A CARE FOUNDATION TRUST SCHOOL
 

English

English

Vision

Our school values underpin our English Curriculum. At Mersham Primary School, we believe that English and communication are key life skills. Through the English curriculum, we will help children develop the skills and knowledge that will enable them to communicate effectively and creatively through spoken and written language and equip them with the skills to become lifelong learners. English is at the heart of all children’s learning.

Aims
All pupils at Mersham have opportunities to:

  • Speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions independently to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them.
  • Become fluent and critical readers which enables them to access all areas of the curriculum and the world beyond school, thus widening their horizons.
  • Leave Mersham having developed a life-long love of reading and place value in written text, with an understanding of how reading for joy can positively impact their mental health and enable them to become effective citizens of the future.
  • Have access to high quality teaching and learning of phonics, with staff setting high expectations of achievement.
  • First master phonics in order to access the curriculum and thrive at school.
  • ‘Keep up, not catch up’. Early identification of gaps in English enables us to intervene swiftly to enable a child to ‘keep up’.

Implementation

Curriculum Design

The Foundations of our English Curriculum (What is taught and where?)

The aims of the National Curriculum are the foundation of our whole School English curriculum, woven into all areas of learning, enabling children at Mersham to:

  • Read easily, fluently and with good understanding
  • Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
  • Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
  • Appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
  • Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
  • Use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
  • Be competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.

(National Curriculum, 2014)

  • Yearly overviews outline progression in each key area of the English curriculum:
    • Transcription
      • Spelling
      • Handwriting
    • Composition:
      • Grammar
      • Punctuation
      • Composition

This writing progression overview outlines the key skills pupils are expected to achieve by the end of primary school. This clear, sequenced document allows teachers the freedom to design creative, bespoke units of work that are tailored to the needs and interests of specific cohorts and individual learners. 

We believe, by giving children more opportunities to contribute to how they demonstrate their learning, we are not only igniting children’s passions but also encouraging a sense of ownership and engagement in the writing process.  

Our key priorities for each year group are:

EYFS Priority: motor control, phonics, confidence

Yr1 Priority: writing readable, complete sentences

Yr2 Priority: sentence control and clarity

Yr3 Priority: moving from sentences to structured text

Yr4 Priority: accuracy across longer pieces

Yr 5 Priority: writing deliberately for the reader

Yr6 Priority: control, maturity, and authorial voice

Yr5/6  Greater Depth: control, precision, consistent

EYFS–KS1: Can I write it?
Lower KS2: Can I organise it?
Upper KS2: Can I shape it for effect?

How the Curriculum is implemented (What it looks like in practice)

Phonics: (EYFS, KS1 and targeted support in KS2)

  • We use ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds’ phonics daily.
  • All staff are confident and display a strong understanding of how we use phonics to teach early reading skills.
  • Consistent planning format across the whole school with the use of familiar games and routines embed phonics learning.
  • Targeted support using the ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds’ keep- up programme in EYFS and Year 1.
  • Targeted support using the ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Rapid Catch up’ programme in KS2.
  • Group guided reading sessions, with phonically matched books, where they focus on developing their wider reading skills.
  • 1:1 targeted reading where appropriate to secure phonics.
  • Enriching reading in the learning environment.
  • Children are assessed on an individual basis.
  • Access to phonically matched books.
  • Support for parents: workshops, resources.

Reading:

  • Reading for Joy sits at the centre of reading at Mersham and children have regular D.E.A.R (Drop Everything and Read) time with their teachers who model a love and passion for reading. In KS1 children may choose an age-appropriate (not necessarily phonically matched) book of their choice during this time – not only do we support phonically driven reading but also aspiration and reading for joy.
  • Children have access to high quality phonic level matched books. Our main schemes are: ‘Floppy’s Phonics’ – Early phonic acquisition; ‘ORT – Alien Adventures’. We supplement this scheme with books from Collins Big Cats, Rigby Stars and Dandelion books.
  • In Key Stage Two Each class has a selection of age appropriate high quality texts available to choose from once they move on from the reading scheme. These are carefully monitored by staff to ensure that children have sufficient challenge.
  • Guided reading takes place daily in every class, with a balance of teacher/TA led and independent tasks.
  • All children read from our guided reading scheme, carefully matched to their age and stage (ORT Alien Adventures).
  • We use reading VIPERS to structure our guided reading and formative assessment, alongside the 21 steps.
  • Children identified as vulnerable (progress, group) have regular 1:1 reading with a member of staff.
  • The lowest 20% of children in each class are tracked by English leaders to ensure appropriate provision is in place.
  • Suggested reading lists

EGPS and Writing:

  • Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation (including phonics) skills are taught daily and discreetly in all classes and then embedded in writing across the curriculum.
  • We use Language Through Colour school-wide to support both vocabulary development and spelling.
  • Targeted interventions, including the use of Precision Teaching, are used to focus on children who need additional support or who need to ‘keep up’.
  • Oracy is embedded to enable children to explore their thoughts before applying through writing.
  • Extended writing skills are taught through a mixture of topic based writing and high quality text based writing drawn from our spine of books.
  • Each class has a set of non-negotiables for writing, which apply across the curriculum.
  • Each step of the writing process is modelled by teachers.
  • Editing and proof-reading: we have designed our own system to develop these skills and promote independence. At the end of every piece of writing children complete an E1 edit (spelling and punctuation) to promote reflection and independence.

Writing Curriculum Overview