English

Writing Intent

At St Anne’s Primary School, our English curriculum develops children’s love of writing and discussion. It prepares our children for life as successful, valuable and socially responsible citizens. We inspire an appreciation of a rich and varied literary heritage and a habit of writing widely and often. We nurture a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly, imaginatively and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We inspire children to be confident in their writing and apply this confidence in all areas of the curriculum.

Writing Implementation

At St. Anne's Catholic Primary School, we use Drawing Club in Reception which moves onto 'Curious Quests' in Year 1

This approach is based around the 'Golden Blend' of picture books, tales and animations, it involves a short period of time together as a whole class followed by time with children exploring their ideas and creativity.

Drawing Club and Curious Quests allows our teachers to bring the world of story to life. This approach to the teaching of writing for our youngest of children ensures that we:

• Immerse our children in the world of story and show them the joy of who they are 

• Share a treasure trove of vocabulary with children to open up the playground of language.

• Develop our children’s creativity and imagination.

• Give our children age-appropriate practice that is highly engaging and grounds children in the joy of books.
  

At St Anne’s Primary School, we teach writing via The Literacy Company’s Pathways to Write units of work from Y2 - Y6

Pathways to Write is a proven methodology built around units of work which develop vocabulary, reading and writing skills through the mastery approach. The units, for use with pupils from Y2 to Y6, provide clear detailed lessons and resources. These are linked to high-quality texts to ensure engaging and purposeful English lessons.

Within each unit of work, effective teaching strategies to challenge Greater Depth writers are included. The units of work ensure children cover the National Curriculum for English in its entirety for writing and the progressive structure of the programme ensures children's learning develops through the introduction of new skills and regular opportunities to revisit and develop existing skills.

Gateway, Mastery and Feature Keys:-

These keys are listed at the start of each Pathways to Write unit:-

Gateway Keys: are the keys that the children should be/ have previously been, taught (retrieval/review).

Mastery Keys:  are the main skills that will be the focus throughout the current unit.

Feature Keys:   are the features of the writing genre for the outcome of each unit. Each set of feature keys have the same structure – vocabulary of the genre, how sentences and tenses are used as well as the overall structure of each genre.

Within ‘Pathways to Write,’ planning and delivery of sessions uses the following sequence:-

Gateway: This is an opportunity to hook the pupils and to assess previously taught mastery skills. A short writing task is set at the end of this session to assess the application of Gateway Skills. (The writing task is intended to assess pupils on skills or genres that they have been taught before). Where pupils are struggling to apply and use the Gateway Keys, these skills are built into the planning of the current unit so it will be personalised for each class.

Pathway: In this section, the mastery skills are introduced with many opportunities along the way to practise and apply these skills in different writing tasks. The tasks use genres that the pupils will be most familiar with such as character or setting description, dialogue, diary entries, instructions, poetry and sentence work. This provides on-going evidence for writing assessment.

Writeaway: This final section of the sequence comprises of 4 sessions. It begins with sectioning and sequencing texts using a model. When the final outcome is narrative-based, this will be based on the text which has been the class focus text.  For younger age groups, a shortened version of the text is used to support re-telling. If the outcome is a non-fiction text, then a model will be available for support.

Within the Writeaway, children are encouraged to plan, write, check, edit, redraft and publish their work. The focus being to apply the mastery skills taught for that unit.

Writing Impact

In English pupils demonstrate their learning in every lesson. To monitor pupil’s attainment and progress, teachers assess the independent writing produced and record a judgement of where the pupil is working at in relation to the learning objectives and success criteria at the end of each teaching unit. These judgements are used to support internal school data which is collected 3 times a year. Pupil voice is carried out alongside book monitoring and learning walks to examine the day-to-day view of English in the classroom and review children’s learning and progress.

Formative assessment happens regularly and is achieved through targeted questioning during lessons, observations of pupils, review of work and discussions. The start of lessons are used to continually revisit key skills and knowledge taught previously which ensures that children know more, remember more and can do more. It also offers the opportunity for teachers to assess pupils’ attainment and progress regularly.

Writing is moderated in school termly to ensure the relevant progress linked to the progression maps can be seen across all year groups. Teachers work in teams to moderate work and feedback to colleagues.

Reading Intent

Reading lies at the centre of the curriculum at St. Anne’s Catholic Primary School where we strive to help our children develop into articulate and imaginative communicators, who are well-equipped with the basic skills they need to become life-long learners and make the world a better place. An appreciation for rich quality literatureunderpins the English curriculum andwe endeavourto promotea lifelong love ofthewritten wordand the English language.TheNationalCurriculum Englishobjectives are delivered throughabespoke, carefully plannedandsequenced progressionofqualitytexts.By the time they leaveKey Stage2,pupilsshouldbeableto readfluently,accuratelyand with confidence in any subject and also have had valuable exposure to quality works of literature, including picture books and the best classic and modern poetry, for their forthcoming secondary education.

Furthermore, the curriculum actively promotes a love of reading for pleasureand development of skills and attributes beyond academic achievement.The English skills of reading, writing and oracy are also carefully woven into the wider curriculum.There are ample opportunities for children to apply these skills through forms such as scientific enquiries, debates, speeches, non-fiction texts and creative outcomes.

Reading Implementation

For the teaching of early reading in Reception and Year 1, please click HERE.

At St. Anne's Catholic Primary School (Y2-Y6)

• Reading is taught in 30-minute sessions following our own bespoke programme, specifically designed to meet the needs of our children in school. Each session combines metacognitive approaches with explicitly taught learning behaviours to promote purposeful, independent reading. Children focus on a different reading strand each week/ fortnight such as inference, comprehension, themes and conventions and language which are taken directly from the Reading Content Domains for each Key Stage.

• Three sessions a week are dedicated to teaching children how to read. In these sessions, teachers will recap or introduce a text, context and vocabulary, model the strategy through think aloud and talk partner discussion, and check for understanding through oral or written assessment. Children will be given the opportunity to apply their learning to the class texts. They will focus on specific content domains during these sessions.

• During sessions, all children are expected to participate by listening and responding, making use of language to guide their discussion of literature.

• Texts to develop reading skills are well-chosen to ensure they link to wider curriculum themes and develop children’s comprehension skills.

• Children are expected and encouraged to read at home every day. Reading diaries log reading activity, including pages read.   

• Effective CPD is available to staff to ensure high levels of confidence and knowledge are maintained.

• Children take part in standardised assessments (Headstart reading assessments) each term which informs overall teacher assessment.

• Summative judgements (Working Towards/Working At/Working Above age-related Expectations) are recorded each term, discussed at pupil progress meetings and in end of year reports for all pupils.

• At the end of KS2 pupils will sit Reading SATs papers. These results will be used to validate teacher-assessment judgement in Reading (Working Towards/Working At/Working Above age-related Expectations).

• A love of reading is promoted through: vibrant and inviting reading areas in classrooms, daily 15-minute Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) sessions, staff sharing a story with the class at the end of each day and through regular library visits.

• Whole school themed events raise the profile, as well as promote a love of reading, e.g. National Poetry Day and World Book Day

• Use of reading ambassadors to promote reading for pleasure across the school.

• Effective use of author visits (in-person and virtual) are planned, to enrich and enhance learning experiences and to develop children’s cultural capital in reading. 

Reading Impact

At St. Anne's Catholic Primary School, our pupils will:

• High levels of engagement in reading sessions and improved independence when reading.

• Increased motivation to read for pleasure. Children enjoy reading and can link their reading with their own cultural experiences and the wider world.

• A richer vocabulary and the tools to engage in more meaningful dialogue around books.

• High aspirations, which will see them through to further study, work and a successful adult life

The implementation of this overall English curriculum ensures that, by the time children leave St Anne’s Primary School, they are:

• Confident learners that have a love of reading and writing.

• Resilient, independent learners that recognise how English is relevant to their future and ensuring they have high aspirations moving forwards.

• Secure and fluent in their application of skills and knowledge so that they can read and write with regard to audience and purpose.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ATTAINMENT DATA 2023