English Intent

At St Peter’s 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 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 Literacy, 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. 

English Implementation

• Reading is taught x 4 week at St Peter’s for at least 20 minutes in KS2.
• Phonics is taught every day at St Peter’s for at least 20 minutes in EYFS and KS1 using the ‘Little Wandle Revised Letters and Sounds’ programme. It is also taught in year 3 for those children who require it.
• All KS2 pupils use a guided reading book to record their learning. Reading is taught in Key stage 2 through a whole class approach using a high quality class text for the stimulus. In Key stage 1 reading is taught through shared reading sessions which take place in small groups and focus on 3 skills: Decoding, prosody and comprehension
• Communication between parents and school is recorded through the use of reading diaries. Children log when they read at home and this is signed and dated by an adult and comments can be written. This is then checked by an adult in school and if children have not read, a text message is sent home.
• KS1 & 2 are taught SPaG x4 week for at least ten minutes. Spelling lessons and tests occur once per week according to the school’s spelling scheme. 
• Spelling is taught explicitly in 3x a week in KS2 and 5 times a week in Year 2 using the No Nonsense Spelling Scheme
• We follow the Nelson Handwriting Scheme
• Regular training is delivered to teachers and TAs delivering phonics as well as observations to ensure consistency is happening throughout the school
• Teachers model high quality writing in lessons which is pitched appropriately in order to provide a clear example of writing genres and expectations.
• A love of reading is promoted throughout the school. Children take home a reading book for pleasure from our special bookcases each week.
• Children are able to read for pleasure during their break times in a special Reading Shed.
• Children in all year groups are read to daily and we use the Pie Corbett Reading Spines to ensure children have access to high quality texts and a range of genres.
• Children visit the local library twice every half term
• We celebrate Book Week, National Poetry Day, International Poetry day every year alongside other book related celebrations

English Impact

• Weekly spelling tests to track children’s progress with their knowledge of the spelling rules
• Termly reading comprehension and grammar assessments – years 3 to 6
• Half-termly phonics assessments – EYFS & KS1 and regular catch up assessments
• Written work completed in guided reading books & verbal responses during guided reading sessions
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
• Pupils’ response to marking of written work in books.
• Observing lessons and monitoring of planning to assess children’s learning and level of challenge.
• SMART sheets used to track progress

English Whole School Overviews

Websites for children to use at home

Please click on the links below to practise some fun English activities to support children's learning.

BBC Bitesize

Book Trust

TopMarks

Teach your Monster

Oxford Owl

Chatterbooks

Teachers have been reading, raving and recommending children's books. In Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 we have introduced 'Chatterbooks' to the children and each day a child is chosen to take home their class mascot and choose their favourite book. This is then shared and read to the class the next day.

Children in Year 2 and 3 got to meet author Renata Kaminska this week. The children were excited about her book ‘Hector, a Dog’s story’ and is a must for animal and dog lovers. If you are interested in buying her book please click on the link. https://amzn.to/3coDqN7