Intent
The foundation which underlies our children’s experiences at St. Joseph’s, and future success in life, is the development of their English language skills. At St. Joseph’s we have an English curriculum which centres upon exposure to high quality texts, builds a love of reading and provides the early experiences needed to enable every child to become a confident reader and writer. We aim for our pupils to develop confidence in speaking and listening, and a love of language, which they then transfer confidently into their reading and writing.
In reading, we teach the National Curriculum progressively, with daily access to high quality texts, to teach the required skills and foster a love of reading. We also place a high value on developing the vocabulary needed to flourish with reading in all contexts.
In writing, we teach the National Curriculum in a way that is structured and progressive, giving children varied opportunities to apply their writing skills.
Our curriculum is driven by high quality texts and novels, which the children enjoy and study in order to develop their skills in reading and writing. Our novel study curriculum is based on our belief that reading and writing are inextricably linked, and that developing a passion for literature and language is a prerequisite to achieving in English and places high quality children’s literature at the core of teaching and learning. In 2020 we undertook the implementation of this new approach to our teaching of English and introduced the Literary Curriculum, which immerses children in a literary world, therefore creating strong levels of engagement to provide meaningful and authentic contexts for English. Children become critical readers and acquire an authorial style as they encounter a wide-range of significant authors and a variety of fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
Through the exposure to, and teaching of, the vocabulary and spelling embedded within our novel study curriculum, we aim to meet the needs of all learners, to ensure that every child is taught and has access to the vocabulary and National Curriculum spellings they need to achieve. All staff at St. Joseph’s are passionate about developing children’s love of reading and writing, and are enabled to share their enthusiasm through novel studies and by supporting children’s wider reading. We believe that there is no greater privilege than sharing the worlds found in literature with children.
Our novel study curriculum also aims to support children’s development beyond the English curriculum: making clear links in other subject areas across the curriculum, as well as providing opportunities for deep exploration of complex issues, which offer a safe vehicle to discuss values, empathise with others and understand their own feelings. The range of novels covered throughout the children’s primary experience ensure that every child will experience stories, ideas and feelings, which leave an impression on them.
Implementation
As outlined above, our English curriculum at St. Joseph’s is built around a well-structured sequence of high quality age-appropriate texts. We use each book to create opportunities to develop reading fluency and comprehension with a focus on key reading strategies and skills; develop grammar and punctuation knowledge and understanding to use and apply across the wider curriculum; explore the writing structure and features of different genres, identify the purpose and audience; plan and write with a clear context and purpose, including evaluating the effectiveness of writing by editing and redrafting.
Impact
At St. Joseph’s we measure the effectiveness and impact of our Curriculum in a variety of ways. Firstly, children will be able to talk about books which they have read, enjoyed and related to. There will be evidence that children draw from their reading in their writing, showing a high level of acquired vocabulary. Children will enjoy writing and have a strong understanding of how writing is used to communicate meaning. They will have the ability to write for a range of purposes with strong scope for individuality in their written work and know and use a range of ambitious vocabulary in their written work, taken from novels read. As all aspects of English are an integral part of the curriculum, cross curricular writing standards will also continue improved and skills taught in the English lesson are transferred into other subjects; this shows consolidation of skills and a deeper understanding of how and when to use specific grammar, punctuation and spelling objectives. We hope that as children move on from St. Joseph’s to further their education and learning that their creativity, passion for English and high aspirations travel with them and continue to grow and develop as they do.
In addition to the points outlined above, we also assess pupils’ outcomes for SPAG and reading through half-termly summative assessments across school which enables pupils’ progress and attainment in the subject to be closely tracked and evaluated.
Also, through lesson observations and pupils’ book scrutiny, it will be evident that pupils are being well supported to acquire the necessary skills and subject knowledge in order to become established and confident writers and work monitored in books demonstrates that the curriculum is taught at an age appropriate standard across each year group, offering many opportunities to write for different purposes and for varying audiences.
English Curriculum