives children a way to communicate effectively with others: to share their thoughts, ideas, beliefs, emotions, cultural identity and express who they are.

 

We use Jane Considine’s ‘The Write Stuff’ approach, which is based on two guiding principles; teaching sequences that slide between experience days and sentence stacking lessons. With modelling at the heart of them, the sentence stacking lessons are broken into bite-sized chunks and taught under the structural framework of ‘The Writing Rainbow.’ Teachers prepare children for writing by modelling the ideas, grammar or techniques of writing.

 

This writing approach allows children to…

 

• understand how to apply sentence scaffolds to their independent writing as they develop their expertise.
• have a clear view of what high quality writing looks like and their learning is structured clearly and misconceptions dealt with.
• improve their writing and make it more focused. Actionable feedback is provided to guide their learning.
• have a concept of how to build, plan and complete a piece of writing due to narrative maps and non-fiction shapes.

 

Using ‘The Write Stuff’ approach, we have developed a progressive long-term plan for the teaching of writing across the school, with high-quality and diverse reading materials at the heart of the teaching of writing.

 

Curriculum Intent

 

Reading externally-

• Attainment in Reading is measured using statutory assessment at the end of Key Stage Two. These results are measured against the reading attainment of children nationally.
• Attainment in Phonics is measured by the Phonics Screening Check at the end of Year One.
• Children in EYFS will be observed throughout the year and given a final assessment by staff of emerging or expected.

 

Reading internally-

• Termly PIRA (Rising Stars) tests for years 1-5).
• Half-termly practice SAT’s assessments (Year 6)
• Internal baseline and record keeping.

 

Writing externally-

• Attainment in Writing is measured using statutory assessments at the end of Key Stage One and Two. These results are measured against the reading attainment of children nationally
• End of KS2 GPS tests
• Children in EYFS will be observed throughout the year and given a final assessment by staff of emerging or expected
• Writing moderation workshops through the Local Authority (NYCC)

 

Writing internally-

• Termly Rising Stars spelling and Grammar, Punctuation and Vocabulary tests
• In-house writing moderation against year group expectations.

 

English Subject Leader and Early Reading Leads: Mrs K. Plumpton and Mrs A. Smith