English

English Curriculum Statement

Intent

At Rushbrook Primary Academy we believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion. We aim to inspire an appreciation of our rich and varied literary heritage and a habit of reading widely and often. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately, and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and be able to use discussion to communicate and further their learning. 

Our priority in English is to make sure that our pupils leave their primary education with the necessary skills to be able to succeed and thrive in every aspect of further education and their later lives.

Implementation

At Rushbrook Primary Academy we start with the National Curriculum. We believe that practical enrichment opportunities for language development are fundamental in providing our children with a plentiful and diverse knowledge bank of vocabulary.

The Reading journey begins with teaching them to become confident and passionate readers in our Early Years setting where they are taught to read through phonics lessons and activities, Montessori methods for language acquisition, a plethora of exposure to the world of story books, as well as whole class, independent and one to one reading sessions.

In Key Stage 1, children continue with daily phonics sessions, reading activities within English lessons, whole class story time, and one to one and independent reading sessions.  Children are also taught specific reading skills through guided reading sessions in ability related groups. The children in Year 2 that are required to resit the Phonics Screening Check take part in specific daily intervention groups that supports their development and prepares them for the retest at the end of Key Stage 1. By the end of Key Stage 1, our children will have begun to develop their reading skills through whole class reading methods of teaching.

In Key Stage 2, our children are taught age-related reading skills through whole class reading lessons. Ability related guided reading groups and phonics sessions continue alongside whole class reading tasks for those children who need it. This ensures that pupils who require extra support for their English language acquisition have any barriers towards their learning removed quickly.

All children have high quality literature read to them at the end of each school day. Children are encouraged to read for pleasure and expand their imagination and creativity through a love for books. Every year, we celebrate ‘World Book Day’ where we promote a passion for reading through fun and engaging reading activities, the children take part in termly reading competitions and we provide online reading material through ‘Bug Club’ exposing children to a wide range of literature.   

Writing is taught through whole class lessons so that all children have access to the age-related skills and knowledge from the National Curriculum. We use the ‘Talk for Writing’ approach throughout school in which children experience a range of high quality, vocabulary rich model texts that they learn and explore in order to immerse them in a variety of text genres so that learning becomes embedded (adapted in 6 for a more independent approach to writing). The writing process is modelled through carefully selected units of work. We engage the children in the text genres through the use of exciting ‘hooks’ into each unit. The majority of these link to cross-curricular topics.

Grammar and punctuation skills are taught in English lessons throughout the talk for writing process. Teachers plan and teach skills through each unit of writing. These skills are specifically chosen because they link to the genre and connect with the intended writing outcome. Teachers sometimes focus on particular grammar and punctuation skills as stand-alone lessons, if they feel that the class need additional lessons to embed and develop their understanding or to consolidate skills. Our pupils also learn spelling, punctuation and grammar skills in assemblies and English lessons that are delivered by engaging and talented individuals from the company ‘Anchor Creative Education’ who teach the children through songs, dance and drama.

Spellings are taught according to the rules and words contained in Appendix 1 of the English National Curriculum. Teachers use the ‘No Nonsense Spelling’ scheme to support their teaching and to provide activities that link to the weekly spellings. Children are given spellings to learn each week and are given a spelling test the following week. Spelling is also taught in groups according to the ability and differing needs of the children which will also include the teaching of phonics. Children also enjoy taking part in our yearly spelling bee competitions where they practise the common exception words for their year group.

Handwriting is not only taught discretely but is an integral part to any lesson and is reinforced daily. Children are expected to use joined, legible handwriting and work towards achieving their pen licence where they can then write in blue pen. The teaching of handwriting at Rushbrook Primary Academy ensures that children develop handwriting that is legible, presentable, comfortable, fluent, flexible, fast, automatic and sustainable. We create ample opportunities for children to write and develop the skill of handwriting. We use the Letter-Join Handwriting scheme. Our children progress through school developing their handwriting so that when they leave us at the end of KS2 their writing has developed a neat, legible style with correctly formed letters of an acceptable flow and speed in accordance with the cursive Rushbrook font.

To further support and develop the reading, writing and speaking of English for our children at home, we offer English classes for parents. These are delivered by tutors from the University of Manchester. By supporting families whose first language is not English, we are able to try and bridge the gap between the home and school learning of our pupils with English as an additional language.

Impact:

The impact on our children is clear: progress, sustained learning and transferrable literacy skills. Pupils will develop a wide and rich vocabulary and a love of reading. With the implementation of the writing journey being well established and taught thoroughly in both key stages, children become confident, creative writers, able to master a range of genres across the curriculum. We hope that as children move on from Rushbrook, their creativity, passion for English and high aspirations travel with them and continue to grow and develop just as they do.

Subject Information

Subject Overview