At the Valley Community Primary School, we believe that English is a vital subject for all pupils. We want our pupils to develop a love of language and to become confident and proficient readers, writers, and speakers.
Our English curriculum is designed to help pupils develop the following skills and knowledge below. These skills are transferable across the curriculum.
- Reading: Pupils learn to read fluently and with comprehension. They also learn to develop a love of reading and to read for pleasure.
- Writing: Pupils learn to write fluently and effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences. They also learn to draft, edit, and revise their work.
- Speaking and listening: Pupils learn to communicate effectively both verbally and non-verbally. They also learn to listen to and respect the views of others. This includes the use of drama conventions to explore characters, feelings and scenarios.
We deliver our English curriculum through a variety of teaching and learning activities, including:
- Whole class lessons: Our experienced teachers deliver whole class lessons in reading, writing, and speaking and listening. These lessons are planned and adapted to meet the needs of all pupils.
- Group work: Pupils work in small groups or pairs to develop their skills and knowledge in specific areas of English.
- Independent work: Pupils also have opportunities to work independently on their English skills. For example, a pupil might be working on a reading comprehension project or on writing a creative story.
We are committed to providing our pupils with the best possible education in English. We believe that English is essential for success in all areas of life, and we want our pupils to leave The Valley Community Primary School with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.
Vocabulary Teaching
Vocabulary is a high priority within our broad and balanced curriculum. The teaching of vocabulary ensures that pupils are exposed to ambitious and progressive language that supports their learning and understanding across the curriculum and wider world. Further details can be found in our English Policy.
Our Reading Scheme
Our reading scheme at the Valley consists of a variety of publishers so that our children have exposure to a wealth of high quality texts. There is a balance between fiction and non-fiction texts to ensure that our children read not only great narrative (story) books, but exciting non-fiction (fact) books too.
The teaching of early reading skills begins in the nursery. Children are taught during shared sessions using structure and repetitive ‘Big Books’. In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) our children begin reading using fully decodable texts (the level of decoding is linked to the child’s phonics ability). They then continue using decodable texts throughout Key Stage 1. These include: Floppy’s phonics, Bug Club, Rigby Star, Big Cat Collins and Oxford Reading Tree. The books have been closely aligned to our phonics teaching and progression maps to ensure children have opportunities to embed prior learning and practise new learning.
In Key Stage 2, pupils predominantly take home books from The Oxford Reading Tree Scheme (supplemented by books from Project X and Pearson Bug Club). In addition pupils choose books from their class library, the school library, as well as having access to First News – age appropriate newspapers which are available in Key Stage 2.
Our Literacy Spine
You can use the links below to view our Literacy Spines for each year group. These demonstrate the books that your child will have read and studied throughout their school journey.
10 Books to Read
You can use the links below to view our recommended books to read by the end of each year group. With our support, pupils will leave the school by the end of year 6 having read a variety of genres of texts.
Diversity and Role Models
Within our reading offer, we promote a wide range of authors of colour, and characters of colour, to celebrate diversity and provide role-models that our pupils can identify with.
Below is a variety of authors and poets that we promote across school. Each year group has a designated poet of colour who children learn about.
Authors
Poets
Reading at Home
Watch our video on supporting your child with their reading at home:
We create purposeful writing and speaking and listening opportunities (often using a variety of drama conventions). We provide opportunities to build factual knowledge before pupils apply them (in and out of context) and we provide a rich diet of genres (text types) that help them understand the purpose and power of the We immerse pupils in the rich world of the English language, and give them the tools to articulate and express themselves, before we expect our children to write.
Writing
At our school our intent is to produce fluent and enthusiastic writers who write with a range of purposes, and who can competently draft and edit their work with an audience in mind.
We do this through providing a culturally-rich focus on first-hand, tangible experiences which give a stimulus for writing, vocabulary-rich learning opportunities, and a highly visual learning environment.
Writing Expectations (Expected Standard)
Please click on the relevant examples of written work demonstrating writing at the expected standard and at greater depth. These exemplification materials are for demonstrative purposes only.
