Our learners will draw from the best in literature, creating purposeful written and spoken responses with a confident command of our rich language, in a culture that celebrates a love of reading widely and for pleasure.
Intent:
At Knightwood, our English curriculum is designed to develop our pupils into confident readers, writers and communicators and instil a life-long enjoyment of reading for pleasure. We encourage children's curiosity and desire to read, make links with their own knowledge, reading and other curriculum subjects. We understand the important role that a secure knowledge of reading, writing and discussion has on the future success of the child and their ability to participate fully in society. We have a carefully planned and sequenced curriculum which is underpinned by rich quality literature. Our teachers have high aspirations for all children and promote good outcomes for all.
Implementation:
English is taught through immersion in high-quality texts that are explored in varying ways. Grammar and spelling is taught through the English units as well as discretely where appropriate.
We develop our pupils' writing skills so that they have the stamina and ability to write at length, applying the skills set out in the English National Curriculum. A clear understanding of purpose, audience, style and tone is developed throughout. Shorter writes (taster drafts) focus on practising skills needed for longer, more substantial writes. Scaffolding is provided for children needing more support with their writing.
We provide varied and exciting opportunities for writing for purpose and we encourage pupils to see themselves as authors and poets. We promote the importance of written work by providing a writing purpose and opportunities for children’s writing to be read aloud and listened to by an audience.
Words are the building blocks of language and is at the heart of reading and writing. The fundamental aim of the reader is word recognition, while for the writer it is choosing the right word. We know that a wider vocabulary across the curriculum equates to better reasoning and inference skills, stronger writing outcomes and, ultimately, higher academic success. Therefore, vocabulary development is a key element of every writing unit.
Cursive handwriting is taught with a sequential and progressive approach, using Kinetic Letters to ensure consistency of approach. We believe that children’s self-esteem and pride in their work can be raised by good quality presentation. Handwriting sessions are taught discretely in Reception and KS1 and regularly incorporated into the English lessons in KS2. Where pupils are off-track, extra handwriting practice opportunities will be given.
Teachers often give feedback at the point of learning so that it has the most impact on the child's understanding. Childre are encouraged to self-assess and peer access against criteria.
Impact:
The impact of our English curriculum is a community of enthusiastic readers and writers. Children leave Knightwood having developed a love of reading and having gained the skills to make them successful communicators. They are able to read and understand a range of texts and write for different purposes, successfully considering the audience. Children achieve well in phonics and above national averages in key stage 2.