English Curriculum Statement
Learning to read is the most important thing your child will learn. Everything else depends on it, so we put as much energy as we possibly can into making sure that every single child learns to read as quickly as possible.
We want your child to love reading! This is why we put our efforts into making sure they develop a love of books as well as simply learning to read at Barleyhurst Park.
Intent
In order to learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently we will ensure that all children, as in line with the National Curriculum, will:
- read fluently with good understanding
- read for pleasure and information
- acquire a wide vocabulary and good understanding of the conventions for reading, writing and the spoken language
- appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
- will write clearly for a range of purposes and audiences
- use discussion to aid their learning
- present their ideas confidently in discussion and debate
At Barleyhurst Park Primary, these skills are embedded within English lessons and across the curriculum as a whole. We believe every child should receive a high quality education in English where they are taught to write and speak fluently. These skills are essential and will enable them to communicate their ideas and emotions to others so that they may participate fully as a member of society. We want our children to read and write for purpose and enjoyment and to leave our school enthusiastic for the next part of their English learning journey.
Implementation
The content and principles underpinning the 2014 English curriculum and the English curriculum at Barleyhurst Park are underpinned by quality first teaching in all classes in our school. Alongside this we use many other opportunities to equip our pupils with a strong understanding of the spoken and written language.
- Teachers reinforce an expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards in English.
- Differentiation is used to ensure all children are accessing learning which is appropriate for their ability – this ensures all of our pupils can experience success within the subject.
- The quality and variety of language that our pupils hear and speak is strong and consistent across the school.
- We use discussion to allow our children to investigate and question the texts they read.
- Pupils are encouraged to participate in and gain knowledge of the skills associated with drama and improvisation.
- Our teaching focuses on developing our pupil’s competence in both word reading and comprehension.
- High quality, phonic teaching is emphasised in the early teaching of reading.
- Pupils are invited to experience purposeful, quality discussion with their teachers to explore a wide range of stories, poems and non-fiction.
- Reading widely allows our children to increase and improve their vocabulary use. Our reading for pleasure sessions are an incredibly important part of our reading timetable.
- Weekly independent writing tasks allow our pupils to apply all the learnt skills from our shared learning.
- Using Curriculum Maestro as a platform to deliver our wider curriculum areas has allowed us to plan memorable, meaningful cross curricula writing opportunities.
- Regular moderation between teachers in school allows us to support and query judgements made about the level in which a writer is working.
- External moderation with other schools allows us to challenge our children and ensure we are always confident with our judgements.
- Editing is an important skill which we focus on in writing lessons. The ability to discuss and improve their own written pieces is vital for becoming a confident writer of the future.
Impact
The school aims for this implementation process to have the effect on the pupils which enables them to have the confidence and skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, make connections, accept challenge and become lifelong aspirational learners. We expect to see the children demonstrating our vision in their own behaviour in English lessons throughout the school year. This will enable our children, including those with SEND, to make expected or better progress and attain in line with national expectations for both writing and reading.