English
“I do believe something magical can happen when you read a good book.” – J.K. Rowling
At Coton Green, we believe that providing a high-quality English curriculum is at the heart of everything we do- ‘We breathe in reading, to breathe out writing‘. We aim to develop our children’s love of reading, writing and discussion each and every day. Our well-organised English curriculum provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion. Our curriculum closely follows the aims of the National Curriculum 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 English lessons and the wider curriculum. We provide the means for children to develop a secure knowledge-base in English, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum. Purposeful assessment ensures that we are able to provide targeted support so that all children experience success in reading and writing. We believe that a secure basis in English skills is crucial to a high-quality education and we are passionate about the fact that this will give our children the tools they need to participate fully as a member of society. Research shows that children who leave primary school able to read and write confidently, are much more likely to be successful in life, emotionally, socially, academically and economically.
Success in early reading at Coton Green is supported by 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. When children have completed the RWI programme, and children become more confident readers, whole class reading lessons are taught. During reading sessions, teachers explicitly teach and model reading skills to expose all children to a range of challenging texts and to encourage discussion and debate.
In Key Stage Two, children develop deeper reading skills with the Reading Plus program and reading VIPERS.
When planning English 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 National Curriculum, and comprehension, grammar and writing are embedded in lessons. Lesson sequences build progressively towards an extended piece of writing using a ‘Read It, Rip it Apart, Rehearse, Write and Redraft’ approach. Handwriting is also taught within English lessons, and outcomes in Key Stage Two are recorded in English books to promote a high level of pride and presentation across all written outcomes.
Assessment for Learning is embedded in English 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.
Staff receive regular CPD on the teaching and planning of English within school, and take part in the continual moderation and assessment of writing and reading.
Our English curriculum is successfully developing a community of enthusiastic readers and writers who enjoy showcasing their developing English knowledge and skills. We are particularly proud of the development of the story teller’s voice.
Children are becoming increasingly confident to take risks in their reading and writing, and love to discuss and share their ideas. Outcomes of work in both English and Curriculum 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.
Achievement at the end of EYFS, KS1 and KS2 is beginning to rise following a successful recovery curriculum. This continues to be a focus.
Further Information:
READ WRITE INC – INFORMATION FOR PARENTS
READ WRITE INC – PARENT BOOKLET – SET 1
READ WRITE INC – PARENT BOOKLET – SET 2 & 3
The Writing Lead in school is Mrs T Bunn.
The Reading Lead in school is Miss G Coton.
