Christ Church CE Primary School

Curriculum

English

Intent, Implementation and Impact in English

INTENT

At Christ Church we:

give English a key role in teaching aspects of our vision statement, PSHCE and British values;
use literature, in its widest sense, to develop learners with active and creative minds whilst providing opportunities to reflect and ask some of the big questions of life;
engender the joy and wonder of learning and a love of literature by providing a coherently planned, creative and challenging curriculum;
promote social, moral, cultural and spiritual development through reading, by exploring and discussing quality texts;
ensure that all children will achieve the aims of the English curriculum as set out in the National Curriculum (2014);

to read easily, fluently and with good understanding:
to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information;
to acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language;
to appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage both locally and internationally;
to write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences;
to use discussion in order to learn and be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas;
to be competent in oracy, in the art of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate;
to have fluent and legible handwriting.

IMPLEMENTATION

At Christ Church:

literature is at the fore of our curriculum and topics and themes have been created with key texts leading learning in English lessons as well as across the curriculum;
links between English and topics in foundation subjects, provides opportunities to reinforce vocabulary and concepts, deepens children’s understanding and helps children to remember in the long term;
teachers with good subject knowledge teach a daily English lesson using the programme of study as set out for English in the National Curriculum (2014), checking understanding systematically and using assessment well;
the Early Years Foundation Stage uses Development Matters to support children’s development in English. Children in Foundation Stage work towards the Early Learning Goals in Communication and Language (prime area) and Literacy (specific area);
additional curriculum time provides a daily 20-30 minute phonic lesson or grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS) session in KS2;
Letters and Sounds is our phonic programme;
our phonic reading scheme is Floppy Phonics, Oxford Reading Tree and children learn to read using books matched to their phonic knowledge;
a quality reading spine has been developed and is followed across the school with daily opportunities for reading;
we use elements of Talk for Writing (Pie Corbett), to enhance our teaching in writing, in particular in Early Years and KS1;
medium term plans for foundation subjects includes planning for teaching basic skills in literacy across the curriculum;
Penpals is our handwriting scheme.

IMPACT

At Christ Church the impact we strive for, is that:

all children leave Christ Church able to read fluently and accurately and with good understanding;
children enjoy reading for pleasure and have developed a positive reading habit;
children have developed knowledge, values and wisdom through reading and discussing literature;
quality texts have a positive impact on character and a lasting effect on children’s willingness to take responsibility for how they treat others and for the world in which they live;
children can articulate their views and opinions confidently in a culture of mutual respect enabling them to live well together, be active citizens and courageous advocates for change;
children can write effectively and engagingly, for a range of audiences and purposes, using correct features for a range of text types;
children have developed a fluent and legible handwriting style;
children achieve at least age related expectations in national tests and are prepared for the next stage of their education.