English
English Curriculum
Literacy is an essential life skill; speaking, listening, reading and writing enable children to organise and express their own thoughts and access the knowledge and ideas of others.
It is at the centre of learning, taught within discrete lessons and across the curriculum.
Intent:
Develop knowledge of…
- Phonics and sight words, in order to decode accurately and efficiently.
- A wide variety of fiction books, (including different genres, themes, cultures, authors and heritage texts), non-fiction and poetry.
- A rich vocabulary, including the depth and breadth of language.
- Standard English, through oracy and the written word.
- Writing for different purposes, audiences and in different forms.
- Text genre and organisation.
- Grammar and punctuation for coherence and effect.
- A range of spelling strategies, including phonics, spelling patterns and rules, morphology and etymology.
Develop a mastery of …
- How to communicate effectively using speaking and listening skills.
- Word reading fluency, demonstrating rate, accuracy and prosody.
- A deep comprehension of texts, including composition and effect, retrieval, inference and deduction, authorial intent and themes.
- Making links from reading – book to book, book to self and book to world.
- Writing effectively, in order to engage reader for a range of purposes.
- Evaluation of writing, their own and the writing of others’.
- Fluent, joined and legible handwriting using a cursive script.
- Proofreading and editing skills.
Develop a love of reading for pleasure, reading widely and often in school and at home.
Implementation:
How do we help children develop knowledge into schema in their long-term memory?
Whole – Part – Whole |
Building Connections |
Activating Prior Knowledge |
Spaced Learning |
Feedback Loops |
Challenge resides in the curriculum and not in the individual lesson.
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Understanding is the connections that form between knowledge – these connections are explicitly taught: book to book, book to world, book to self. |
New knowledge is connected to pre-existing knowledge, using the progression for reading and grammar. |
Spacing recall helps create defined pathways in memory. Knowledge moves from episodic to semantic. |
Assessment as feedback ensures teaching matches understanding. R+R and => used in reading and writing activities when appropriate. |
Reading and writing are broken down into their specific components of knowledge. |
Understanding of genre, themes and structures of a range of texts is developed in order to support children in making connections. |
Teachers and children refer back to previous years and units in order to connect learning and build schema. |
Low stakes testing revisits prior knowledge through starters. Low stakes test are used to embed spelling. |
Use of AFL ensures that children have tasks matched to level of understanding and that gaps in learning are addressed. |
Avoid Overload |
Direct Teaching |
Articulate Knowledge and Understanding |
Regular Recall of Knowledge |
Text-led Learning Journey |
Working memory has a limited capacity. Learners cannot be overwhelmed with too much. |
Direct teaching develops novice schemas of knowledge. |
End of unit outcomes explore children’s connections in knowledge. |
The act of retrieval strengthens memory, making information more retrievable. |
English lessons are structured using a text-led learning journey using rich texts. |
Knowledge is broken down into clearly defined parts. This is shown in progression of knowledge for reading and grammar.
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Worked examples and models are used to support learning. |
Articulating understanding of previous learning through questioning in guided reading and SOA writes in English. |
Knowledge and skills are applied across the curriculum in order to embed them. |
English lessons are based on the whole text with 3 phases:
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Reading role cards are used in the teaching of English in order to help children structure the way that they analyse and respond to a text. |
Children are explicitly taught how to read as a reader and as a writer. |
The NC curriculum objectives for speaking and listening are used to develop oracy throughout the school. |
Knowledge is reframed in different contexts, across units of work and across the curriculum. |
Guided reading lessons use extracts from texts and a weekly structure including questioning, discussion and written responses. |
Enrichment |
Learners encounter a broad range of texts that progress throughout the key stage, meeting different types of texts with a range of genres, authors, cultures and themes. |
This is achieved through a range of strategies in addition to English and guided reading lessons, such as must-reads, read aloud texts, workbooks and the ‘No Outsiders’ curriculum. |
Curriculum Overviews
Below are the curriculum overviews for each year group. These show the planned curriculum as of September 2023; however, we may make improvements and changes, adapting to the needs of the year group.