English

English sits at the heart of learning at All Saints’. Through reading, writing, speaking and listening, pupils develop the skills they need to communicate, imagine, question and understand the world around them.

Building Confident Readers, Writers and Communicators

At All Saints Primary School, we aim to develop confident, creative and independent readers, writers and communicators who can express their ideas clearly and communicate effectively for a range of purposes and audiences.

High-quality texts sit at the heart of our English curriculum. Carefully selected focus books, linked to our wider curriculum topics, expose pupils to diverse voices, authors and genres, inspiring a love of reading and providing meaningful contexts for writing. Through reading, discussion, drama and purposeful writing opportunities, pupils develop their understanding of language and learn to communicate with increasing confidence and precision.

Our approach to writing follows three phases:

· Stimulate and Immerse: Pupils explore high-quality texts, develop comprehension, build vocabulary and investigate genre features and authors’ language choices.

· Explore and Develop: Through teacher modelling, shared writing and guided practice, pupils develop vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar and punctuation, while planning and rehearsing ideas.

· Create and Publish: Pupils apply their learning to produce independent writing for a clear purpose and audience, editing and improving their work before sharing it.

Grammar, punctuation, spelling and handwriting are taught explicitly and reinforced through meaningful application. We use Spelling Shed to support spelling development and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised programme to teach phonics in Key Stage 1.

Explicit vocabulary teaching is revisited and reinforced across subjects. Pupils explore word meanings, morphology and etymology, making connections between words and learning to use new vocabulary confidently in their reading, writing and spoken language.

 Reading fluency is developed through regular, structured practice. In Key Stage 2, pupils focus on accuracy, automaticity and prosody, helping them read with expression and concentrate on comprehension. Additional support is provided for pupils who need it.

We promote a reading-rich culture through book talk, story times, recommendations and opportunities for pupils to choose books they enjoy. We also recognise the importance of families in nurturing positive reading habits and encourage parents and carers to share books and talk about reading at home.

Through high-quality teaching, modelling, feedback and appropriate scaffolding, we support all pupils, including those who speak English as an additional language (EAL) and those requiring additional support, to become successful and independent learners.

 

Building Progression Across the School

Our English curriculum is carefully sequenced so that pupils build on prior learning and develop increasing fluency, accuracy and independence as they progress through school.

Early Years and Key Stage 1

Pupils develop communication, vocabulary and early literacy skills. They learn to listen, speak in sentences, discuss stories and experiences, and develop phonics knowledge through systematic teaching. In writing, they practise letter formation, spelling and sentence construction, beginning to write for different purposes and use basic grammar and punctuation.

Lower Key Stage 2

Pupils develop reading fluency and comprehension, broaden their vocabulary and begin to explore authors’ language choices in greater depth. They organise writing into paragraphs, apply grammar and punctuation more accurately, and adapt their writing to different

genres and audiences. They increasingly plan, rehearse, edit and improve their work.

Upper Key Stage 2

Pupils engage critically with a broad range of texts, developing inference, interpretation and the ability to justify their ideas using evidence. They use increasingly sophisticated vocabulary and sentence structures to produce cohesive, purposeful writing. Greater independence in planning, drafting, editing and proofreading prepares pupils for the expectations of secondary school.

Across all year groups, teachers revisit prior learning, address misconceptions and provide appropriate support and challenge to ensure that pupils continue to make progress.

By the end of Year 6, our aim is for every pupil to be a fluent and thoughtful reader, an effective and independent writer, and a confident communicator equipped with the literacy skills needed for secondary school and lifelong learning.