English Curriculum Statement

Intent
At William Patten we believe that a quality Literacy (English) curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion. 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 all 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; they 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 literacy lessons and the wider curriculum. We will provide the means for children to develop a secure knowledge-base in Literacy, which follows a clear pathway of progression 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 literacy; we believe that a secure basis in literacy 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 supported through the Read Write Inc scheme. Regular training and development days ensure that staff are equipped to teach with the expertise and skills required to promote excellent progress, as well as a love of reading. In KS2, when children have completed the RWI programme, they develop deeper reading skills in line with the Hackney Loves Reading Scheme and the Hamilton scheme. Each class’s timetable is organised to enable weekly access to the KS1 and KS2 library, with an up to date selection of books to provide quality reading materials for all children to promote reading for enjoyment. The children also take part in organising and developing their classroom reading area and an annual competition ensures that efforts are recognised.

When planning literacy lessons, teachers make links to other areas of the curriculum to ensure that cross curricular links provide further context for learning. Teaching blocks focus on fiction, non-fiction or poetry, in line with the 2014 National Curriculum and comprehension, grammar and writing are embedded in lessons. Lesson sequences themselves build progressively towards an extended piece of writing. Handwriting is also taught within literacy lessons, and outcomes in KS2 are recorded in literacy books to promote a high level of pride and presentation across all written outcomes.

To enrich the literacy curriculum, the school hosts the annual Stoke Newington Literary Festival Schools’ Activity Day. This ensures that children, including those from other local schools, have access to writers and book illustrators from the local and wider community as positive role models. As part of the preparation for this, children design ‘book boxes’ creating a scene from a well-known book of their choice. Children also take part in poetry and creative writing competitions, which are celebrated in whole school assemblies.

Assessment for Learning is embedded in literacy lessons and children are active in reviewing the 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 realised a community of enthusiastic readers and writers who enjoy showcasing their developing literacy knowledge and skills. Children are confident to take risks in their reading and writing, and love to discuss and share their ideas. Outcomes of work in both literacy and topic books evidence the high quality of work and the impact of varied and cross curricular writing opportunities. These enable children to write across a range of forms and adapt their writing successfully, considering the purpose.

Children achieve highly in the phonics screening check, and at the end of the EYFS. Attainment at the end of KS2 is above that of Hackney and the National Average.

Link to English Policy:

English Policy 2022-23

Handwriting Policy:

Handwriting Policy 2022-23

Spelling Policy:

Spelling Policy 2022-23

Please follow the links below to see the National Curriculum objectives and Programme of Study for English, which we cover in their entirety across each year –

The Hackney Fundamental objectives summarise and inform our assessment of the NC objectives to measure progress and attainment within each year group’s programme of study.

Reading Years 1 – 6

Writing Years 1 – 6