INTENT

At Bookwell Primary School our primary intent of the English curriculum is to create avid readers which we believe is the foundation for any greater depth writer.   We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing and write clearly and accurately whilst selecting and adapting their language and style to suit a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. We plan engaging units of work in order to enthuse, inspire and motivate our children, which are underpinned by core texts from our carefully developed reading spine.   It is our intention that by the time our pupils leave Bookwell in year 6 they are ready for the next stage of their education and will be able to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas effectively and with a developed awareness for purpose and audience.

Our curriculum closely follows the aims of the National Curriculum to enable all children to:

• Appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
• 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.

IMPLEMENTATION

We deliver our English writing curriculum using The Literacy Tree's teach through a text approach.

Children build their literary repertoire through high-quality text choices with clear rationales and deliberate sequencing of literature across the school. High-quality, award-winning texts by new and significant authors are chosen for their literary merit. Texts are linked thematically rather than by topic in order to support children to make strong connections between texts studied. Themes have links across year groups to allow children to make connections with texts previously studied. Quality Book Talk takes place from Reception. Themes, conventions and connections are explored and background knowledge is carefully considered. Curriculum mapping is a whole-school approach so that there is deliberate sequencing through texts from one year group to the next.

Layered learning with practice and application of skills within a range of purposeful outcomes. Snowballing of learning with repeated practice of skills across individual sequences, terms and across the year across a range of contexts. Previously taught skills from both current and previous year groups are regularly revisited with repeated opportunities to practise in purposeful contexts through shorter writing opportunities. Regular sentence construction rehearsal and manipulation of sentences with oral rehearsal and use of manipulatives like sentence strips to secure understanding of sentence sense and grammar. Regular oral rehearsal and drama techniques built into sequences as a key component of the Teach Through a Text approach.

High-quality, engaging models are included within planning as well as exploring examples taken from quality texts. These are carefully designed to demonstrate the use of relevant skills taught within the sequence, supporting consistency and teachers’ professional development. High-quality visual models are used consistently throughout the Teach Through a Text pedagogy – this ‘classroom toolkit’ becomes familiar to children, reducing their cognitive load.

The Teach Through a Text approach is inclusive and emphasises the need to personalise planning to suit the needs of cohorts and individuals. 

Clear emphasis on vocabulary and literary language within the approach, explored through the quality texts and applying these meaningfully within purposeful writing opportunities. Specific strategies for vocabulary teaching are embedded throughout the approach with models for these included within the Classroom Toolkit, supporting children to develop a broader and richer vocabulary.

Clear focus on purpose and audience with authentic writing opportunities which develop independence. Frequent writing opportunities for a range of purposes and audiences are presented through the cycle of short, longer and extended writing outcomes, supporting children to practise and apply their skills to become more independent writers. Extended outcomes within every sequence follow a plan, draft and editing cycle to support children to reflect on choices they have made. Clear focus on discussing, exploring, practising and applying literary language, vocabulary and techniques encountered through quality texts to children’s own writing.

Transcription skills of handwriting and spelling are taught discretely and reinforced across all areas of the curriculum.  Opportunities are then given across the curriculum to allow children to revisit and embed writing skills taught discretely.

Because talk plays a central role in our curriculum, both English and beyond, children quickly develop in confidence whilst embedding their core communication skills and subsequently develop as articulate citizens.

We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge-base in literacy which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum. Teachers therefore plan ensuring a model of progression is sustained throughout school. In this way, children progressively develop their writing of different genres year on year, building on and deepening their writing skills.

Writing & EYFS

Communication is vital for learning throughout the curriculum, so at Bookwell, we want to ensure that all children are confident and enthusiastic writers. Each day, children access a range of activities to develop and apply their speaking, listening and writing skills. This includes drama activities (helicopter stories, drawing club) and writing for a variety of audiences and purposes.  In addition to this, children focus on pre-writing skills to build their muscle strength and coordination using programs such as 'Dough Disco' and 'Move to Write'.

IMPACT

At Bookwell our successful English curriculum is high quality, inspiring and well-planned allowing children to make good or better progress from their starting point.  This allows them to leave Bookwell being able to articulate and communicate their ideas fluently and legibly for a range of purposes.

The impact of our English curriculum is measured through the monitoring cycle in school:

• Lesson observations, book monitoring and learning walks
• Photographs and videos of practical work
• Gathering pupil voice – to check understanding, understanding of key skills and knowledge, progression, confidence in discussing English
• Discussions with teaching staff
• Moderating pupils work in school and in cluster meetings with other schools to ensure accurate assessments are made
• Tracking pupils’ progress each half term through a writing assessment

Importantly, monitoring is also used to identify gaps in the curriculum that may need to be addressed across the school, or within individual year groups. Monitoring is an ongoing cycle, which is used productively to provide the best possible English curriculum for our children and to ensure it is inclusive to all.

Enrichment and Cultural Capital

• Author visits
• Poetry Workshop
• Handwriting Competition
• World Book Day
• Library visits