English
Intent
The overarching aim for English in our curriculum at Hapton is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. Hapton School is a place where children can be encouraged to pick up a book and get lost in another world.
The curriculum for English at Hapton aims to ensure that all our pupils in the Early Years Foundation Stage learn to communicate through speaking and listening when they first attend our school, the children will:
- Begin to use more complex sentences to link thoughts (e.g. using and, because).
- Retell a simple past event in correct order (e.g. went down slide, hurt finger).
- Use talk to connect ideas, explain what is happening and anticipate what might happen next, recall and relive past experiences.
- Question why things happen and gives explanations. Asks e.g. who, what, when, how.
The Early Years Foundation stage focuses on reading and as a ‘reading school’ who love to read this begins as soon as children start Hapton Primary School through:
- Including books in all areas of the classroom and reading to the children daily
- Helping children to identify the main events in a story and to enact stories, as the basis for further imaginative play.
- Providing story boards and props which support children to talk about a story’s characters and sequence of events.
- When children are ready (usually, but not always, by the age of five) provide regular systematic synthetic phonics sessions.
- This is multisensory in order to capture their interests, sustain motivation and reinforce learning.
- Demonstrating using phonics as the prime approach to decode words while children can see the text, e.g. using big books.
- Providing varied texts and encourage children to use all their skills including their phonic knowledge to decode words.
The Early Years Foundation Stage at Hapton School focuses on writing as soon as the children enter our school, encouraging them to mark make and explore their own creations. We also:
- Provide word banks and writing resources for both indoor and outdoor play.
- Provide a range of opportunities to write for different purposes about things that interest children.
- Resource role-play areas with listening and writing equipment Ensure that role-play areas encourage writing of signs with a real purpose, e.g. a pet shop.
- When children are ready (usually, but not always, by the age of five) provide regular systematic synthetic phonics sessions.
The curriculum for English at Hapton aims to ensure that all our pupils in KS1 and KS2:
- 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
English is both a subject in its own right and the medium for teaching; for pupils, understanding the language provides access to the whole curriculum. Fluency in the English language is an essential foundation for success in all subjects. At Hapton we believe that reading is the key that unlocks the whole curriculum
Pupils’ acquisition and command of vocabulary are key to their learning and progress across the whole curriculum. Teachers therefore develop vocabulary actively, building systematically on pupils’ current knowledge. They set out to increase pupils’ store of words in general to allow children to make ambitious word choices. Children are taught to make links between known and new vocabulary and discuss the shades of meaning in similar words. In this way, pupils expand the vocabulary choices that are available to them when they write. In addition, it is vital for pupils’ comprehension that they understand the meanings of words they meet in their reading across all subjects. It is particularly important to induct pupils into the language which defines each subject in its own right, such as accurate mathematical and scientific language. A rich vocabulary is essential for deeper understanding.
Implementation
Starting in Foundation Stage and Key Stage One, children at Hapton are taught the systematic programme 'Red Rose Letters and Sounds'. We teach our children in small groups daily based on their own individual learning and the stage they are at with their Phonics. Children have opportunities throughout their day to embed the skills taught and practise their ability to read and spell words. Each term the children are assessed by the English leader and then moved into the correct groupings due to ability. We also use the No Nonsense Spelling Scheme throughout the school to teach spellings appropriate to each year group.
The children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are starting the 'Drawing Club' which is an adventure into story scheme. The Drawing Club can happen when children are playing in open-ended continuous provision and is a whole class approach to building on the children's drawings into writing and expanded their vocabulary.
We firmly believe that children write best when they are inspired, motivated and interested. This is why at our school we ensure that the children are ‘hooked’ into their learning through creative experiences such as; a trip to the farm or an imaginary World War One raid.
At Hapton we use Pie Corbett’s story maps to enable us to develop our writing skills. ‘Talk for Writing is an engaging teaching framework developed by Pie Corbett, supported by Julia Strong. It is powerful because it is based on the principles of how children learn. It enables children to imitate the language they need for a particular topic orally, before reading and analysing it, and then writing their own version.’ Children across all key stages are developing their skills through using the story maps, we have seen a real success at Hapton with children writing stories at length, in detail using this approach. As the children move through Key Stage 2, the texts we study are more challenging therefore we use Pie Corbett’s approach alongside consistent, clear class teaching which allows the children to write innovatively and independently. SPAG.com is also used in KS2 to consolidate learning in grammar, punctuation and spelling lessons.
At Hapton we have had a big push on reading to ensure that our children are developing the love for reading that they need to succeed throughout school. We have held different events such as ‘Snuggle up with a Book’ where the teachers in school came back in their pyjamas to read to the children before bedtime. This allowed the children to enjoy different stories with their families, friends and teachers. Teachers across school listen to children read and are teaching Guided Reading lessons daily to children from Foundation Stage to Upper Key Stage 2. We use the the Bug Club Scheme for Guided Reading and home reading.
Impact
Our school will be a ‘reading school’ with a love for reading and all things books! The children will discuss favourite authors with their peers and adults as they will develop their personal preferences through reading in class, the school library and recommendations from each other. A love and passion for the subject of English will be evident in school by adults and children alike as when the teachers as passionate about their reading and writing the children become passionate too. English will be delivered through a curriculum which continues to meet the requirements of the NC but is also developed to fulfil the needs of our children at Hapton School. This means adapting our curriculum so that the children in each class get the wide breadth of knowledge they need. The teaching of English in school will inspire and provide the children with knowledge, understanding and skills that stick with them and that they can take with them everywhere they go. Our children at Hapton will have a positive attitude to writing and enjoy creating their own written pieces to then read aloud to their peers. Written work will be displayed throughout the school to celebrate the success of the children at Hapton.