English

At Patrington Church of England Primary Academy our curriculum is designed to: inspire enthusiasm for learning, build on achievement and support pupil well-being and happiness to allow our learners a safe environment within which to flourish.

We follow our Christian Values of Trust, Friendship and Perseverance to strive to ensure that: Everyone Belongs, Everyone Cares and Everyone Tries.

We recognise that we are educating children for an unrecognisable future and in order to be prepared for this we identified the following golden threads which are woven throughout our broad and balanced Curriculum:

Our Golden Threads through our curriculum

Foster curiosity.

Learn to disagree respectfully.

Be open to another way.

Find your wonderful – ambition and self worth

Within our inclusive environment our curriculum allows all children to ensure that Equity, Curiosity and Ambition are nurtured.

“And Jesus said to him, If you can?  All things are possible to those who believe.” Mark 9:23

Intent

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.

At Patrington Church of England Primary Academy, we live out our curriculum intent in English by ensuring  that our children are able to:

• Use a wide range of interesting vocabulary in reading and writing.
• Articulate their thoughts about what they read with respect in discussions.
• Read confidently, fluently, and with understanding.
• Take charge of their own learning by using independent strategies like self-monitoring and error correction.
• Develop a love for reading and a desire to read for enjoyment.
• Understand different types of texts and genres.
• Write effectively in various styles and forms for different situations.
• Cultivate creativity, imagination, and inventiveness.

Implementation

Phonics and reading

At Patrington Church of England  Primary Academy, we implement a systematic and structured synthetic phonics program which is fully aligned with the Department for Education’s ‘Letters and Sounds’ framework. Specifically, in Early Years and Key Stage 1, we meticulously adhere to the ‘Little Wandle’ Letters and Sounds Revised Phonics Programme. Three reading sessions every week – focusing on fluency, prosody and comprehension –  ensure accurate reading at the matched level to their phonics attainment. 

As children develop into fluent, more confident readers, a greater emphasis is placed on developing their comprehension skills in preparation for their transition to Key Stage Two. This process begins during the summer term of Year 2 when the children progress to daily whole class reading. Following the principles outlined in ‘Reading Reconsidered’, the children will read a wide range of chaptered books, non-fiction and poetry which is linked to their topic for the half term. 

The document below explains how phonics and reading is taught in greater detail.

Reading Progression

Writing

At Patrington Primary Academy, writing is a key lesson that is taught every day. 

We aim to create real, purposeful and engaging contexts for writing so that our children can produce written work in various styles and forms for different situations. As well as teaching the children about composition, spelling, handwriting , punctuation and grammar also form an integral part of writing lessons.

We use a ‘Writer-talk’ approach in Years 1 to 6 (EYFS use Poetry Basket as mentioned above and begin this in the Summer Term) in order to develop our children’s ability to retell stories and other texts. Our writing lessons enable the children to imitate and rehearse the language orally before they analyse the text and write their own versions independently. 

The document below explains how writing is taught in greater detail.

Writing progression document (2)

Speaking and listening

Speaking and listening are fundamental to a child’s language development and underpin all areas of learning as well as social development. We plan opportunities for teaching/developing these skills across the curriculum to enable children to express themselves clearly and confidently and listen attentively.