The Grove Primary School

English Curriculum Statement

Intent

At The Grove Primary School, we aim to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum for English by providing a broad, balanced and engaging curriculum that fuels their imagination and allows them to reach their potential. We aim for the children to leave us in Year 6, equipped with the knowledge and skills to enable them to successfully access the secondary curriculum and use correct Standard English.

We provide the children with access to a wide range of texts, genres and authors to inspire them to develop a deep and lasting pleasure for reading. We aim for children to become fluent readers who can express opinions and preferences about a range of texts.

We aim for the children at The Grove to write with confidence and accuracy for a variety of purposes. We provide the children with the opportunity to apply the spelling, phonics and grammar rules within purposeful writing activities.

Our ambition is for the children to take pride in their work, by taking the time to edit and refine their writing and by using a neat, cursive handwriting style.

We intend to underpin the children’s learning across the curriculum with opportunities to learn new vocabulary which can, in turn, be used during speaking and listening activities, as well as in their writing.

Implementation

The teaching of Early Reading is implemented through the use of the Sounds-Write phonics programme. All teachers and teaching assistants across the school are trained to deliver this programme. The language and ethos of Sounds-Write is used beyond KS1 where children learn the spelling rules from the appendices of the National Curriculum Programme of Study.

Children read on a 1:1 basis as well as part of small groups during their time at The Grove. From Year 2 onwards, the children participate in Reading Comprehension lessons as well as Whole Class Reading sessions. Whole Class Reading sessions provide the children with the opportunity to become immersed in a text through discussion and drama. Activities relate to the content domains of the KS1 and KS2 National Tests as well as other objectives from the National Curriculum. This whole class approach allows all children to have access to the age related knowledge and skills in the National Curriculum.

Writing at The Grove is underpinned by a high quality text for each topic which is used as a stimulus for the children’s writing. Writing relates to our termly topics and knowledge gained from other areas of the curriculum is drawn upon to write purposeful and accurate pieces. A range of genres are covered in each year group. Teachers use a planning toolkit to ensure the correct features of each genre are taught. This document also ensures progression within a genre, building on existing knowledge and skills, as children encounter the same text type in subsequent years.

At The Grove, many grammatical structures for sentences are taught through the use of different sentence types from Alan Peat’s book of ‘Exciting Sentences’. These sentence types teach the children how to use adverbs, adjectives and conjunctions effectively in a range of ways to write varied and interesting sentences.

From the Beginning of Year 1, children are exposed to a cursive style of writing. They learn to form their letters with an ‘exit stroke’ which they are able to use to join to the next letter. Handwriting is taught discretely, following a systematic order of similar joins being taught together. Children are supported throughout Key Stage One and Two to form a cursive, neat and legible handwriting style.

Impact

The impact of our approach to the teaching and learning of English is displayed through the children’s enthusiasm for Reading and Writing as well as through how well the children perform at key assessment points throughout their time at The Grove Primary School. At the end of the most recent academic year, results at The Grove either exceeded or were in line with national averages for Reading and Writing at the end of KS1 and KS2.

The impact of our approach to teaching Phonics can be measured through the outcome of the Phonics Screening Test. Most children at The Grove reach the expected threshold in the Phonics Screening Test at the end of Year 1, ensuring they are ready to learn the spelling patterns contained in the Year 2 National Curriculum and apply these in their reading and writing.

Children leave The Grove with lifelong reading habits. They are able to read audibly and accurately, adapting their voice for purpose and audience. Their ability to infer meaning from a text furthers their understanding and enjoyment, preparing them for the wider range of texts they will encounter at secondary school.

Moreover, our children leave The Grove with a passion for all areas of English, enabling them to open any door presented to them.

There are a huge number of sites that you can visit to gain ideas and advice in supporting your child with reading at home. Here are some of our favourites:

https://wordsforlife.org.uk/parent-support/reading-your-child/

https://www.udemy.com/course/help-your-child-to-read-and-write/ 

https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/tips-and-advice/reading-tips/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zbxby9q

Reading Comprehension is a key skill for children in supporting them to understand books and texts they have read in greater depth. Below are some useful questions you can ask your child as they read to you.