English

Intent:

• Nurture learners' love of reading, writing and discussion. 
• Cultivate enthusiasm for writing where learners’ take pride in their work. 
• Develop learners’ language, skills and vocabulary so that they can write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. 
• Develop learners’ understanding of grammatical and punctuation devices so that they can use these to enhance their written work and are able to write for a wide range of purposes and audiences. 
• Develop learner’s awareness of letter formation including letter direction, size, height and spacing through discrete teaching and modelling of fluent, joined handwriting. 
• Develop learner’s awareness of how syllables can be utilised as a means to decode words for  spelling purposes.

• Develop learner’s awareness of grapheme/phoneme correspondence to blend, segment and decode words for reading  purposes. 
• Develop learners’ reading accuracy, automaticity and prosody so that our learners’ grow into confident and fluent readers. 
• Develop learners’ understanding and ability to answer reading comprehension questions within all different domains. 
• Inspire learners’ to be confident and articulate when speaking and listening so that they can use these discussion skills to communicate further learning.

Implementation:

• The National Curriculum for English is taught to all year groups for at least 1.5 hours per day. 
• A clear progression in knowledge, skills and vocabulary is taught throughout the school to ensure coverage is met; the sequence builds on skills and progression is clear throughout. 
• Sequencing of units and lessons allows for learners to connect previously taught knowledge from across the curriculum to new learning in order to make connections and understand new learning.
• Retrieval lessons and starters are used to activate previously taught knowledge in order to consolidate prior learning and make synoptic links between topics; they are also used as an assessment strategy.
• All classrooms have a clearly positioned English Working Wall where teachers can display key information to support learners’ progress; this includes, but is not extensive to: toolkits for writing, key vocabulary and W.A.G.O.L.L/s. 
• All classrooms have a visualiser which is used frequently by teachers to model expectations clearly as well and share and celebrate learners’ work. 
• Teacher marking alongside carefully planned learners' peer and self assessment is utilised as an essential tool to support progress and achievement. 
• Key vocabulary is shared and discussed at the start and within each lesson and is then revisited in future lessons; it is displayed clearly in the classroom environment. 
• High quality texts are used in all year groups to form the basis for each new writing unit; texts have been carefully selected to engage readers of all backgrounds and abilities. These texts are purposefully diverse so that Springfield learners’ have excellent exposure to a wide range of literary material and aim to connect with the learners’ on a personal level to inspire them. 
• Learners are given a new writing unit on a term/half-term basis; these all begin with the explicit teaching  of sentence construction for approximately two weeks and follow the I Do, We Do, You Do structure for modelling. The sentence construction expertly equips learners’ in crucial grammatical and punctuation knowledge.
• Learners’ are given one to two Writing Projects per half-term; these projects draw upon the skills the children have been taught during sentence construction lessons and follow eight key steps that are paramount for their progress (Step 1 - Introduce Writing Project, Step 2 - Read as Writers, Step 3 - Generate Ideas, Step 4 - Plan, Step 5 - Draft, Step 6 - Revise, Step 7 - Edit, Step 8 - Publish). 
• At the end of each half-term, learners will explore an inquiry based question or study a poetic text to broaden their understanding of writing around the curriculum.
• Teachers discretely teach letter formation within spelling and writing lessons; key teaching principles for handwriting  includes: letter direction, size, height and spacing. 
• EYFS and KS1 learners’ receive daily access to phonics lessons using the Essential Letters and Sounds Programme (ELS). 
• Learners’ from Years 2 to 6 have daily reading lessons. These lessons cover extended reading of a high-quality class based text, fluency practice and close reading and aim to equip learners’ to become fluent readers who are able to decode texts for pleasure and meaning. 
• From Year 2 onwards, learners’ receive daily spelling lessons, which follows a clear sequence, where they are explicitly taught how to write and decode words for spelling and reading purposes. 
• From EYFS-Year 4 learners receive daily handwriting lessons taught via the support of Nelson Handwriting resources. 
• The Library is timetabled and accessible for all year groups; learners’ in KS2 use The Accelerated Reader Programme to develop their individual reading skills alongside some KS1 learners if deemed ready by their class teacher. 
• All classrooms have shelving to house core texts, topic related texts and learner book recommendations. 
• Teachers assess and adapt learning for all groups of learners, specifically providing support and challenge for learners with SEND and those who are Disadvantaged.
• Learning Questions stimulate learners' curiosity and independence.

Impact:

• Springfield writers  have high engagement and enjoyment in English  writing and spelling lessons. 
• Springfield writers  talk confidently about their learning. 
• Springfield writers have a strong understanding and awareness of punctuation and grammatical skills for their year group as well as retained knowledge of prior year group’s learning. 
• Springfield writers utilise syllables in words to support their ability to spell words, including longer and more challenging words that don’t fit normal spelling patterns. 
• Springfield writers are taught accurate letter formation including correct letter direction, size, height and spacing within words. 
• Springfield writers have an intrinsic love for vocabulary and enjoy using powerful words and technical language to upskill their work. 
• Springfield writers can write for a range of purposes, across a range of genres, both fiction and non-fiction based.
• Springfield writers have the ability to select and use vocabulary to excite, inform or entertain the reader
• Springfield writers understand and use a range of punctuation, knowing the effect it can have on the reader in both writing and reading.
• Springfield writers understand and use the various sentence types that can be used to support different genres.
• Springfield writers use phonetic knowledge and spelling rules to spell words accurately.
• Springfield writers have the ability to speak clearly, fluently and coherently; to be able to listen attentively with understanding, pleasure and empathy and contribute to group discussions effectively.

• Springfield readers have high engagement and enjoyment in  reading and phonics lessons. 
• Springfield readers talk confidently about their learning. 
• Springfield readers  demonstrate fluent reading with good levels of accuracy, automaticity and prosody.
• Springfield readers can read for meaning, allowing them to retell events, make justified predictions as well as provide evidence-based inferences.
• Springfield readers appreciate a wide variety of authors and genres, and have the  ability to express justified preferences.
• Springfield readers are able to discuss an author’s use of language and the impact this has on the reader.
• Springfield readers utilise a wide range of vocabulary, including story language, in both their oral responses and written work.