Our English curriculum has been developed to recognise the importance of English in every aspect of daily life. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children love to read, take pride in their writing and can clearly and accurately adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and to be able to use discussion to communicate and further their learning.
At Woodcote Primary School we believe that a quality English curriculum should provide a purpose for writing and develop a love of reading and discussion. The National Curriculum (2014) forms the basis for all subject teaching ensuring continuity and progression in an age-related curriculum. In addition, teachers make sure the content is relevant and stimulating by delivering through themes and topics.
One of our priorities is helping children read and develop their all-important comprehension skills. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge-base in Literacy, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum. 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.
Our intent is to enable children to:
Read easily, fluently and with good understanding
Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
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
Develop a love of writing and to be able to express their thoughts and ideas clearly and creatively through the written word.
Re-read, edit and improve their own writing
Confidently use the essential skills of grammar, punctuation and spelling
Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
Use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and clearly explain their understanding and ideas
Become competent in the art of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.
We ensure that our English teaching and learning provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. We use a wide variety of experiences, quality texts and resources to motivate and inspire our children. All pupils receive a daily English lesson. Teachers also ensure that cross curricular links with concurrent topic work are woven into the programme of study.
At Woodcote Primary, we identify children who need support and provide intervention in the most effective and efficient way that we can. We run intervention reading groups and are fortunate to have parents who come in regularly to hear children read. Most children on the SEND register have reading and comprehension as one of their targets. Teachers plan and teach English lessons which are differentiated to the particular needs of each child. We help each child maximise their potential by providing help and support where necessary whilst striving to make children independent workers once we have helped to equip them with the confidence, tools and strategies that they need.
We run parent information sessions on phonics for EYFS, Year 1 & 2 parents, and Meet the Teacher sessions across the school so parents understand age-related expectations. These sessions are always very well attended by parents and carers who often comment about how helpful the sessions have been for them.
Marking is rigorous in English and across the curriculum, with regular ‘Response Times’ and spelling corrections to help children correct and consolidate their work. Regular English book scrutinies are carried out to check all teachers are following our marking policy rigorously.
We love to celebrate success of all learners and strive to help all children achieve their goals. Reading is celebrated in classrooms and around school at Woodcote Primary, where our bright and colourful displays celebrate children’s writing, their favourite books and reading reward schemes. In addition, throughout the school year our literacy curriculum is enhanced through World Book Day, drama workshops and a range of trips and visits which enrich and complement children’s learning. Every classroom has a reading area and children are heard to read regularly each week.
We also:
Create a positive reading and writing culture in school, where both are promoted, enjoyed and considered ‘a pleasure’ for all pupils.
Promote reading through teachers reading out loud daily to their class.
Weekly Book Club for Year 5/6
Each class has two Fairy Tales to learn by heart during each year
Reception – Goldilocks & The Gingerbread Man
Year 1 – Little Red Riding Hood & The 3 Billy Goats Gruff
Year 2 – The 3 Little Pigs & Jack and the Beanstalk
Year 3 – Snow White & Hansel and Gretel
Year 4 – The Princess and the Pea & Rumpelstiltskin
Year 5 – The Frog Prince & The Ugly Duckling
Year 6 – The Elves and the Shoemaker & Rapunzel
Pupils in EYFS and KS1 have daily phonics sessions, following Monster Phonics scheme.
KS2 age appropriate spellings following Monster Phonics Superhero spellings, sent home weekly for pupils to practise their words and to write a sentence containing each word at home. These will be tested weekly.
Daily Guided Reading sessions in all classes, using the carousel approach.
Weekly extended Independent Write across all classes and editing/up-levelling opportunities
Termly independent assessed writing across the whole school
Pupils are encouraged to use adventurous vocabulary choices.
Pupils to acquire strategies to enable them to become independent learners in English (spelling rules and patterns and how to tackle unfamiliar words when reading).
Pupils to discuss and to present their ideas to each other by talking, being able to elaborate and explain themselves clearly, make presentations and participate in debates.
Pupils Peer Assess each other’s work and use a purple pen to make up-levels in vocabulary choices across the curriculum subjects
Working Walls – all classes aiding pupils and guiding them through the process of Reading and Analysing, Gathering Content, Planning and Writing.
Vocabulary promoted through displays in class, all curriculum areas, enhancing and encouraging a wider use of vocabulary.
Vocabulary mats to be used where needed and thesauruses and dictionaries are easily accessible for pupils to use.
Teaching a range of genres across the school (progressing in difficulty) both in English and other curriculum areas; resulting in pupils being exposed to, and knowledgeable about, literary styles, authors and genres. They can express preferences and give opinions, supported by evidence, about different texts.
Displays of writing, in class, shared areas and on the school website, giving a purpose and audience, to encourage pride in work and to show that work is valued
Reading and writing events (throughout the year) to encourage and promote enjoyment and opportunities to develop lifelong learning.
The impact and measure of this is to ensure children not only acquire the appropriate age-related knowledge linked to the science, topic and other curriculum areas, but also skills which equip them to progress from their starting points, and within their everyday lives.
Long term pupils will:
be confident in the art of speaking and listening and to be able to use discussion to communicate and further their learning
be able to read fluently both for pleasure and to further their learning.
enjoy writing across a range of genres
Pupils of all abilities will be able to succeed in all English lessons because work will be appropriately scaffolded
have a wide vocabulary and be adventurous with vocabulary choices within their writing
have a good knowledge of how to adapt their writing based on the context and audience
leave primary school being able to effectively apply spelling rules and patterns they have been taught
make good and better progress from their starting points to achieve their full potential
Pupils of all abilities will succeed in all English lessons because work will be appropriately scaffolded.
The impact of our English curriculum is measured through the monitoring cycle in school:
Lesson observations, book monitoring and learning walks
Skills progressing (grammar and punctuation) throughout the school is evident in children’s books.
Gathering pupil voice – to check understanding, understanding of key skills and knowledge, progression, confidence in discussing English
Moderating pupils work in school and in cluster meetings with other schools to ensure accurate assessments are made
Tracking pupils’ progress each half term in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening and Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar. This informs planning and any intervention needed
Pupil progress meetings ensure different groups (including EAL, PP and SEND) and individual progress is monitored, and interventions organised to support good and better progress
Parents and carers will understand how they can support spelling, grammar and composition and home, and contribute regularly to homework.
Importantly, monitoring is also used to identify gaps in the curriculum that may need to be addressed across the school, or within individual year groups. Monitoring is an ongoing cycle, which is used productively to provide the best possible English curriculum for our children and to ensure it is inclusive to all.
As all aspects of English are an integral part of the curriculum, cross curricular writing standards have also improved and skills taught in the English lesson are transferred into other subjects; this shows consolidation of skills and a deeper understanding of how and when to use specific grammar, punctuation and grammar objectives.