English Curriculum

 

At Whitburn Village Primary, we believe that ‘The Future Begins Here’ and so have designed our English curriculum with the intent that all children, regardless of background, will become fluent, insightful readers; technically skilled, creative writers; and confident in the art of speaking and listening.

Our children will:

• Develop a love of reading by engaging with a variety of literature from different genres: different fictional styles, diverse authors and cultures, non-fiction and poetry.
• Develop the necessary life-long transferable skills to ensure they can read fluently and widely with understanding and confidence.
• Develop a sophisticated bank of vocabulary and be able to use it for effect.
• Enjoy writing in a range of narrative and non-narrative styles, adapting their language and style for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences while developing their own individual flair.
• Be encouraged to reflect upon their writing, edit and improve it.
• Express themselves creatively and effectively, considering the impact they want their writing to have on the reader and knows how they will achieve this;
• Take pride in their work and present it to a high standard, using cursive handwriting when appropriate.

• Be confident in the art of speaking and listening and able to use discussion to communicate and further their learning. 

 

We will:

• Offer a rich variety of experiences, inside and outside of the classroom.
• Expose all children to a wide range of high quality texts that explore different styles, tones, plots and cover many diverse authors and characters.
• Provide complete coverage of the National Curriculum.
• Identify and teach rich and varied vocabulary.
• Endeavour to succeed in our mission to ensure every child leaves Whitburn with the skills and tools they need to participate fully as a successful member of society.

 

 

Reading 

Reading is an entitlement for all and the key to academic success. It is a transferrable skill, which will benefit children in all subjects. We ensure that children read within and outside of reading lessons, and for a range of purposes.

Phonics and Early Reading

In Nursery, children play speaking and listening games and practice oral blending and segmenting using phase one sounds. Children are exposed to the ‘Favourite Five’ – five texts read and revisited daily over a term to build up fluency in a range of texts and styles. This will expose the children to quality texts and by the time they leave, they will have a variety of texts that they know well. Each week, a text is also chosen to match areas of the curriculum studied.

 

In Reception and KS1, we follow a synthetic phonics programme called ‘Read Write Inc.’ produced by Ruth Miskin.  This is tracked and assessed to ensure all children make effective progress from starting point to an end point of being a confident, independent reader. All children have daily phonics or spelling sessions where they participate in speaking, listening, spelling and reading activities that are matched to their needs. Group and one-to-one intervention sessions may be introduced where appropriate.  We run parent information sessions on phonics for Reception and Y1 parents.

 

Access to appropriate books at home

We recognise the importance of reading at home to practice and embed reading skills. 

•     Reception / KS1, books are closely matched to the children’s phonic abilities and are used for home reading to ensure children experience a wide range of reading genres.
•     In KS2, books are banded by age appropriateness and text difficulty. Children are able to choose a reading book, from the appropriate book band box, to take home. Reading books are changed regularly. We expect and encourage family at home to read these books with their child.

 

Daily Reading Practice

•      In Reception / KS1, children read aloud daily during phonics or group/whole class reading and throughout other subjects. They also read on a one-to-one basis with a trained adult at least once a week.  Children read RWI texts matched to their phonics work.
•     In KS2, children read daily during whole class reading, English lessons and across the curriculum. Every child is heard reading on a 1-1 basis once a week. In addition, the lowest 20% of readers in each year group are heard more frequently. 

•     At Whitburn, the teaching of reading is embedded in the teaching of high-quality texts each term. Using a text-based planning approach, the quality text is selected and taught over a half term, where all English skills are applied. 

 

Whole Class Reading 

Children take part in Whole Class Reading lessons where they are exposed to a range of high-quality different texts and taught the skills needed to develop reading fluency and quality comprehension. 

• A cycle of Whole Class Reading lessons, using a wide range of different texts which may be linked to wider foundation subject topics but are predominantly chosen on their literary merit; 

• A focus on fluency - leading into comprehension; 
• Question stems based on the reading domains; 
• A teaching sequence that teaches the skills needed for in-depth text comprehension and response using inference and deduction as the focus. 

 

Reading for Pleasure

• Each classroom has a reading area that is filled with books. This is a comfortable place for children to read throughout the day. Teachers will select books to promote to their class and will encourage the children to recommend texts to each other.
• Each classroom will have a selection of books in their classroom, which are directly linked with the class topic. This offers opportunities for the children to apply their reading skills across the curriculum. 
• Dedicated ‘story’ time is planned for. Each class teacher reads to children at least 3 times a week and has a ‘book club’ on another day.  This means children are introduced to a wide range of authors and genres and experiences exposure to high quality vocabulary.
• Children have the opportunity to apply to be a ‘Reading Ambassador’, in which children promote a love of reading, mix with other children from different year groups and share books together. 
• Book boxes are provided during break times for children to enjoy at leisure.
• The children also visit the school library on a weekly basis to allow them to choose books for pleasure.  
• We participate in events to celebrate and promote reading, for example, World Book Day and Book Fairs.

 

Writing 

Throughout their time at Whitburn, children develop their skills by exploring a whole range of different genres, with a focus on exploring a range of models of excellence and using these to guide the drafting and editing process. It is important to note that we not only develop a real enjoyment of writing in English lessons but in all subjects across the curriculum. We expect the highest standards of writing every time a child writes in any subject. 

 

• Use text-based planning – begin with an emphasis on reading to develop children’s understanding, empathy and to provide them with the experience of the text and vocabulary as a platform for writing activities.
• In Nursery, children access Squiggle and Dough-Disco to develop their gross motor skills in preparation for writing. They are also exposed to mark making tools and experiences.
• In Reception, children access whole class modelling followed by small group tasks. Writing activities are planned at least once a week with daily writing during phonics lessons.
• Medium term literacy overviews include three phases (phase one – immersion in the text; phase two – generate ideas, plan and write; phrase three – proof reading and redrafting) 
• Short-term weekly planning includes the vocabulary to be taught, along with the spelling and grammar focus. 
• A huge focus on vocabulary – the meaning of new vocabulary will be discussed, put into context and opportunities to find synonyms and antonyms will be provided to deepen understanding. Use of word of the week to highlight specific words.
• In addition to this, teachers are able to plan trips and visiting experts to stimulate and focus creative writing experiences.
• Opportunities for children to edit and revise writing will be planned for; children’s final writing drafts will then then published into their writing files. 
• Provide opportunities for free-write sessions in response to a stimulus.

 

Speaking and Listening

Speaking and listening is pivotal to our curriculum. We teach pupils to speak clearly and to convey their ideas in an articulate and confident manner. 

• In EYFS, use of welcome time, circle time, exploratory play and story time. Children are provided with many opportunities to encounter new vocabulary, talk about what they are doing and listen to others.
• Staff model the use of correct Standard English.
• A vocabulary-rich environment.
• Opportunities for exploratory talk are an integral part of lessons cross the curriculum.
• Opportunities for pupil leadership are provided – school council, head pupils.

 

Assessment

Attainment in reading is measured using the statutory assessments at the end of Key Stage Two. These results are measured against the reading attainment of children nationally. 

The Phonics Screening Test at the end of Year 1 measures attainment in phonics. However, we firmly believe that reading is the key to all learning and so the impact of our reading curriculum goes beyond the results of the statutory assessments.

 

Regular assessment is essential to monitor and boost the progress of children. At Whitburn we:

•     Provide verbal and written feedback during lessons.
•     Complete summative assessments on a termly basis in reading and maths.
•     Complete a writing assessment every term, which is marked using a specific grid for each year group.

•     Discuss the outcomes of formative and summative assessments in pupil progress meetings to ensure that the progress of different groups of learners and individual children is tracked and interventions organised to support good or better progress. 
•     Teachers reflect on standards achieved against the planned outcomes (through internal and external team moderation).

 How we know we have achieved our aims?

•      All pupils have made a good level of progress from their starting points in EYFS due to appropriate challenge and scaffolding.
•      The children leave Whitburn Primary as confident, fluent readers with a passion for reading; capable and confident writers who enjoy writing across a range of genres and for a variety of audiences and purposes; confident and articulate speakers and listeners.
•      They read and comprehend a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts and participate in discussions about books, inferring ideas by reading between the lines, making predictions and evaluating an author’s use of language and the impact this can have on the reader.  
•      They have a good level of comprehension and build upon their vocabulary knowledge.

•      Children can understand and apply the fundamental principles of spelling, grammar and punctuation in their writing.
•      Children can evaluate, improve and redraft their writing.