English
English
At Coltishall Primary School, we want children to become avid readers, confident writers and articulate speakers.
We want pupils to read fluently, widely and for pleasure; to develop opinions about what they read and to be able to express their preferences. We want them to write confidently and accurately for different purposes and audiences and, as they develop, to find their own voice and style.
Underlying all of this is language. We want children to develop a rich vocabulary and the confidence to communicate clearly through both the spoken and written word.
English also helps children understand the world and the people within it. Through literature, discussion and writing, children encounter different experiences, cultures, periods and perspectives and develop the ability to express their own ideas while listening thoughtfully to those of others.
Reading at the Heart of English
High-quality texts sit at the heart of our English curriculum.
Our Coltishall Reading Spine takes children on a reading journey through the school, exposing them to authors and stories from different eras, places, backgrounds and cultures.
Children encounter:
contemporary and classic fiction;
picture books;
poetry;
non-fiction;
texts linked to History, Geography, Science and other curriculum subjects;
a range of authors, characters and perspectives;
texts that challenge children to discuss, interpret and think deeply.
Our choices also reflect our School Values, creating opportunities to consider issues such as kindness, respect, equality, diversity and tolerance.
Children are immersed in books through English lessons, Whole Class Reading, curriculum subjects, library use and dedicated opportunities to enjoy reading.
A Love of Reading
Learning the mechanics of reading is essential, but we want children to become readers, not simply children who can read.
Classes have regular opportunities to read and hear books for pleasure, talk about authors and texts and develop their own reading preferences.
Our Love of Reading assemblies provide further opportunities for classes to share books and celebrate reading across the school.
Writing for a Purpose
At Coltishall, writing begins with a clear purpose.
Our curriculum is organised around four purposes for writing:
to Entertain
to Inform
to Persuade
to Discuss
Children meet these progressively.
In Key Stage 1, the principal purposes are Entertain and Inform.
In Years 3 and 4, children also develop writing to Persuade.
By Years 5 and 6, pupils work across all four purposes, including writing to Discuss.
Teachers explicitly identify the purpose of a piece of writing so that children understand why they are writing, who they are writing for and what successful writing of that kind requires.
As pupils revisit these purposes through the school, they draw increasingly independently on previous learning and can concentrate on increasingly sophisticated choices of vocabulary, sentence structure and organisation.
Texts that Inspire Writing
Writing is frequently inspired by high-quality novels, picture books, poetry and film.
Rather than teaching isolated genres, teachers use rich texts to generate meaningful reasons to write.
One text may lead to several very different outcomes. A novel, for example, might inspire a diary, explanation, persuasive text, report or piece of narrative writing.
Children also write from knowledge gained elsewhere in the curriculum. Non-fiction outcomes linked to subjects such as History, Geography and Science give pupils opportunities to research, use subject-specific vocabulary and communicate genuine curriculum knowledge.
Knowledge Organisers
From Year 1 onwards, writing outcomes are supported through English Knowledge Organisers.
These help children understand the learning that will contribute to a successful piece of writing.
Depending on the outcome, they identify:
the purpose and audience;
links with previous learning;
relevant grammar and punctuation;
composition and organisational features;
important vocabulary;
genre features;
useful scaffolds or sentence structures;
links with our School Values and Learning Dispositions.
Knowledge Organisers provide a shared reference point for teaching, learning, feedback and evaluation.
Our Small-Steps Approach to Writing
Our current whole-school priority is to strengthen children’s independence as writers through a clear small-steps approach to composition.
Teachers make the thinking involved in writing visible.
Through explicit modelling, children see how writers:
generate and organise ideas;
construct and improve sentences;
select vocabulary;
plan;
draft;
reread;
revise;
edit;
and prepare writing to be shared.
Teachers initially provide strong modelling and guidance before responsibility is gradually transferred to pupils.
The aim is not simply to produce a successful final piece, but for children to understand the process that successful writers use and increasingly be able to apply it for themselves.
Handwriting and Spelling
We have a whole-school handwriting strategy and progression from Reception to Year 6.
Handwriting is explicitly taught and practised so that letter formation, joins and fluency become increasingly automatic. Developing fluent transcription allows children to devote more attention to the ideas and composition of their writing.
Spelling develops from children's early phonics knowledge into increasingly sophisticated understanding of spelling patterns and words.
We use Spelling Shed to support spelling learning and practice.
Early Reading and Phonics
Strong phonics teaching provides the foundation for reading and spelling.
Children learn systematically to recognise grapheme-phoneme correspondences, blend to read and segment to spell.
Assessment identifies children who require further practice. Keep-up and catch-up teaching provides additional support, including targeted phonics provision for older pupils where necessary.
Reading materials are carefully matched to children's developing reading knowledge so that they can practise successfully and build fluency.
Reading Fluency
Becoming a fluent reader is an explicit part of our reading curriculum.
Children are taught to read with increasing accuracy, automaticity and expression. Teachers model fluent reading and children have opportunities for approaches such as repeated, paired and supported reading.
Fluency is assessed through the school so that children requiring additional support can be identified quickly.
Whole Class Reading
As children progress through the school, Whole Class Reading develops both fluency and comprehension.
Our approach encourages discussion rather than simply completing comprehension exercises.
We use VIPERS to provide a shared language for important reading behaviours such as vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval and summarising/sequencing.
Children are encouraged to return to the text, justify their thinking and listen and respond to different interpretations.
Independent Reading
In Key Stage 2, Accelerated Reader supports children's independent reading.
Star Reader assessments help staff monitor reading development and guide pupils towards books offering an appropriate level of challenge.
Children then read widely within an appropriate range and use Accelerated Reader quizzes as one way of checking understanding and engagement with the books they have chosen.
This sits alongside teacher knowledge, fluency assessment and children's own developing reading preferences.
Speaking, Listening and Oracy
Speaking and listening underpin successful reading and writing.
Children have regular opportunities to discuss ideas, rehearse language, explain their thinking, perform, debate, listen and respond to others.
Teachers model high-quality spoken language and deliberately create language-rich classrooms.
Talk is particularly important before writing: saying, rehearsing and refining an idea orally helps children develop the language and sentence structures they later use on the page.
Targeted provision, including Talk Boost and Speech and Language approaches, supports pupils who need additional help to develop communication and language.
English in the Early Years
The foundations for English begin in Reception.
Children experience stories repeatedly, explore vocabulary, talk about characters and events, use actions and story maps, retell and adapt narratives and develop their own ideas through play and conversation.
Writing is encouraged throughout continuous provision so that children experience writing as something meaningful and enjoyable.
Adult modelling supports children in moving from oral composition and mark-making towards increasingly independent writing.
Approaches including Helicopter Stories give children opportunities to create, tell, perform and develop their own stories.
Phonics, early handwriting, language and a love of books are developed from the beginning so that children have strong foundations for the next stage of their learning.
English Across the Curriculum
The skills children develop in English are used throughout school.
Pupils read increasingly demanding subject texts, develop specialist vocabulary and write about what they know in History, Geography, Science and other areas of learning.
This allows children to draw on a rich body of knowledge when writing and reinforces our belief that confident reading, writing, speaking and listening are tools for learning and for life.
