English
Aims of the National Curriculum
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. 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.
Our Intent
Inspiring a love of language in both spoken and written forms is crucial for all children. A love of language is a vehicle for learning new things, a microphone for sharing ideas and opinions, a tool for fostering creativity, an outlet for feelings and emotions and is a gateway to the rest of the world. At Chillingham Road, we want to foster a love of language in our children to form roots that lie deep within them, that will support them and will help them grow on their journey through our school and beyond. Our English curriculum focuses around 3 key elements:
- speaking and listening
- reading
- writing
IMPLEMENTATION
Early Reading and Phonics
We use Unlocking Letters and Sounds which was validated by the DfE in December 2021.
We begin teaching phonics in the first few weeks of term 1 in Reception and children make rapid progress in their reading journey. Children begin to learn the main sounds heard in the English Language and how they can be represented, as well as learning ‘Common Exception’ words for Phases 2, 3 and 4. They use these sounds to read and write simple words, captions and sentences. Children leave Reception being able to apply the phonemes taught within Phase 2, 3 and 4.
In Year 1 through Phase 5a, b and c, they learn any alternative spellings and pronunciations for the graphemes and additional Common Exception Words. By the end of Year 1 children will have mastered using phonics to decode and blend when reading and segment when spelling. In Year 1 all children are screened using the national Phonics Screening Check.
In Year 2, phonics continues to be revisited to ensure mastery of the phonetic code and any child who does not meet age related expectations will continue to receive support to close identified gaps.
To ensure no child is left behind at any point in the progression, children are regularly assessed and supported to keep up through bespoke 1-1 interventions. These include GPC recognition and blending and segmenting interventions. The lowest attaining 20% of pupils are closely monitored to ensure these interventions have an impact. All children have their phonic skills assessed using Phonics Tracker and this allows quick identification of any gaps a child may have.
Reading in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2
Competence in reading is the key to independent learning and has a direct effect on progress in all other areas of the curriculum. We want our children to be ‘readers’, not just children who can read. We want to inspire pupils to read widely and deeply and to explore a range of cultures, experiences and opinions. This exploration of literature will support them to not only form their own opinions of the world in which they live, but to develop their empathy and respect for the thoughts and opinions or others.
We wish to instil a curiosity in our children which means they seek to create questions and find answers in the breadth of the texts they read. Through the exposure to a range of texts in our literature spine and beyond, we aim to introduce children to a rich diet of literature that encompasses facts to fantasy, past to present, local to global through the words presented by a broad demographic of authors. By fostering avid readers, we give children the tools to access their own cultural capital and give them the keys to access life-long learning. Embedded into our reading curriculum are opportunities for reading to children, reading with children and reading by children. We believe these three elements are fundamental in securing reading skills in our children.
Alongside continued work on developing decoding skills using the Unlocking Letters and Sounds resources, children in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 develop their comprehension skills using Reading VIPERS. VIPERS is an acronym to aid the recall of the 6 reading domains as part of the UK’s reading curriculum. They are the key areas which we feel children need to know and understand in order to improve their comprehension of texts.
VIPERS stands for
Vocabulary
Inference
Prediction
Explanation
Retrieval
Sequence or Summarise
Within each classroom, there is a class library that mirrors the diverse range of texts within the Literature Spine. Children are encouraged and supported to select books to develop their reading habits. All children are given time daily to read and all children in Key Stage are heard 1:1 at least once every 3 weeks. The lowest attaining 20% of children will be heard reading 1:1 at least once per week. Children, families and staff record comments on reading using the Boom Reader app.
Performance Poetry
Writing
The Write Stuff, created by Jane Considine, is a system sharpens the teaching and learning of writing within our classrooms. It is research informed and practically applies evidence into effective best bets for improving writing outcomes.
Teachers are guided through the rationale and approaches to ensure that they have a deep understanding of the processes they can follow to become more effective teachers of writing.
Handwriting
Handwriting is taught using the Letterjoin handwriting scheme. In EYFS and KS1 handwriting is taught in short sharp focus lessons four times per week and then once or twice a week in KS2. Handwriting can be taught as a whole class and also in smaller, more focused intervention groups. Individual support for poor handwriting may still be required at KS2 and children who really struggle to acquire a joined cursive script may print if this ensures a more legible handwriting. Handwritten models by adults must adhere to the handwriting scheme and should be of a very high standard at all times.
letterjoin handwriting overview.pdf
Spelling
Spelling is taught both discretely and within every lesson as opportunities arise. In EYFS and Key Stage 1, the discrete lessons are taught using Unlocking Letters and Sounds. In Key Stage 2, discrete spelling lessons are taught using the Spelling Shed scheme. All children are given access to Spelling Shed at home. All staff are expected to model spelling strategies and support children in implementing these strategies across the curriculum.
No More Marking
Traditional marking and moderation are time-consuming and inaccurate
Marking work accurately is difficult. Moderators standardise the marks, but it’s hard to review more than a tiny fraction of scripts in a typical moderation session, and even agreeing on those is not easy. And the whole process is very time-consuming.
Comparative Judgement assesses open-ended work more reliably than traditional marking
Comparative judgement is a process where judges compare two responses and decide which is better. Following repeated comparisons, the resulting data is statistically modelled and responses placed on a scale of relative quality.
Research has shown the process to be as reliable as double marking, but much quicker.
- One national writing window per year group for Years 1 to 6. Last year every national window attracted over 700 schools and over 30,000 individual writing submissions.
- Stimulating writing tasks for each national window specifically commissioned and designed by a leading children's illustrator.
- As a school we receive national grades for every year group (WTS, EXS, GDS), writing ages and scaled scores which allow you to measure pupil progress.
- Our pupils' writing is silently and reliably moderated by up to 20 other teachers working at other schools.
Oracy
Oracy is defined as the ability to express oneself fluently and grammatically in speech. Providing opportunities for children to develop their oracy skills is embedded in all lessons and curriculum experiences. Examples of this include the half termly performance poem that each class learns, the regular opportunities children have to contribute to school assemblies and performances, the vocabulary banks and displays used within lessons and the sentence stems modelled during class discussions and debates.
Impact
analysis headlines reading ks2.pdf
analysis headlines reading ks2 high standard.pdf
analysis headlines gps expected standard.pdf
analysis headlines gps high standard.pdf
analysis headlines writing ks2.pdf
analysis headlines writing greater depth.pdf