English

World Book Day Costume Ideas

Our English Curriculum

Gospel values underpin our learning…

Intent

At St Edward’s, we believe that a quality English curriculum should foster and develop our pupils love of reading, writing, discussion and debate. We aim to deliver an inspiring curriculum through high quality teaching and exciting lessons. English at St Edward’s will not only be a daily discrete lesson, but is the cornerstone of the entire curriculum. It is embedded within all of our lessons. 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.

We acknowledge that our pupils come with a range of experiences in English as a subject and so recognise the importance of building confidence through speaking and listening. Children are given the opportunity to voice their ideas and opinions before committing these to the page. At St Edward's, oracy is an intrinsic part of the curriculum. Oracy is the ability to express oneself fluently and grammatically in speech. Oracy can be defined as the range of speaking and listening skills, behaviours and language necessary for communication and collaboration. Each year group follows a progression map which is divided into four strands (physical, linguistic, cognitive, social/emotional).

Reading is key for academic success. We aim to inspire an appreciation of the written word through reading a range of songs, poems, articles, novels and non-fiction texts. Through using high-quality texts and our carefully planned book spine, children are immersed in vocabulary-rich environments. We are dedicated to enabling our readers to become lifelong readers. Here at St Edward’s we believe in developing reading fluency and comprehension skills coupled with promoting a love of reading so all of our children can access the delights and rewards that reading provides. Children regularly participate in discussions about books, exploring the language used by different authors and looking at the impact written words have on the reader. Pupils not only read for pleasure but use books to research and gather new knowledge to extend their understanding.

Our children write for different purposes and audiences; develop a wide vocabulary and a solid understanding of the grammar rules and terminology appropriate for their age group. We encourage the children to express themselves creatively. All children from Foundation Stage to Year 6 are provided with many opportunities to develop and apply their writing skills across all areas of the curriculum. At St Edward’s we set high expectations for all our children to take pride in their work and have a fluent, cursive handwriting style alongside allowing their imaginations to flourish.

Implementation:

We provide many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. We use a wide variety of quality texts and resources to motivate and inspire our children. Teachers also ensure that cross-curricular links with concurrent topic work are woven into the programme of study. In order to help us to develop confident, enthusiastic writers who can express themselves in a variety of different styles and across a variety of contexts, our teaching of writing is often cross circular and linked to our class topics. This provides our children with regular opportunities to write for a range of purposes and audiences. Writing tasks are specific and meaningful, and often meet a purpose to engage children and to illustrate how their writing skills can be applied to real life contexts.

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

Teachers create a positive reading and writing culture in school, where both are promoted and enjoyed. We aim to do this by:

Promoting reading through teachers reading out loud daily to their class
Pupils in EYFS and KS1 have daily phonics sessions, following the Little Wandle scheme
Using the NNS spelling scheme (Y1-Y6), delivering daily sessions
Age appropriate spellings sent home weekly for pupils to practise their words and to write a sentence containing each word at home - tested each Friday
Guided Reading sessions in all classes at least three times a week
Pupils are encouraged to be adventurous with vocabulary choices – use of magpie books
We use a structured whole school approach to promote the vocabulary development of all children. Focused on whole class learning, the resource is of particular value for those who start at a disadvantage – including children with Developmental Language Disorder, Special Educational Needs and those who speak English as an additional language, but it will extend the word learning of all students.
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 which are easily accessible for pupils to use
Working Walls – all classes aiding pupils and guiding them through the process of Reading and Analysing, Gathering Content, Planning and Writing
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

We identify children who need support and provide intervention in the most effective and efficient way that we can. We are fortunate to have parents who come in regularly to hear children read. 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 learners once we have helped to equip them with the confidence, tools and strategies that they need.

Marking is rigorous in English and across the curriculum. Each child has their own target bookmark. On the spot verbal feedback is given each lesson and the children are set regular targets to ensure that progress is being made. Incentives are in place for when a child achieves their target. Regular book scrutiny occurs are to check all teachers are following the marking policy rigorously.

Reading is celebrated in classrooms and around school – our educational displays celebrate children’s writing and their favourite books. Throughout the school year, we hold specific English-themed events, such as World Book Day, drama workshops and a range of trips and visits which enrich and complement children’s learning. Here at St Edward’s, we love to celebrate the success of all learners and we award a child in each class with a Writer of the Week certificate. Writing is sent home to parents to share the pride both the pupil and teacher have shared over the piece of work.

Impact:

Our English Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression.

The impact of English learning on our pupils is clear: progress, sustained learning and transferable skills. When our children reach Upper Key Stage 2, teaching focuses on writer’s craft, stamina for writing and manipulation of grammar and punctuation skills.

As all aspects of English are an integral part of the curriculum, cross curricular writing standards have improved and skills taught in the English lesson are transferred into other subjects.

Assessing and Monitoring in English:

Lesson observations, book monitoring and learning walks
Skills progressing throughout the school evident in children’s books
Gathering pupil voice – to check understanding of key skills and knowledge, progression, confidence and enjoyment
Moderating pupils work in school and in cluster meetings with other schools
Pupil progress meetings every half-term to ensure different groups (EAL, PP and SEND) and individual progress is monitored for both reading and writing.

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.

English Policy

English Policy 2022-2023.pdf

Progression Maps

Reading and Writing Progression Map KS1 and KS2.xls

Words and Spellings

Our English Curriculum

At St. Edward's Catholic Primary School, we aim to develop a love for the English language in its written and spoken forms. We are committed to delivering a broad and engaging curriculum to enable our pupils to become confident, independent and effective speakers, listeners, readers and writers.

Reading for pleasure is prioritised throughout the whole school and all children are encouraged to develop their own identity as a reader: to be excited about selecting books based on their own preferences and interests; to become inquisitive and ask questions about what they read; to use reading as a means of escaping to new and exciting worlds full of endless possibilities. To support this, each class has an engaging and stimulating area dedicated to reading in their classroom and the school has two well-stocked libraries which are inviting for our children.

All pupils at St. Edward's are exposed to a wide range of authors and styles of texts for different purposes. Each class has a literature spine made up of high-quality, engaging texts, some of which have been recommended by Pie Corbett (https://www.scholastic.co.uk/piecorbett/resources). Every year group has been allocated a range of books – which often link to their Geography, History and Science topics – and the children learn all about the characters, settings, and language used by the authors in each text. To encourage the children to become immersed in their class text, they help to decorate the doors of their classroom to reflect the current book being read.

The writing produced by the children in each class is linked to what they are reading from the Literature Spine. This encourages them to empathise with characters, express themselves creatively and imaginatively, and become excited about writing for a range of purposes and audiences. Children's writing is celebrated in every school display and weekly during Praise Assembly; expectations of children's presentation are high and pupils receive a pen license once their handwriting reaches a consistent standard.

Speaking and listening opportunities – across the whole curriculum – develops pupils’ abilities to use language to communicate ideas, views and feelings in a variety of different ways. At St. Edward's, we aim to provide a language-rich environment that is stimulating and characterised by high expectations of success.

The study of English develops children’s skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing for a wide range of purposes, so using language to learn and communicate ideas, views and feelings, it enables children to express themselves creatively and imaginatively. At St. Edward's Catholic Primary School, we aim to develop a love for the English language in its written and spoken forms. We are committed to delivering a broad and engaging curriculum in order to enable our pupils to become confident, independent and effective speakers, listeners, readers and writers.

At St. Edward's, we aim to provide an environment for language development that is stimulating and characterised by high expectations of success. Children's writing is celebrated in every school display and expectations of children's presentation are high. English is shared and celebrated inside and outside of the classroom through:

provision of a book rich environment;
thoughtful, creative display of reading and writing materials and published children’s work;
working walls which represent the current teaching and learning;
use of a wide range of high-quality materials to support effective teaching and learning;
public celebration of pupils' success and participation in events, for example, through Twitter, school website, communal displays, public performances.

Phonics - Little Wandle

At St. Edward's we are committed to the delivery of excellence in the teaching of Phonics. We aim to develop each child so that they are able to read with fluency and inspire a love of reading. Phonics is a key skill that supports the development of early reading skills and our aim is to teach every child to read and write.

Please follow the link below for more information on our phonics programme.

https://www.stedward.bham.sch.uk/phonics/

More information and help videos for parents can be found at:

https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/

Our Class Doors

Each half-term our classroom doors reflect the book that we are reading from our book spine. Our children enjoy making predictions about the books that they will be reading by examining book covers, blurbs and first chapters. Pupils at St Edward's use their inference skills to design their own book covers which we then use to decorate our doors.