English

Reading Curriculum Intent 

At St Clements Primary School, we believe that the teaching of reading is integral to a child’s understanding and appreciation of the world around them; a platform that allows our children to see beyond what they know,

share in cultural experiences and develop the vocabulary they need to effectively express themselves. Our reading curriculum strives to foster a lifelong love of reading.  We cultivate the behaviours that the children will need to be discerning readers as they read frequently and widely using self-regulation strategies and discuss what they read. This curriculum is delivered through Read Write Inc (RWI) in KS1, a linked approach to shared and guided reading, home reading, reading across the curriculum, regular opportunities for independent reading and hearing quality texts read aloud daily. All of these are essential components as they offer the range of opportunities needed to develop fluent, enthusiastic and critical readers. In KS2, the reading curriculum is delivered through high quality teaching supported by a range of texts chosen specially for the cohort. Alongside this, we use Accelerated Reader and Reading Plus to encourage engagement with reading for pleasure. 

It is important that children are motivated to read at home regularly; when their reading opportunities increase, so does their fluency, stamina and confidence which in turn increases their enjoyment of reading. Therefore, the link between children’s motivation to read and reading for pleasure is reciprocal. Furthermore, we know that reading for pleasure is beneficial not only for reading outcomes, but for wider learning enjoyment and mental wellbeing. This is why, we work hard to foster a love of independent reading to build a community of willing and engaged readers. We understand the importance and significance of parents and carers in supporting their children to develop both word reading and comprehension skills, so we endeavour to build a home-school partnership which enables all to have the confidence to support their children with reading at home. 

Reading Curriculum Implementation 

Reading is vitally important to us and has a high status within the school.  We are beginning to transform our reading environment to foster a love of literature with Read Write Inc, the Accelerated Reading Programme, Reading Plus, and by class teachers selecting high-quality texts that the children will enjoy and engage with to use as part of their English lessons, or as class texts. 

We teach phonics in Reception and KS1 using Read Write Inc and continue to focus on spelling, punctuation and grammar as your child moves through the school. In KS2, the children continue to develop their phonics skills when spelling, and they are encouraged to write for a range of purposes, viewing literacy and language as a powerful means of self-expression.  Above all, we want to create readers and writers for life, with the skills to succeed and fulfil their potential in the next stage of their education. 

Writing Curriculum Intent 

At St Clements Primary School, we believe that the ability to write is fundamental to our children succeeding; enabling them to access the next stage of their education and beyond. Our curriculum has been designed to ensure that pupils enjoy writing and have passion and enthusiasm for it. Our aim is to ensure that pupils write clearly, accurately and coherently; write in different styles and for different purposes and audiences; develop a wide vocabulary and a solid understanding of the grammar rules and terminology appropriate for their age group. Our curriculum has also been designed to ensure that pupils are able to express themselves creatively and to communicate effectively with others. 

Our aims are to: 

- Guide and nurture each individual on their own personal journeys to becoming successful writers through their interactions with reading high quality text. 

- Provide exciting writing opportunities and experiences that engage and enhance all pupils. 

- We want all children to acquire a wide vocabulary and to be able to spell new words by effectively applying the spelling patterns and rules they learn throughout their time in primary school. 

- We want all children to have a solid understanding of grammar and apply it effectively to their writing. 

- We want them to write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. 

- We believe that all children should be encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their writing, in part by developing a legible, cursive, individual handwriting style by the time they move to secondary school. 

- We want every child to have a good knowledge of phonics to springboard children to becoming fluent writers. 

- To plan a progressive curriculum to build upon previous teaching, with regular assessment to ensure each child’s needs are met to reach their full potential. 

Writing Curriculum Implementation 

At St Clements Primary School, writing is taught 5 times per week across the whole school with each class studying a different high-quality text. The text will last from a few weeks to a whole term depending on text type, length and year group. We passionately believe that reading and writing are wholly-heartedly linked therefore studying the text through ‘Reading into Writing’ sessions encourages children to make links and become fully engaged in their text and flourish as confident, empathetic and ambitious writers. 

Medium term planning and the use of progression maps ensure that a variety of genres are progressively taught and built upon both throughout the year and throughout the school. Children are given the opportunity to transfer and build upon their knowledge of a genre studied during English lessons and apply this learning in a cross curricular manner. Through the ‘Reading into Writing’ process, children will acquire and learn the skills to plan, draft and refine their written work over time and are encouraged to develop independence in being able to identify their own areas for edits and improvements in all pieces of writing. 

Within each unit of work, sequenced lessons ensure that prior learning is assessed and built upon and that National Curriculum objectives are taught through a combination of approaches/opportunities. For example: 

Opportunities to participate in drama & spoken language activities. 

Exploring the features of different text types and modelled examples (E.g. Spotting features in a WAGOLL – What a good one looks like) 

- Handwriting practice. 

- Vocabulary practice. 

- Shared writing (modelled expectations). 

- Discrete Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar lessons. 

- Independent writing. 

- Planning, drafting, editing, up-levelling and presenting. 

- Performing. 

English Long Term Plans

English Medium Term Plans