English Curriculum

Intent

At Jenyns First School and Nursery we believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children's love of reading, writing and discussion. At the heart of the curriculum, we want the children to enjoy English, use their learning to reflect on the wider world and grow in confidence and independence. We have a rigorous and well organised English curriculum that provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. Our curriculum closely follows the aims of the National Curriculum for English 2014 to enable children 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; children should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
• are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.

These aims are embedded across our English lessons and the wider curriculum. We will provide the means for children to develop a secure knowledge-base in English, which follows a clear pathway of progressions as they advance through the primary curriculum. Rigorous assessment and review will ensure that we are able to provide targeted support so that all children experience success in English; we believe that a secure basis in English skills is crucial to a high quality education and will give our children the tools they need to participate fully as a member of society.

Implementation

Early reading is taught and supported through the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds scheme. Regular training ensures that staff are equipped to teach with the expertise and skills required to promote excellent progress, as well as a love of reading. Each class' timetable is organised to enable weekly access to the school's expansive library, with a selection of books to provide quality reading materials for all children to promote reading for pleasure. In each classroom an attractive reading corner is regularly updated and used to promote a love of reading for pleasure.

At Jenyns, we use the Literacy Tree for our daily English lessons, which implements high quality children's literature and creative teaching approaches to foster a whole school love of reading and writing. Use of Literacy Tree's teaching sequences allows teaching staff to make links to other areas of the curriculum to ensure that cross curricular links provide further context for learning, with grammar and writing embedded in lessons.

Assessment for learning is embedded in English lessons and children are active in reviewing their successes in their work and identifying, with support from their teacher, target areas for development to ensure a continuous and individualised approach to improving their work.

Impact

The organisation of the English curriculum has created a community of enthusiastic readers and writers who enjoy showcasing their developing literacy knowledge and skills. Children are confident to take risks in reading and writing and love to discuss and share their ideas. Outcomes of work in English evidence the high quality of work and the impact of varied and cross curricular opportunities. 

Reading