English Curriculum

Intent

English underpins the entire curriculum at The Beacon. It encompasses many important skills which are the fundamental building blocks to learning in other subjects across the curriculum. Our commitment to teaching high-quality and engaging English lessons aims to provide our pupils with the knowledge and skills they need to achieve the objectives outlined in the National Curriculum.

Our English curriculum closely follows the aims of the National Curriculum for English to enable all children to: 

• 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.

These aims are embedded across our English lessons and in the wider curriculum.

Fundamentally, our provision aims to equip all pupils with a strong command of the English language, as well as to appreciate and create literature. At The Beacon, reading is a school-wide priority. We promote a love and passion for learning and curiosity about the nature of reading and its necessity in everyday life. Our ambition is for all pupils to become confident, enthusiastic and fluent readers who read with understanding and accuracy. Through reading in particular, we strive to support our pupils to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually.

Ultimately, we intend that every pupil gains the confidence and motivation to further develop their knowledge and skills in reading, writing and spoken language so that they are fully prepared to embark on the next stage of their school career and beyond.

Implementation

Our curriculum content, sequencing and pedagogy are rigorously planned to ensure that all pupils have an opportunity to engage with a challenging English curriculum and achieve great success.

Reading for pleasure is at the heart of our curriculum and we want all our pupils to leave us with a life-long love of literature. Therefore, throughout the academic year, special events are planned to enrich our love of reading, and also writing and performing literature. These events include activities linked to World Book Day, poetry competitions and family learning projects. Also, all school staff are encouraged to share their love of reading with pupils to spark their imaginations and open up a world of wonder and joy for curious minds. Pupils have frequent opportunities to listen to teachers read stories, poems, non-fiction and other writing, including whole books and not just extracts. This enables our pupils to meet books and authors that they might not choose themselves. All pupils have access to a wide range of engaging texts in the classroom reading areas and they have time to read for pleasure by making their own book choices. Additionally, our Read for Well-being library is used to support pupil’s emotional well-being and their understanding of emotional vocabulary, as well as develop empathy for characters in texts and beyond.

Early Reading: Systematic Synthetic Phonics

Our reading provision aims to explicitly teach pupils the skills they need to read with competence and understanding. At The Beacon, pupils are taught the alphabetic code (phoneme-grapheme correspondences) by following the ‘Read Write Inc’ phonics programme. As well as teaching reading, the RWI phonics lessons support spelling, letter formation and knowledge of grammar. Vocabulary and spoken language are also developed during RWI lessons, through comprehension and discussion of core and linked texts.

When pupils arrive at The Beacon, we use RWI assessments as an evaluation that identifies mastered and missing phonics skills for early and struggling readers. Using this baseline assessment, we can determine where to begin instruction and intervention through RWI phonics. Phonics lessons are taught four times a week on a one to one basis or pupils are grouped effectively according to their phonetic ability to maximise progress.

Regular training and development days ensure that staff are equipped to teach with the expertise and skills required to promote excellent progress amongst our pupils, as well as to develop their love of reading. 

Reading

At The Beacon, pupils who have graduated from the RWI programme are then supported on their reading journey through the use of the Oxford Owl Reading Tree and the TreeTops reading scheme. The Oxford reading books include levelled fiction and non-fiction books, covering a variety of topics and themes that our pupils enjoy. The effective assessment tool ensures that teachers accurately assess pupils' reading and track progress, as well as find their correct reading level and identify any gaps in their learning. This is then used to inform future planning. All pupils read with an adult, on a one to one basis at least three times a week. We believe that this route enables our pupils to make measurable progress and gets them reading for pleasure.

Writing

Pupils who have graduated from the RWI phonics programme, but have a difference in their reading and writing abilities, may continue to access Get Writing if appropriate to their learning need. This is alongside accessing high quality books from the CUSP English reading and writing programme as their core English lesson. Our implementation of the CUSP programme is used to raise engagement and attainment in language, vocabulary, reading and writing to meet all the requirements of the National Curriculum for English. Through carefully planned content and sequencing, pupils access a shared high-quality text. From this, links can then be made to writing opportunities and other learning opportunities across the curriculum. Pupils have the opportunity to enjoy writing in response to a range of different stimuli to equip them with the necessary skills to write independently and effectively for different purposes and readers. A range of lesson types enables pupils to gain the knowledge, skills, vocabulary and experiences required to become masterful, creative and passionate writers.

Spoken Language

At the Beacon, spoken language is of paramount importance across the curriculum, cognitively, socially and linguistically. We understand that the quality and variety of language that pupils hear and speak are vital for developing their vocabulary and grammar and their understanding of reading and writing. Therefore, to ensure the continual development of our pupils’ confidence and competence in spoken language and listening skills, talk is part of many classroom activities. Pupils have opportunities to enjoy and participate in performances, drama in non-core topic lessons, debates and public speaking (such as school council meetings). Furthermore, high-quality discussions led by teaching staff encourage pupils to articulate ideas, consolidate understanding and extend their vocabulary.

Teaching

At The Beacon, we effectively develop and invest in our teaching staff to ensure that they are fully equipped with expert subject knowledge. This ensures that the delivery of the English curriculum is highly effective for all pupils.

Teachers use assessment information to inform their planning, address misconceptions and gaps in learning to ensure that all pupils achieve highly and acquire the knowledge, skills and concepts they need to succeed.

Frequent audits of the English curriculum also take place to evaluate the impact of our curriculum. Following the findings from these audits, the curriculum is adapted to build upon the learning opportunities and assessment to ensure our wide range of pupil’s needs are meet.

Impact

• The impact of our English curriculum is a community of pupils who all make progress from their starting points and have success in learning.
• Pupils become more confident, enthusiastic and fluent readers, who read with understanding and accuracy.
• Pupils who are successfully reengaged in reading and writing
• Pupils have increased confidence in their own abilities and increased classroom participation.
• Pupils are increasingly motivated and engaged in their learning.
• Pupils who now express a desire to read, a love of books, stories, shared reading and literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.
• Pupils who gain the knowledge, skills, vocabulary and experiences required to become masterful, creative and passionate writers.
• All pupils acquire the knowledge and skills to fully support them as they embark on the next stage of their school career and beyond.
• Vocabulary development
• Record using ICT or written word.