English

Intent:

At St Paul’s Way Primary School, we recognise the importance of studying English. Improved performance in reading, writing, and spoken language will enable our pupils to express their thoughts and ideas more fluently, accurately, and, ultimately, to their greater satisfaction. This will also help them to deal more successfully with other curriculum subjects while enriching their lives beyond school.   The teaching and learning of language skills are, therefore, given a high priority in our school. Our overarching aim for English is to promote high standards of language 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.

We aim for our pupils to: 

• Write easily, fluently and with good understanding 
• Understand the audience, purpose and features of writing
• Write for a range of purposes and audiences 
• Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information and use this to inform and influence their writing
• 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 and use this to inform their writing
• Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences 

Core Texts

Nursery

Autumn 1 All About Me	Autumn 2 Communities and Celebrations	Spring 1 Journeys and Adventures	Spring 2 Amazing Animals	Summer 1 Growing and Food	Summer 2 Let's Imagine
Super Duper You	All are welcome	Choo Choo Clickety Clack!	The Three Little Pigs	Anywhere Farm	Three Billy Goats Gruff
Feelings	Real Superheroes	We’re Going On a Bear Hunt	The Very Hungry Caterpillar	Handa’s Surprise	Harold’s Crayon
Goldilocks	The Hospital Dog	Whatever Next	Boo! A Fishy Mystery	The Gingerbread Man	Stanley’s Stick

Reception  

Autumn 1 All About Me!	Autumn 2 Communities and Celebrations	Spring 1 Journeys and Adventures	Spring 2 Amazing Animals	Summer 1 Growing and Food	Summer 2 Let's Imagine
Who are you	This is a school	Naughty Bus	Not That Pet	Jack and the Beanstalk	The Gruffalo
Funny Bones	When you’re fast asleep	Mr Gumpy’s Outing	Rose Explores Life Cycles	Errol’s Garden	The Squiggle
Little Red Riding Hood	Let's Celebrate	Astro Girl	Sea	The Gigantic Turnip	Nimesh the Adventurer

 Year 1

Autumn 1 Toys and Animals	Autumn 2 and Spring 1 I Live In London!		Spring 2 Explorers	Summer 1 and Summer 2 Where In The World?
Martha Maps it Out	In Every House, On Every Street	The Queen’s Hat	Beegu	Imelda and the Goblin King	The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch
The Lost Property Office	Thank you, Omu	We’re Going to Find the Monster!	Julia Donaldson: Poems to Perform	Goblins and How to Trap Them	Look What I Saw at the Seaside
The Little Red Hen	Caterpillar Cake			The Grotlyn

Year 2

Autumn 1 Voyages	Autumn 2 Fire, Fire!	Spring 1  Building and Beasts	Spring 2 World Adventure	Summer 1 World Adventure (Continued)	Summer 2 Nurses and Bodies
The Crow's Tale	Mary and the Great Fire of London	Billy and the Beast	The Lonely Beast	The Day the Crayons Quit	Stop! That's Not My Story
Coming to England	Mary and the Great Fire of London	The Disgusting Sandwich		The Magic Paintbrush	The Proudest Blue
	A Dinosaur at the Bus Stop				Trip to Museum Recount

Year 3

Autumn 1 The Stone Age	Autumn 2 The Romans	Spring 1 Cities & Urban Areas	Spring 2 Rocks, Soils and Fossils	Summer 1 Plants & Gardens	Summer 2 We Are Astronauts
Clerihews	Escape from Pompeii	My Life as a Goldfish	Stone Girl, Bone Girl	Stories from India	Blast off into Space with Mae Jemison
The Stone Age Boy		The Iron Man	A Rock is Lively	Masala Chai	Here We Are

Year 4

Autumn 1 The Anglo Saxons	Autumn 2 The Vikings	Spring 1 A Walk In Paris	Spring 2 The Water Cycle	Summer 1 and Summer 2 World War 2
King Arthur	Varjak Paw	A Walk in Paris	Rumaysa	Once Upon a Raindrop: The Water Cycle	Friend or Foe
		Kenning Poetry		Our Wartime Street	Free Verse Poetry

Year 5

Autumn 1 The Shang Dynasty	Autumn 2 The Ancient Egyptians	Spring 1 Rivers	Spring 2 Brazil	Summer 1  Cities and their Challenges	Summer 2 Early Islamic Society: Baghdad
Senryu Poetry	Secrets of A Sun King	I Talk Like a River	The Explorer	Varmints	The Boy at the Back of the Class
Hidden Figures

Year 6

Autumn 1 The Ancient Greeks	Autumn 2 Shackleton's Journey	Spring 1 Mountains, Volcanoes and Earthquakes	Spring 2 Migration and Journeys	Summer 1 Evolution and Discovery	Summer 2 Fieldwork and Fossils
King Midas and the Golden Touch	Shakleton’s Journey	Shakespeare’s Macbeth	Clockwork	Broken: Rock, Paper, Scissors (animation)	Y6 Production: Extracts from  or
Odysseus				Plastic Pollution	Alma (animation)
				Y6 Production: Extracts from  or	The Arrival

Coverage of Non-Fiction Text Types

English Implementation:

At SPWPS, we follow the Read, Write, Inc. phonics programme in the EYFS and Year 1. Children in these year groups also have weekly ‘Big Write’ lessons. By Year 2, many pupils are ready to progress onto our SPWP English curriculum. At SPWP we have designed a unique English Curriculum using a wide range of diverse texts specifically chosen to provide high-quality language and writing models. Texts are selected to link with other areas of the curriculum and to ensure children read texts in a range of genres and styles. Our curriculum teaches children to read and write both for enjoyment, and for real audiences and purpose. We aim to develop pupils who see themselves as authors and communicators, fostering motivation, creativity and pride in their written work. As well as high-quality English lessons, children have regular Reading, Spelling, and Handwriting lessons, in line with our Progression Map for the ‘transcription’ skills. 

We recognise that fluent writing depends upon automatic transcription skills. Therefore, spelling, handwriting and sentence construction are taught explicitly and progressively so that pupils can devote their cognitive effort to composition and communicating meaning.

In English lessons, pupils are given regular opportunities to orally rehearse ideas, sentences and vocabulary before writing. Structured talk, discussion and oracy strategies support pupils in developing confidence, refining language choices and composing increasingly sophisticated written outcomes

Grammar and punctuation are taught within the context of authentic reading and writing. Teachers provide explicit sentence-level instruction so that pupils learn how grammatical choices shape meaning and effect

Across the curriculum, pupils are taught an age-appropriate writing process, including planning, oral rehearsal, drafting, revising, editing and publishing. Teachers model each stage explicitly to support pupils in becoming independent and reflective writers

Our approach to English and writing is inclusive of all learners, with strategies designed to support students with diverse abilities and backgrounds. Teachers are required to adapt the English schemes of work based on their pupils' needs and include scaffold and challenge strategies. These strategies include the use of a range of scaffold materials (widget symbols, stem sentences, writing frames, colourful semantics), pre-teach, 1:1 interventions, and writing conferences. 

At SPWP we invest in ongoing professional development for our staff, equipping them with the latest strategies and resources to deliver effective writing and English instruction. Teachers receive training on effective modelling, scaffolding, formative assessment, and explicit teaching of vocabulary. Moreover, all teachers have the opportunity to engage in internal and external writing moderation. This ensures that all teachers receive training in assessing their pupils’ writing effectively and this helps in aligning the assessment of writing with the school’s curriculum and educational goals, ensuring that the curriculum’s objectives are met. 

We implement a range of formative assessment strategies (use of mini-whiteboards, Think-Pair-Share and open-ended questioning), to monitor pupil progress and provide timely, constructive feedback to support growth and ensure each pupil reaches their full potential in English and writing. We prioritise ongoing assessment to track individual progress and adapt the learning accordingly.

At SPWP we leverage technology to enhance writing and English skills, integrating animation units in our schemes of work and providing access to online resources for research and reading.

We promote English skills across all subjects recognising that strong reading and writing abilities are fundamental to success in every area of learning. We have established the teaching of Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary in every subject and we deliver interventions to develop the understanding of new vocabulary. 

At SPWP we continuously evaluate and enhance our English Schemes of work to ensure alignment with national standards and a comprehensive focus on various genres and writing styles. We utilise data to identify areas for improvement, regularly assessing the impact of our English and writing initiatives and making adjustments as needed. We also work closely with partnerships with local organisations and experts (Oracy Hub and THEP Partnership) in the field of English and writing that support us in enriching our programs and providing unique opportunities for all pupils. 

English Impact:

At SPWP, pupils:

• Write with increasing fluency, accuracy and independence.
• Use ambitious vocabulary across the curriculum.
• Demonstrate secure knowledge of spelling, grammar and punctuation.
• Adapt their writing for different audiences, purposes and contexts.
• Draw upon a rich repertoire of high-quality texts and authors.
• Speak confidently about their writing and evaluate their own progress.
• Achieve outcomes that prepare them successfully for the next stage of education.