English Intent

The intent of our English curriculum is to ensure that all pupils develop the reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills that will prepare them for the next stage in their education and to create life long learners.  We believe that a strong foundation in English is crucial for our pupils to become confident and articulate individuals who can think critically, express themselves clearly and engage with a wide range of texts. Our intent is to generate a passion for reading and an appreciation of language and words.

English Implementation

Our English curriculum is designed and sequenced to provide a coherent and progressive learning journey for our pupils. It is enriched with a wide variety of texts. We use a balanced approach, incorporating whole-class teaching, group work, and independent activities to ensure that every student receives appropriate support and challenge.  Our teaching strategies are evidence-based, drawing upon best practices such as phonics instruction, explicit vocabulary teaching, and regular opportunities for extended writing. 

Through using high-quality texts (from The Power of Reading programme), immersing children in positive learning environments and ensuring curriculum expectations and the progression of skills are met, children will be exposed to a language heavy, creative and a continuous English curriculum where reading and writing are intrinsically linked. 

We  to Read!

Our intent for reading is to create a stimulating and inclusive environment that promotes a genuine love for reading, enables our pupils to develop strong reading skills, and generates a lifelong passion for literature. We aim to provide a curriculum that engages, challenges, and supports all pupils, ensuring they become confident, competent, and critical readers.

The intent for reading focusses on:
Promoting a love for reading: We want to generate a genuine enthusiasm for reading.  Our library is in the heart of our school and is regularly restocked with new and exciting books.  By providing a range of engaging and diverse texts, promoting reading for pleasure, and celebrating reading achievements, reading is intrinsically thread throughout our whole curriculum.
Developing strong reading skills: We are committed to equipping pupils with the necessary reading skills, including decoding, comprehension, fluency, and inference, to ensure they can access and understand a wide range of texts independently.
Ensure inclusivity and accessibility: We are dedicated to providing a reading curriculum that is accessible to all pupils, irrespective of their backgrounds, abilities, or special educational needs.
Collaboration and partnership: We actively involve parents, carers to join us with reading.  We host 'We love to Read' on a Monday afternoon, when parents can come to school and share a book with their children and friends.  We encourage reading for pleasure through various reading initiatives including our 'Reading Shop' or visiting the 'Starbooks cafe'. 

To successfully achieve our intent for reading;

Balanced Reading Curriculum: We have developed a broad, and balanced reading curriculum, using 'The Power of Reading' from CLPE, that covers a range of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.  This includes carefully selected texts from various genres and authors to capture pupils' interests and broaden their literary horizons.

Early Reading Skills: We prioritise the acquisition of phonics skills through high-quality phonics teaching using a systematic synthetic phonics program, complemented with daily opportunities for guided reading, storytelling, and language-rich activities.

Guided Reading: Guided reading sessions are integrated into our curriculum, enabling teachers to model reading strategies, promote discussion, and foster deeper understanding of texts. Teachers use a range of techniques, such as questioning, clarifying, summarising, and predicting, to engage pupils in rich discussions.

Reading Across the Curriculum: We actively promote reading across the curriculum, ensuring reading is integrated into all subjects. This includes providing opportunities for pupils to engage with a variety of texts, including articles, reports, and instructions, to enhance their comprehension skills and subject-specific vocabulary.

Differentiation and Support: We adopt a tiered approach to support pupils who may require additional assistance in their reading development. This includes providing targeted interventions, diverse learning resources, and support from specialist staff, such as reading recovery teachers, to ensure all pupils make progress.

Assessment and Feedback: We use a range of formative and summative assessment strategies, including regular reading to adults in school, quizzes, and book reviews, to gauge pupils' reading skills, track their progress, and provide effective feedback for improvement. Feedback provided by teachers is prompt, specific, and developmental, encouraging pupils to reflect on and enhance their reading abilities.