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English Curriculum Intent Statement

Aims

At Temple Grove Academy, we aim to foster a love of reading and language in children that can be readily applied to their writing. We equip our pupils with the skills to be engaging and articulate communicators as they progress through their individual educational journeys and beyond into adulthood.

Intent

We recognise that a language-rich environment with a strong focus upon developing an expansive vocabulary is fundamental for our pupils in becoming strong thinkers, speakers, readers, and writers. Our English teaching is underpinned by the National Curriculum and supported by up-to-date educational research, to ensure the best possible outcomes for our children in terms of progress and attainment. As we continue to embed our English curriculum, we strive to ensure that:

  • Pupils read a range of different genres and participate whole-heartedly in discussions about what they have read.
  • Pupils are explicitly taught the skills to become fluent readers, demonstrating sound comprehension.
  • Children actively explore the language used by different authors and the impact certain word choices have on the reader.
  • The school environment promotes reading for pleasure alongside reading to research, gather new knowledge and extend understanding.
  • Teachers plan experiences, engaging tasks and make use of cross-curricular links so that our pupils have passion and enthusiasm for writing.
  • Pupils write clearly and coherently applying the relevant grammar, punctuation, and spelling objectives accurately and to good effect.
  • Pupils write competently in different styles and for different purposes and audiences, using their continually developing expansive vocabulary.
  • Pupils have a solid understanding of the grammar rules and terminology appropriate for their age group and can demonstrate this in their writing.
  • Pupils develop a passion for the subject and are motivated to do well.

Implementation

At Temple Grove Academy, we believe a combination of explicit skills teaching, the use of exciting, vocabulary rich texts, and an engaging cross-curricular approach, enable our children to make good progress. We deliver this through:

  • The systematic teaching of phonics in EYFS and KS1 using Little Wandle phonics.
  • The use of ‘Spelling Shed’ for teachers to plan and deliver lessons teaching spelling rules and patterns.
  • Guided reading is taught daily covering a range of reading skills including retrieval, inference, understanding vocabulary, summarising, prediction, and explanation.
  • Daily reading of class text with class to promote reading for pleasure and further develop vocabulary skills.
  • Teaching writing through an engaging class text, linked to the broader curriculum.
  • The embedded teaching of the grammar and punctuation national curriculum objectives into our daily English lessons, linked appropriately to the writing genre.
  • Providing opportunities for ‘cold writes’ to enable children to write freely and creatively.
  • Placing great emphasis on the expansion of pupil’s vocabulary through consistent approaches to reading and explicit vocabulary teaching in our English lessons
  • Participation in whole school initiatives such as World Book Day and Vocabulary Day
  • Planning all reading and English lessons creatively, flexibly, and responsively to meet the needs of our children.
  • The use of regular assessment and moderation cycles to support teacher assessment judgements alongside the use of target tracker.

Impact

At the end of every academic year, we ensure pupils are prepared for the next stage of their individual, educational journey. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils from Temple Grove Academy will:

  • Have made good progress in the context of their starting points in reading, writing, and speaking and listening.
  • Attain in line with their peers nationally.
  • Be articulate, confident, and courteous speakers.
  • Be expressive writers who show clear consideration for their reader.
  • Use grammatical objectives to creatively enhance and improve their writing.
  • Read fluently and confidently.
  • Have a secure knowledge of spelling patterns, rules, and common exception words with several reliable strategies to use when writing.
  • Understand and discuss what they have read demonstrating clear comprehension.
  • Read for pleasure and to further their learning and understanding.
  • In all areas of English, demonstrate a broad bank of vocabulary that enables effective communication.
  • Be able to transfer these skills to a range of different situations as they progress into adulthood.

Key Areas of Impact

Pupils at Temple Grove will be:

  • Articulate communicators.
  • Fluent and engaged readers with strong comprehension skills.
  • Effective writers, able to write for a range of purposes.

To find out more about how we teach early reading and phonics, click here.