“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”

Stephen King

Intent

At St. John the Baptist Catholic Primary School, our English curriculum is designed to develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion and prepare our learners for life as successful, valuable and socially responsible citizens. We inspire an appreciation of our rich and varied literary heritage and a habit of reading widely and often. We nurture a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly, imaginatively and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and to use discussion to communicate and further their learning in all areas of the curriculum.

We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge-base in English, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum. Our carefully sequenced, broad and balanced curriculum, underpinned by inclusive practice, aims to provide our children with the opportunity to build on their experiences in order to achieve their goals. We believe that a secure basis in literacy skills is crucial to a high quality education across the curriculum.

Implementation

Our English curriculum is implemented through the use of rich texts chosen to enthuse and engage our children. Texts are chosen to link with the topics pupils are learning about and these are used as a springboard to inspire pupils to read and write.

Our English curriculum aims to provide many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. We want all of our pupils to be proficient readers, writers, spellers and speakers, who can transfer their English skills to other curriculum subjects and who are prepared for the next steps in their education. Our English lessons develop pupils’ spoken language, reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary, teaching them how to write within specific genres and which structural and language features to include to be successful. Example texts are used to start this process to enable pupils to use other similar writing as models for their own. Lessons also focus on teaching specific spelling, grammar and punctuation skills to enable our pupils to apply the skills they have been taught to their extended writing and writing across the curriculum.

Impact

Children will leave St. John the Baptist Catholic Primary School as happy, confident learners who have developed a love of reading and writing with the key skills and knowledge necessary for the next stage of their learning. They have high aspirations and are confident in the art of speaking and listening, able to successfully use discussion to communicate and further their learning. We also have the following aims:

• Pupils enjoy reading and writing across a range of genres.
• Pupils enjoy reading regularly, for information and for enjoyment.
• Pupils discuss books with excitement and interest.
• Pupils enjoy writing and use the features of different genres and styles.
• Pupils can confidently write for different purposes and audiences.
• Pupils have a wide vocabulary that they use within their writing.
• Pupils have a good knowledge of how to adapt their writing based on the context and audience.
• Pupils leave primary school being able to effectively apply spelling rules and patterns they have been taught.
• Parents and carers will have a good understanding of how they can support pupils’ reading development at home.
• The % of pupils working at ARE within each year group will be at least in line with national averages.
• The % of pupils working at Greater Depth within each year group will increase year-on-year.
• There will be no significant gaps in the progress of different groups of pupils (e.g. disadvantaged vs non-disadvantaged).

“You can make anything by writing.” C.S Lewis