"One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world."
- from Malala’s Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai (2017)
English Intent, Implementation and Impact
Our Curriculum Drivers: Respect, Relationships, Aspiration and Wisdom.
Intent
At Grade Ruan C of E Primary School, we aim for all our learners to become confident and fluent readers, writers and speakers, equipped with the skills and knowledge to flourish and to realise their full potential. Developing a love of reading and books underpins our curriculum as we recognise this as a key indicator for future success.
English at Grade Ruan will not only be a daily discrete lesson, but is the cornerstone of the entire curriculum. It is embedded within all our lessons and we will strive for a high level of English for all. Through using high-quality texts, immersing children in vocabulary-rich learning environments and ensuring new curriculum expectations and the progression of skills are met, the children at Grade Ruan will be exposed to a language heavy, creative and continuous English curriculum where reading, writing and speaking are intrinsically linked. All children from Foundation Stage to Year 6 are provided with many opportunities to develop and apply their writing skills across all areas of the curriculum. This will not only enable them to become primary literate but will also develop a love of reading, creative writing and purposeful speaking and listening.
At Grade Ruan, our vision is for creativity to be at the helm of our English curriculum and for children to learn new skills in a immersive and engaging way.
Implementation
At Grade Ruan, we aim to create a positive reading and writing culture in school, where both are promoted, enjoyed and considered a true pleasure for all pupils.
Reading: We follow the Read Write Inc programme for phonics. Our approach is systematic, consistent and rigorous in order that all children become readers as quickly as possible. We aim for children to 'keep up, not catch up', so targeted support is provided for identified pupils after the assessments at the end of each half term. When children are ready, they will take home a book that they can practice at home. This will be made up entirely of decodable words, using the sounds that they have leant in school. They also have a book bag book, an extra book using learnt sounds, and a book to share with an adult.
In Key stage 2, children have daily Whole Class Reading, incorporating a breadth of fiction and non-fiction texts. By this stage, most children will be supported to choose their own reading books, further developing the children’s love of reading. Time is given each day to independent reading whilst teachers ensure that they are reading a book at the right level for them.
Each class has a book corner, including recommended reads for individual year groups, a magazine subscription for non-fiction reading and a selection of non-fiction books. We have developed our own book spine, on a 4 year rolling programme. The texts are used during our 10-15 minute daily protected reading time. We are members of the Cornwall library service, which enables us to choose new books for our book corners each term, project boxes to support our foundation subjects (books and resources) and support with ensuring our books are well-stocked.
Writing: All of the writing lessons throughout the school follow our 'flow' structure. This starts with a cold task, to assess what the children already know, introduces toolkits and immerses the children in model texts or films and after different stages of practice, ends with a hot task. Early writing is taught through early mark making, then they are taught the correct letter formations. This begins with writing (whether with a writing tool or in the air) cvc words, moving onto short sentences using the sounds they have been taught. EYFS children are encouraged to write independently during continuous provision and in finger fit sessions. We use the same phonics program across the school providing continuity and a vehicle for guaranteed progression. Pupils are taught in year groups from Reception to Year 2 ensuring that everyone has a firm foundation in phonics.
Every autumn term, begins with each class teaching 'The Place Value of Punctuation and Grammar'. This unit is followed by a Grammarsaurus writing unit, where the children will be able to apply the skills they have learnt. The following terms mainly use model texts as a basis for their writing units, referring back to the grammar units from the beginning of the year.
In years 2-6, we follow the spelling scheme ‘Spelling Shed’. The children have weekly spellings introduced each week, which they work on for ten minutes each day in class, as well as practising at home. Spelling Shed provides online activities which children can access at home and provides teachers with resources that can be used in the classroom. In reception and year 1, the children work on common exception words and tricky words in class as part of their phonics sessions and they are displayed around the classroom.
We follow the RWI handwriting scheme. Handwriting is modelled and practised in short bursts each day.
Speaking and Listening: Children sit with peer partners and are encouraged to THINK -PAIR - SHARE. They use ABC during class discussions (agree, build, challenge). Lollipop sticks are used for 'cold calling' to hold the children to account and ensure good speaking and listening with their partners.
The impact of our English curriculum is a community of enthusiastic readers and writers, who enjoy showcasing their developing literacy knowledge and skills. Children are confident when encountering new vocabulary in their reading, and including it in their writing. Pupils support one another in their discussions and peer-edit each other’s work. They are able to use the correct terminology when doing so, leading to productive conversations. Outcomes of work in both English and topic books evidence the high expectations of written work and selecting cross-curricular texts supports this writing as well as competencies across the curriculum. Children write successfully across a range of forms and adapt their writing considering the purpose and audience.
We aim for attainment at the end of KS2 in all subjects to be above that of Cornwall and the National averages. All staff are determined for all of our children to be fluent and confident readers by the time they leave our school, with a deep love of reading.
