English
English Curriculum Intent
English is the foundation of learning and has a pre-eminent standing in education (DfE, 2013). At Sacred Heart we aim to ensure all children speak, read and write fluently so they can become courageous, resilient and world-class communicators. As a starting point, reading underpins the essence of our curriculum, including the development of language and the love of reading. Reading for pleasure is at the heart the Sacred Heart experience and is not seen as an ‘add on’ to the curriculum: it is timetabled, protected and involves both adults and children in cultivating a strong reading culture in our school. We recognise the importance that reading can have in transforming the outcomes of our children, regardless of their socio-economic background (OECD, 2021).
We prioritise the teaching of the key skill of automatic word recognition to ensure fluent reading as this is the basis of all learning. Through a text-rich and language focussed curriculum, children will explore a range of authors and genres which will not only enable them to think more deeply about their own experiences but also take them beyond their own understanding of the world to develop empathy, character and to communicate the experiences of others. We organise the books we choose around our chosen themes and values we wish to instil in our children.
Our Reading Themes | ||
Courage and Resilience | Diversity, Inclusion and Displacement | Traditional Tales |
Environment | Identity | Relationships |
We empower our children to wield writing as a dynamic instrument for creativity and self-expression. Achieving this goal involves anchoring the purpose of writing in captivating experiences, exemplary modelling, and regular practice sessions that nurture fluency and bolster confidence. Fluency in transcription is prioritised for our children to develop confidence in writing and to free up working memory for creative ideas and expression (Education Endowment Fund, 2020). Through exploration of high-quality texts, language and sentence structures, we equip our children with the essential tools to cultivate the endurance and resilience needed for planning, drafting, editing, and publishing of their own written compositions. This approach not only instils a profound understanding of the writing craft but also fosters the development of independent, confident and proficient writers.
Implementation - Organising the Curriculum
Document | Purpose and Rationale |
Progression Map |
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Reading Spine |
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Poetry Map |
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Kinetic Letters Long-Term Plan |
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Long-Term Plans |
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Medium-Term Plans |
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English Progression of Skills - KS1 to KS2
Reading Spine
Year Group Long-Term Plans
Bibliography and Reading:
OECD (2021), 21st-Century Readers: Developing Literacy Skills in a Digital World, PISA.
Department for Education (2023), The Reading Framework.
Ofsted (2024), Telling the Story: The English Education Subject Report.
Centre for Literacy in Primary Education – CLPE (2015), Reading for Pleasure – What We Know Works Such, C. (2021), The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading. SAGE Publications Ltd.
Gough, P. B., & Tunmer, W. E. (1986), The simple view of reading. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2(2), 127–160 Education Endowment Fund, (2021), Improving Literacy in Key Stage 2.
Department for Education (2013), English Programmes of Study: Key Stages 1 and 2, National Curriculum in England.
Standards and Testing Agency (2024), Guidance – Key Stage 2 Teacher Assessment Guidance 2024
Scarborough, H. S. (2001), Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice. In S. Neuman & D. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook for research in early literacy (pp. 97–110). New York, NY: Guilford Press
Tennent, W., Reedy, D., Hobsbaum, A., & Gamble, N. (Eds.). (2016), Guiding Readers - Layers of Meaning: A Handbook for Teaching Reading Comprehension to 7-
11-Year-Olds. UCL IOE Press.