Curriculum Intent
“A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write 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.”
The National Curriculum 2014
It is our intent Breckon Hill to provide pupils with a high-quality education in English that will teach pupils to speak, read and write fluently.
Phonics will be emphasised in the early teaching of reading to beginners when they start our school, whatever age.
We want our children to be able to:
- read with confidence, fluency and with good understanding
- acquire a wide vocabulary
- understand grammar and use grammar correctly in speech and writing
- 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; develop their own voice and opinions and communicate them with others
- be competent in speaking and listening.
Curriculum Implementation
As you would expect Reading and Writing is taught daily. Our phonics and reading page will give more detail.
Get Ready to Write
To prepare children for the year ahead all year groups start the Autumn Term with a Get Ready to Write unit of work. This gives the children opportunities to practise, revisit and repeat their punctuation and grammar skills in order to become fluent with their transcription skills. We use the Place Value of Punctuation and Grammar units of work to teach these skills.
The Writing Process
Engage – Stimulus/ Hook
In order to get the best writing from the children, an interesting and exciting stimulus should be used. This might take the form of a video, letter, image, visitor, scenario, etc.
Explore – Model texts
Model texts are used so that children are able to hear and see what a good example contains. A model text will often be used to introduce the genre and can be used on several occasions throughout the writing process. Model texts will not always be full stories and may be for example a description or an ending etc.
A model text can be explored in the following ways.
- Identify the features and structure
- Text Map
- Explore vocabulary
- ‘Shared write’ a good model/improve an unelaborated version
- What do you like?
- Create the Success Criteria
Sentence Skills – Explicit GPS skills teaching
EYFS and Year 1 Sentence Skills
In EYFS and Year 1 children will begin to develop their transcription and composition skills in order to develop effective writing skills.
Strategies to Develop Fluent Transcription
- Learning how to identifying sounds in words through phonics;
- Teaching ways to spell sounds through phonics;
- Teaching and reinforcing correct letter formation;
- Applying knowledge/skills through dictation.
Strategies to Develop Effective Composition
- Developing language comprehension through speaking and listening to quality text read and repeated;
- Explicit oral teaching of vocabulary;
- Oral rehearsal of sentences;
- Teacher modelling the writing process through orally composing and written scribing.
Year 2-6 Sentence Skills
During the writing process, sentence level and punctuation skills are explicitly taught. These are aspects of grammar and sentence structure that the children will apply to their writing. The Breckon Hill sentence posters and the concrete, pictorial, abstract C.P.A approach from Place Value of Punctuation and Grammar will be used to support this teaching.
We Plan
Children plan their writing. The planning process is modelled by the teacher using a planning frame OR text map. Plans include a success checklist for children and are recorded in English books. During the planning time the teacher and children share plans and magpie ideas.
EYFS/ Y1
Once children are fluent in their transcription skills and as they develop their composition skills they will begin to structure and sequence their sentences. In Y1 the children need to be able to orally compose a sentence before they can write it. Children need to be given time to orally rehearse their sentence or sentences. The children will make adaptations to the text map with the use of post it notes.
See example of a text map plan below:
Y2 – Y6 Planning a piece of writing should follow the structure below.
- Start Sentence
- Supporting detail
Could be decided as a class/by the teacher, should be very narrow/specific – 3 to 4 Supporting Details per paragraph
- Closing sentence (this works for non-fiction and as a transition sentence for fiction)
See planning frame below:
In UKS2, where appropriate children will be able to plan in their own style using the structure above to support them.
We Write
A sentence or paragraph at a time (depending on stage)
This is taught through a shared writing lesson. Teachers model using a visualiser how to expand ideas from the plan into accurate quality sentences using the success checklist. Together the teacher and the class ‘build’ an accurate, high-quality paragraph whilst the teacher models the thinking ‘aloud’, editing and improving process. Children contribute ideas to build the paragraph using the success checklist and including desired sentence types and vocabulary.
I Write
The children write their own.
This is the children’s independent writing time. Together the teacher and children review the shared writing from the previous lesson and then remove model. The children use their plans to write. Children focus on sentence types and vocabulary gathered throughout the unit. Children are given opportunities to pause and check their writing against the success checklist throughout lesson (polishing pauses with red pen). Where appropriate, allow time for drafting on whiteboards before committing to paper and orally rehearsing sentences. Time will also be given to edit and polish the children’s writing.
Curriculum Impact
Reading and writing are assessed and developed through the use of termly assessment task and ongoing formative teacher assessment. This information is tracked termly and is essential for teachers and senior leaders to analyse children’s progress and plan for those children needing specific support which is done through our pupil progress meetings.
The impact of the curriculum is monitored by the subject leader, the English team and senior leaders and evidenced in an annual portfolio. The whole staff are encouraged to reflect on their practice to ensure consistency of provision throughout the school.
Supporting Writing At Home
Here are some useful websites with tips, prompts, and activities to support writing at home:
| Website | Description |
| BBC Bitesize English | Practice English skills including speaking, listening, reading and writing. |
| BBC Bitesize Creative Writing | Use the resource to practice creative writing skills and explore ways to lay out an interesting story. |
