English

Our curriculum intent is driven by the need to prepare our pupils for their educational journey, enabling them to thrive in society. The implementation of our English curriculum is taught using quality texts which in turn encourages quality writing. Lessons are started by re-visiting familiar basic skills in spelling, grammar, punctuation to embed learning. Impact of teaching and learning is afforded regular monitoring opportunities within school to show that children can apply key developmental skills independently in a range of contexts and subjects.

In the Early Years English is linked to Communication & Language Development & Literacy Development. For further information please refer to the Evidencing Subjects in the Early Years at Windy Nook Primary Document or click on the link for Birth to 5 Matters

Reading and writing are the key to the entire curriculum; therefore, at Windy Nook Primary School we put an emphasis on the teaching and learning of English.

A focus is placed on the systematic approach to the teaching of phonics and early reading in Early Years and Key Stage One. Throughout the school, the children are encouraged to read a range of texts to give breadth and balance to their reading. Guided Group Reading lessons are planned according to the needs of each phase and it is not a ‘one fits all approach’. Each phase in school has class authors and poets which they study during the course of the year. An emphasis on pupils developing an enriched vocabulary helps further develop reading and writing skills.

The development and acquisition of writing skills is taught through daily handwriting, spelling and grammar and punctuation (GAP Buster). It is the repetition of these key skills which have led to the English curriculum being bespoke to the needs of our learners here at Windy Nook. Classes undertake extended writing lessons on a regular basis where the skills that have recently been taught culminate in a longer piece of writing. The expectation across all year groups is that the standard of writing should be the same in all subjects. All genres of writing are covered throughout the year, by each year group. A range of media is used to deliver stimulating English lessons.

Digital media, in a variety of forms, is used to inspire learning. Across the English curriculum we have embedded the use of film, images and music to develop our reading and writing skills. Using images, text and music as our stimuli, we discuss and analyse digital media to develop our inference and deduction skills. These transferrable skills are applied to our reading across the curriculum. We also use digital media to support our reading into writing approach. Digital media is used alongside written texts to inspire our writing. This approach encourages engagement in the development of reading and writing skills, and particularly supports the engagement of reluctant readers and writers who can find digital media more accessible than written texts alone.