Benchill Primary English Curriculum

English rationale

Our over-arching aim in English at Benchill Primary School is to develop articulate speakers, inspired writers and avid readers, who can apply their knowledge of English, to communicate successfully in an ever-changing world.

English is an integral part of education and society. A high-quality education in English teaches children the art of speaking and listening, how to write and communicate ideas coherently for different purposes and how to read fluently with good understanding. At Benchill Primary school, we adopt a determined approach when it comes to reading and writing. We endeavour to ensure all pupils have fluency and automaticity in reading and writing so that they can meet the expected standard in all aspects of English.

Through reading and literature in particular, children have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Being immersed in good quality literature develops pupils’ acquisition of a wide vocabulary, thus addressing vocabulary gaps, and allows children to explore and appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage.

Reading

Intent

We believe reading is the foundation for the rest of their learning to build upon across the curriculum. We have been heavily focusing on our Early Reading and have dedicated a lot of time and resources to embed strong and reliable reading skills from Nursery and upwards. We aim to:

• develop understanding and skills to become independent, enthusiastic readers.
• allow children to access age-relevant texts
• understand that language they have acquired, may be relevant across all areas of their learning and to apply that language where possible.

Developing and instilling a love of reading is of paramount importance in our school. Our children are exposed to a diverse range of quality reading materials; they are provided with opportunities to read across all subjects, in the curriculum, and we promote a love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.

Implementation

For teaching Early reading, we use FFT Phonics. This teaches children to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. They learn to form each letter, spell correctly, and compose their ideas step-by-step. Children learn the English alphabetic code: first they learn one way to read the 40+ sounds and blend these sounds into words, then learn to read the same sounds with alternative graphemes. They experience success from the very beginning. Phonic books are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and ‘tricky’ words and, as children re-read the stories, their fluency increases.

To help choose appropriate books as the children move through school, we use Accelerated Reader (AR). This is a reading management and monitoring programme that aims to foster independent reading. The internet-based software assesses reading age and suggests books that match pupils’ needs and interests. Pupils take computerised quizzes on the books and earn AR points as they progress.

By the end of Key Stage 1, our children are able to:

• draw on knowledge of a broad vocabulary to understand texts they have read;
• identify characters and sequence key events from fiction texts;
• decipher information from non-fiction texts;
• make simple inferences and explain these;
• make predictions about texts from book covers and titles.

Reading continues to be prioritised through a whole class approach as quality core texts are used as a stimulus. In our daily reading sessions, using the success for all (SFA) scheme, children are presented with suitably challenging texts that are used to enable our children to build on their comprehension skills, whilst also building up their stamina and pace, in an age-appropriate way.

By the end of Key Stage 2, our children have to been taught to:

• explain the meaning of new vocabulary, including subject-specific vocabulary, in context;
• locate, retrieve and record specific, relevant and important information, from a range of fiction and non-fiction texts;
• make inferences from what they have read and justify, with supporting evidence, from the text;
• make predictions from key details in the text;
• make comparisons, within texts and across texts;
• summarise main ideas from the text;
• understand and explain how content within the text can contribute towards understanding the meaning of the whole text.

Writing

Intent

Our aim at Benchill Primary School is to develop children’s ability to produce well-structured writing with appropriate detail, in which the meaning is clear and the interest of the reader is engaged. Our approach to writing aims to instil the importance of transcription and composition, as required in the National Curriculum.

We want children to:

• develop understanding and skills to become independent, enthusiastic writers.

• enjoy using language in different contexts and have the confidence and ability to do so.

• develop a fluent, legible handwriting style and take care with the presentation of their work.

Implementation

At Benchill Primary School we have adopted "The Write Stuff" by Jane Considine to bring clarity to the mechanics of writing. Using sentence stacking children receive short, intensive moments of learning that they can then immediately apply to their own writing. 

Following each sentence stacking unit children will plan and complete an independent piece of writing to apply the skills they have learnt. They will then edit their work based on the criteria set during sentence stacking lessons to ensure they know how to improve their work.

Children in all Key Stages are given daily opportunities to write in a range of contexts, for a variety of purposes, and have regular opportunities to write at length in extended independent writing sessions. Our long-term planning for English covers the range of text types set out in the National Curriculum, ensuring a breadth of coverage.

We also use ‘No more Marking’ to make comparative judgements about writing. Each year group is set a task, where they are able to apply their skills during cold writing tasks. Using comparative judgement these are then assessed and moderated by staff and independent judges.

In EYFS we follow the development matters guidance. Linking children’s writing to their reading and exploring progression and development through different themes throughout the year.

GPS

Intent

To teach pupils about grammar, punctuation and spelling, the emphasis is on the close consideration of examples of language in use, including pupils’ own writing and on the exploration of language as a system. The aim is to develop pupils’ curiosity about language and their capacity to observe and reflect, which will in turn enable them to develop more control and choice in their use of language.

Implementation

During sentence stacking sessions in writing, the way that grammar is used is explicitly modelled in order to give the children opportunities to apply their grammar knowledge in their writing.

Grammar and punctuation are the make-up of a piece of writing. These skills begin in Early Years as children learn speak and then to write for meaning. In KS1, children build on this, learning to write in complete sentences, understand different word classifications and develop sentences that link together, within a text. In KS2, children hone and develop these skills further by learning how to vary sentence types and use different language, tense and punctuation for effect, eventually choosing to do so independently.

Opportunities for teachers to enhance pupils’ vocabulary arise naturally from their reading and writing. As vocabulary increases, teachers show pupils how to understand the relationships between words, how to understand nuances in meaning, and how to develop their understanding of, and ability to use, figurative language. They also teach pupils how to work out and clarify the meanings of unknown words and words with more than one meaning.

Pupils are taught to control their speaking and writing consciously and to use Standard English. They are taught to use the elements of spelling, grammar, punctuation and ‘language about language’ listed in the statutory appendices.

The school follows the definitions provided in the non-statutory glossary in the national curriculum. Throughout the programmes of study, teachers teach pupils the vocabulary they need to discuss their reading, writing and spoken language. Pupils therefore learn the correct grammatical terms in English and these terms are integrated within teaching. The children are then given opportunities and are expected to use a range of spelling strategies and apply them in their independent work.

The teaching of correct grammatical terminology is vital to the children’s understanding and use of the English language and as such all teachers must use the terminology set down in the New Curriculum grammar and punctuation appendices.

In year 2 we have adopted the FFT jungle club spelling. This is a fun and engaging online platform that covers all of the Y2 National Curriculum objectives for spelling. Daily lessons provide opportunities to work as a class, in groups, in partners and individually. Each lesson follows the sequence of remember, learn, practice and try it to ensure that pupils embed prior knowledge, learn new knowledge and are able to practice and apply this.

In KS2 we have adopted Spelling Shed. Each lesson has a main objective from the National Curriculum appendix for spelling. The lesson sequence is planned to systematically build upon acquired knowledge. Each week a set of words is provided, these words are examples of the spelling pattern being taught. Each lesson contains a revision section so that children will revisit sounds and spelling patterns from earlier weeks in the scheme.

The Main Teaching Input section is designed to take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Here teachers and students will explore the words of the week. They will examine aspects such as the number of syllables, tricky sounds and the morphology of the words. Children then have opportunities to apply their learning with various activities.