English Subject Leader: Laura Shiell 

What do our pupils say about English?

"Don't change anything - English is great!" - Y6 girl, 2022

"Capture the Flag was awesome! Can we do more lessons like this?” – Y6 boy, 2022

“I really like it when we research things and write facts about them” – Y4 girl, 2022

At Telford Junior School, we base our English curriculum on the National Curriculum (2014) and the following underlying principles:

English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society.  A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to write and speak fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them.  Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually.  Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development.  Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know.  All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society; pupils, therefore, who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are effectively disenfranchised. 
(National Curriculum 2014) 

Intent:

We aim to develop pupils’ abilities within a programme made up of speaking and listening, reading and writing (including spelling, grammar and punctuation).  Pupils will be given opportunities to apply their taught English skills within a broad and balanced approach across the curriculum.

By the end of KS2 we aim for the children to be able to: 
▪ read and write with confidence, fluency and understanding, orchestrating a range of independent strategies to self-monitor and correct; 
▪ communicate by using appropriate oral skills; 
▪ have an interest in and enthusiasm for books and read for enjoyment; 
▪ use non-fiction books and ICT materials to access information; 
▪ have an interest in words and their meanings, developing a growing vocabulary in spoken and written forms; 
▪ access a range of spelling strategies; 
▪ understand a range of text types and genres and be able to write in a variety of styles and forms appropriate to the given situation; 
▪ evaluate and justify their preferences; 
▪ be developing the powers of imagination, inventiveness and critical awareness; 
▪ have a suitable technical vocabulary to articulate their responses; 
▪ produce fluent and legible handwriting. 

The school’s programme of study for English is based on the National Curriculum 2014 and includes: 
spoken language; 
reading, which at key stages 1 and 2 consists of two dimensions: 
▪  word reading  
▪  comprehension (both listening and reading);

writing, which at key stages 1 and 2 is constructed similarly to those for reading:  
▪  transcription (spelling and handwriting)  
▪  composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing); spelling, vocabulary, grammar and punctuation. 
 
Statutory Requirements 
At KS2 children should learn to change the way they speak and write to suit different situations, purposes and audiences.  They should read a range of texts and respond to different layers of meaning in them.  They should explore the use of language in literary and non-literary texts and learn how the structure of language works. 
 
Implementation: 
An English lesson of 60 minutes is time-tabled each day for all classes within the school.  English skills are also further developed and consolidated in other subjects across the curriculum.  Children are generally taught by their own class teacher in mixed ability classes.  Using appropriate tracking data and observation, children will be offered different levels of challenge to meet their particular needs. Teachers plan intervention sessions covering all aspects of the English curriculum to meet the particular needs of target groups and individuals identified at termly progress meetings through tracking grids.  Pupil provision is related to attainment, not age. 

Children will learn to read, perform and write many different text types including fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Each year group will study a number of "key texts" which will have been carefully chosen to suit the year group and to link to other topics studied across the curriculum. For example, in Autumn in Year 6, pupils read and respond to a novel called "The Executioner's Daughter" which introduces them to lots of new vocabulary and challenging topics as well as linking to the history topic "Crime and Punishment" and the geography topic of "London and the UK". These links help engage and inspire the children across the curriculum. 

Impact:

Children will leave Telford Junior School able to enjoy reading and to appreciate a wide range of text types. They will have been exposed to many high quality texts from a range of well-known authors and will be able to express themselves and their ideas both verbally and in writing. Their reading, writing and spoken language skills will enable them to be more successful in all curriculum subjects and in everyday activities in their futures.