English | ST MARY’S CHURCH OF ENGLAND

English Curriculum

At St Mary’s we strive to equip all our children with a strong command of the spoken and written word, so that they leave us as confident writers who are able to write effectively across a range of genres and with an understanding of purpose and audience to equip them for real-life situations that they will come across as they grow and develop. We aspire to develop their love of literature by giving them an opportunity to read for pleasure and to listen to good role-models reading in class.

Our aims in teaching English are rooted in the National Curriculum and ensure that all children will:

Develop the necessary skills to use the English language confidently, appropriately and accurately to the best of their ability

Be able to speak clearly, fluently and cogently

Be able to listen to the spoken word attentively with understanding

Be able to read a range of materials fluently and with understanding for enjoyment and for information

Be able to write effectively for a range of audiences and purposes using spelling punctuation and syntax accurately and confidently

- At St Mary’s our English curriculum follows a book-based approach delivered through the ‘Literacy Tree’ writing programme. The programme covers all National Curriculum requirements and places audience and purpose at its core. The carefully-planned sequences of lessons provide opportunities to explore writing conventions, which are embedded, and apply them into authentic writing for a range of real-life audiences.

Each sequence of lessons starts by immersing the children in a text. They have a hook to engage them in the text (this could be an interesting object or event to capture their interest).

Children will become immersed in the text through reciting and retelling and will explore the text in a range of ways such as roleplay and drama and will become familiar with the structure and layout.

Children will then ‘capture and organise’ the text by using the model text to adapt, extend and embellish it, trying out new ideas.

They will practise the key writing skills through ‘short burst writing’ such as practising using adjectives in short sentences and will plan their own compositions.

Children will complete their writing journey with the collaborative composition, creating their own piece of writing linked to the original text.
They will edit their writing, polish and publish or display their work. We encourage children at St Mary’s to celebrate their writing. It must be purposeful and each extended piece has a clear audience and purpose.

The English curriculum is organised as follows at St Mary’s School:

Daily English lessons

We use the ‘Literacy Tree’ materials to deliver our curriculum.

Equal importance given to all aspects of the English curriculum.

A reading scheme is in place that matches pupils' emerging needs and they take home a book that has fully decodable texts which match their phonic knowledge.

Daily phonics lessons in Reception and Year 1, grouped by ability until all children meet or exceed the required standard. This is using the Phonics Steps programme. For any child who requires additional intervention, support is put into place to ensure rapid catch-up using the Phonics Steps’ ‘Little Leaps’ programme.

In Year 2 children follow the reading and spelling sessions embedded with the Literacy Tree programme.

Provision is made for the full range of pupils needs and abilities by extra support, both on individual basis and in ‘focus groups’ within the classroom and by the use of classroom assistants under instruction from the class teacher.

Spoken language

The ability to articulate thoughts and ideas and to listen to others are fundamental language skills. Spoken language at St Mary’s School is developed through:

Providing a range of opportunities for children to talk and listen in formal and informal settings.

The use of drama and role play to explore imagined situations.

A regular story time when the teacher or other adult reads aloud to the class

Hot seating as part of our English curriculum

Use of the Spoken Language objectives from the National Curriculum

Children also enjoy performance opportunities including Family assemblies, Christmas and Summer productions, reading and speaking in church and presenting to the school in assembly or worship, as well as speaking to visitors to the school.

Reading

At St Mary’s we want the children to become passionate about books and read for pleasure. We want them to see that this is the key to everything and it is a lifelong passion and skill. It will open up new ideas and worlds for them. Reading is a very complex but essential skill. Approaches to the teaching of reading should encourage children to use a wide range of strategies whilst also understanding the meaning of what they are reading. We will provide them will early and developing reading skills which will enable them to leave St Mary’s as a confident reader. Reading starts through our use of Phonic Steps and a focus on decoding to begin to read for fluency, comprehension and prosody.

Reading at St Mary’s School is developed through:

Providing a wide range of reading material and opportunities for children to read.

A reading scheme (Phonics Steps) is in place that matches pupils' emerging needs and they take home a book that has fully decodable texts which match their phonic knowledge. Once the phonics programme is complete, children are assessed for a ‘reading level’ and self-select their text from an available selection. These are the children’s ‘reading books’.

Regular 1:1 and whole class reading in school with teachers, classroom assistants and parent volunteers.

Opportunities for independent quiet reading in class and in our inspirational library.

Home-school reading expectations for parents to support children to develop both fluency and comprehension.

Dedicated comprehension lessons each week as part of timetabled English lessons.

Dedicated librarians once a week, allowing children to choose texts for pleasure. These are the children’s ‘reading for pleasure’ books, and are often aimed to be shared and enjoyed with an adult or older sibling at home.