English Curriculum Information 

Intent 

At Collingwood we recognise that the ability to read and write effectively directly impacts our pupils’ life choices and opportunities.  We understand that reading and writing skills have a direct impact upon progress and attainment in all  other areas of the curriculum and upon a child’s self esteem and motivation to learn.  Therefore, we plan for our pupils to develop secure knowledge and progressive skills as they move through the school with the aim of fostering lifelong writers and readers.  

We offer our pupils a well-rounded learning experience when reading, writing, speaking and listening.  Reading is at the heart of the curriculum with class high quality age-appropriate texts chosen to ensure that our pupils experience reading and writing from a wide variety of genres aimed at broadening their vocabulary, spelling and use of grammar and understanding that reading and writing can be a pleasurable experience which underpins all their learning across the curriculum.  

We strive to ensure that all children become successful, fluent readers by the end of Key Stage One. In order to do this we provide every child with high quality phonics as this plays a key role in children developing word decoding skills using the DFE approved Twinkl phonics scheme.

National Curriculum expectations:

The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum 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. The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:  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.

How this looks at Collingwood:

Writing Implementation 

The teaching of English is taught daily as a discrete subject but is also embedded across the curriculum. During EYFS, pupils are encouraged to visualise and record their ideas and storytelling as part of the “Drawing Club” approach.  As pupils progress to Year 1, the Literacy Tree Writing Roots framework is introduced.  This book-led approach introduces pupils to the key elements of writing, including story structure, vocabulary development, and sentence construction through a combination of teacher-led lessons, interactive activities, and independent writing tasks.  

Our English curriculum is planned around high quality age-appropriate, inspirational texts (fiction and non-fiction) which are used to create opportunities to explore writing structure, features of different genres, audience and purpose on a range of subjects and from different cultures and to develop:

• reading fluency and comprehension;

• knowledge and application of grammar, punctuation and spelling;

• evaluative and editing skills; 

• vocabulary;

• pride in their own writing;

• fluent legible handwriting at speed.

Spelling Implementation: 

At Collingwood Primary, spelling is taught as part of Literacy Tree Writing Roots daily lessons and is supplemented with focussed sessions within each class, using the Literacy Tree Spelling Seeds and No nonsense Spelling resources. Pupils are given spellings to learn which are based on a combination of words taught, National Curriculum spelling lists and those they have spelled incorrectly when writing.  Spelling tests take place weekly and can be found in Supporting Learning Books.    In addition, each class completes daily work aimed at developing recall, retrieval and application of spellings, grammar and number facts.

Reading Implementation:

At Collingwood Primary, reading is taught as part of Literacy Tree Writing Roots daily lessons but children also read daily in school to adults, to each other or silently and are expected to read 3-5 times per week for 15-20 minutes,  to an adult at home…even in Year 6!  This is because we want children to be able to read for meaning, be able to respond to and question texts, beyond the literal, supporting their opinions by referring to the text and be able to give their own opinions about authors’ style and intentions, not just be able to read the words.  Details for parents and carers can be found in Supporting Learning Books.   Our book Vending Machine is a motivating factor in rewarding pupils for reading at home.   All classes take part in “The 3 O’Clock Read” which is a time to enjoy listening to an adult reading a story aimed at developing comprehension, expression when reading aloud and vocabulary. 

Additionally, throughout the school year the importance of reading is enhanced through World Book Day, author visits and Book Fairs to further enrich our English curriculum. We develop children’s cultural capital through regular local library visits too. 

Phonics Implementation:  

Our core tool for Phonics during EYFS and Years 1 and 2 is Twinkl Phonics.  On joining our school pupils are allocated a “reading book colour”  from our range of  books that fit within the book banded system of Twinkl Phonics (‘Rhino Readers’).  Teachers will regularly assess when children’s reading fluency and phonics knowledge suggests that they need to move on to the next colour.

Every child in EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 (and Year 3, if appropriate) receives small, mixed-age group, daily phonic lessons,  taught by ability, using the government approved scheme - ‘Twinkl Phonics’.  (Children will typically learn Level 2 and Level 3 sounds in  EYFS and start Level 4 in the Summer. In Year 1 Level 4 is recapped before Level 5 is taught, including alternative phonemes and alternative graphemes. Level 6 is then taught in Year 2, which covers spelling patterns and rules.)  Each lesson has a clear, precise structure of revisit, teach, practise and apply aimed at recapping previous knowledge before new learning. Each week, in EYFS, pupils will bring home  a sheet indicating the sound that they have been learning. In Years 1 and 2 all pupils will bring  home spellings  linked to the grapheme or spelling pattern they have been learning in phonics that week so that they can be supported in learning these at home.  For these pupils, book band colours will be matched to their individual level in phonics.  These include ‘Rhino Reader’ books (from the Twinkl phonics scheme) plus others including ‘Bug Club’ & ‘Songbirds’.  There are a range of colour banded  books which follow on after level 6 phonics to ensure progression.  During other lessons, pupils are taught how to read and spell “tricky words” (words that cannot be sounded out e.g. was, you) so that they are confident with these.  Bespoke records can be found in Supporting Learning Books. 

In Year 1 pupils participate in the National Phonics Screener which assesses their phonic knowledge and ability to apply sounds to read both real and alien (pseudo) words. Any child that does not reach the expected standard will be reassessed in Year 2.  All children are closely monitored and regularly assessed so that any children who are struggling, or have gaps or misconceptions, are identified early and additional support put in place.  Targeted pupils in Yrs 3, 4, 5 and 6, receive a range of interventions suitable for their needs/learning styles e.g. Rapid Phonics, SNIP spelling and other spelling strategies in small groups.

Collingwood’s Curriculum Policy and School Aims, can be found on the policies page of this website.  An overview of what is being taught to each year group can be found on separate Class Pages on this website ("Children" tab drop down menu) and guidance on more personalised learning eg spellings, times tables and reading, can be found in your child's own "Supporting Learning Book" which should be kept in their book bag and go between home and school each day.  If you would like to know more, please ask at the office and our Class teachers or Subject Leads will be happy to contact you.