English
English Curriculum Rationale
English Curriculum Vision
At Ormskirk CE, we believe that English underpins and supports children’s access to the whole curriculum. It is therefore fundamental to the overall development of children. We want our children to develop their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in order to achieve their dreams and aspirations. We want them to be able to converse effectively with anyone they encounter in life and to know that they can continue to enjoy reading in whatever form they choose , throughout their life.
Curriculum Intent
At Ormskirk CE, it is our intent to nurture and develop the whole child. We strive for all of our children to be Primary Literate Pupils. 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.
We aim to ensure that all pupils:
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Read easily, fluently and with good understanding.
Through excellent teaching of phonics; enabling children to decode then become fluent readers and develop good comprehension through guided reading lessons.
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Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information, knowing that reading is a wonderful relaxation tool and enhances mental health, as well as developing knowledge. We aim for them to be able to identify a number of authors and a genre/genres they enjoy reading.
We encourage this through our whole school, ‘BIG READ’ initiative where children are given time during each school day to read for pleasure a book of their choice.
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Aquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language.
Encouraged in each class by displaying a vocabulary pyramid where everyday words, subject specific vocabulary and ambitious vocabulary are displayed relevant to each class and their learning.
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Appreciate our rich and varied literacy heritage.
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Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences.
Encouraged through high expectations and practised within the ‘Letter Join Handwriting Scheme’.
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Use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas.
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Are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.
Curriculum Implementation
At Ormskirk CE, the English curriculum is taught daily. These lessons will have a Reading or Writing Focus and will consist of whole class and/or guided teaching and independent activities.
Teachers are mindful of the diversity of abilities and learning styles and adapt objectives and activities accordingly.
Teaching Assistants work alongside teachers to support Needs Based Learning using appropriate and relevant interventions.
Opportunities for Speaking and Listening are planned for across the whole curriculum. Children are given opportunities to develop their speaking and listening skills through drama and role play and talk daily with talk - partners, in groups and in whole class situations. Opportunities for oral presentations are planned for. Examples of these include class presented worship, project presentations, Reception Nativity, Year 1 & 2 Carol concert, leading church services such as, Year 3 & 4 Christingle and Year 5 Easter and Year 6 final play performances.
At Ormskirk CE, we follow the statutory guidance for the teaching of English, as set out in the National Curriculum 2014. We aim to develop the English skills children will need to equip them for everyday life in an ever-changing society. We strive to create an engaging, language rich environment where children can learn and develop skills in a purposeful manner, making strong links with other curriculum areas where appropriate.
Statutory requirements for the teaching and learning of English are laid out in the Primary National Curriculum English Document (2014) and the Communication and Language and Literacy sections of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2014)
We follow the teaching sequence:
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Creating Interest
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Reading:
-Reading and responding
-Reading and analysing
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Gathering content
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Writing
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Presentation
EYFS
In the Foundation Stage, communication and language development involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations.
Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other materials) to ignite their interest. Statutory Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage 2014.
Children in Reception work within the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework towards the Early Learning Goals. The children experience activities to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills through the seven areas of learning, including the prime area of Communication and Language and the specific area of Literacy. The Communication and Language element encourages children to listen, respond and engage in activities with others and to express themselves effectively. Literacy encompasses reading and writing using their phonic knowledge to decode words and reading and writing simple sentences. Children in Reception follow a structured, synthetic phonics programme, ‘Supersonic Phonic Friends’, taught using multi-sensory, engaging activities and resources, both discreetly and within continuous provision activities. Each session gives and opportunity for children to revisit their previous experience, be taught new skills, practise together and apply what they have learned. We encourage reading for pleasure and our reading scheme for the Reception children includes a variety of colour banded, phonetically regular books from Collins ‘Big Cat’ reading scheme which is organised by phonics phases so that books are fully decodable.
KS1
At Key Stage one, children should learn to speak confidently and listen to what others have to say. They should begin to read and write independently and with enthusiasm. They should use language to explore their own experiences and imaginary worlds.
In Key Stage One, children experience a range of text genres aimed at broadening their knowledge of text types and engaging them in literature. Children are taught skills in speaking and listening, reading and writing encompassing phonic knowledge, drama, spelling, grammar, comprehension, composition and handwriting. Children in Key Stage One and Key Stage Two, if necessary, follow a structured, synthetic phonics programme, Supersonic Phonic Friends’. They are taught using multi-sensory, engaging activities and resources, both discreetly and with continuous provision activities if appropriate for the year group. Each session gives an opportunity for children to revisit their previous experience, be taught new skills, practise together and apply what they have learned. We encourage reading for pleasure and teach reading through a variety of colour-banded books, mostly from Collins ‘Big Cat’ book scheme. Children benefit from weekly guided reading sessions throughout school, using colour banded books that are linked to phonic phases in the early years and also themes in class wherever possible.
KS2
At Key Stage Two, children should learn to change the way they speak and write to suit different situations, purposes and audiences. They should read a range of texts and respond to different layers of meaning in them. They should explore the use of language in literary and non-literary texts and learn how the structure of language works. Children experience a range of text genres aimed at broadening their knowledge of text types and engaging them in literature. Children are taught skills in speaking and listening, reading and writing encompassing phonic knowledge, drama, spelling, grammar, comprehension and handwriting.
By the beginning of Year 3, pupils should be able to read books written at an age-appropriate interest level. As their decoding skills become increasingly secure, teaching should be directed more towards developing their vocabulary and the breadth and depth of their reading, making sure that they become independent, fluent and enthusiastic readers who read widely and frequently. They should be developing their understanding and enjoyment of stories, poetry, plays and non-fiction and learning to read silently. They should also be developing their knowledge and skills in reading non-fiction about a wide range of subjects. Pupils should be able to write down their ideas with a reasonable amount of accuracy and with good sentence punctuation. Teaching them to develop as writers involves teaching them to enhance the effectiveness of what they write as well as increasing their competence. Teachers should make sure that pupils build on what they have learned, particularly in terms of the range of their writing and the more varied grammar, vocabulary and narrative structures from which they can draw to express their ideas. Pupils should begin to understand how writing can be different from speech. Joined handwriting should be the norm; pupils should be able to use it fast enough to keep pace with what they want to say. Pupils should spell words as accurately as possible using their phonic knowledge and other knowledge of spelling such as morphology and etymology.
In years 3 and 4, pupils should become more familiar with and confident in using language in a greater variety of situations, for a variety of audiences and purposes, including through drama, formal presentations and debate.
By the beginning of Year 5, pupils should be able to read aloud a wider range of poetry and books written at an age-appropriate interest level with accuracy and a reasonable speaking pace. They should be able to read most words effortlessly and to work out how to pronounce unfamiliar written words with increasing automaticity. They should be reading widely and frequently, outside as well as in school, for pleasure and information.
Pupils should be able to write down their ideas quickly. Their grammar and punctuation should be broadly accurate. Pupils' spelling of most words taught so far should be accurate and they should be able to spell words that they have not yet been taught by using what they have learned about how spelling works in English.
During Years 5 and 6, teachers should continue to emphasise pupils’ enjoyment and understanding of language, especially vocabulary, to support their reading and writing. Pupils’ knowledge of language, gained from stories, plays, poetry, non-fiction and textbooks, will support their increasing fluency as readers, their facility as writers and their comprehension.
They should be able to reflect their knowledge of the audience for and purpose of their writing by selecting appropriate vocabulary and grammar.
In Years 5 and 6, pupils’ confidence, enjoyment and mastery of language should be extended through public speaking, performance and debate.
For an overview of how a Phonics lesson may be structured, please click here:
For an overview of how an English Reading lesson may be structured, please click here:
For an overview of how an English Writing lesson may be structured, please click here:
Curriculum Impact
Each unit of work results in at least two extended, written outcomes. This allows children several opportunities to practise and apply newly acquired skills in context. The first outcome is scaffolded - supported through daily, whole-class, shared and modelled writing. It may be further supported by small-group, guided writing for some pupils. Each section is supported through teaching, with the children working on their own version following the teacher’s model.
The effectiveness of this model is enhanced by:
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feedback and marking on a daily basis and pupils being given time to respond;
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self-assessment/peer assessment against the success criteria
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use of ideas and vocabulary gathered during earlier phases displayed on the working wall;
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displaying the shared and modelled writing from across the writing phase
The second outcome is independent - this is a second opportunity for children to write in the same genre or text-type, but this time, more independently. The children have time to think, plan and discuss their ideas and have access to prompts created through the unit,
e.g. content from the working wall, genre checklists, word banks, dictionaries etc.
However, there is no adult modelling of writing to support the completion of this second outcome.
As well as giving children another opportunity to apply their skills, this outcome is very useful to inform a more formal assessment and next steps in teaching and learning.
At the end of EYFS, children are assessed in relation to the Early Learning Goals. In Year 1, children take a statutory Phonics check to test their decoding skills. In Year 6 children will take statutory assessments in Reading and Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar.
Staff from Years 1-6 record baseline, mid-year and end of year spelling assessments against the words for the appropriate year group.
All staff record assessments and track progress on our whole school tracker which is monitored by the Assessment Lead and SLT.
English Documents
- Spelling Pathway
- Letter-join School Handwriting Scheme
- High Frequency Word & Common Exception Word list