Curriculum Intent, Implementation and Impact Statement
In our richly diverse, inclusive and multi-cultural school, here at St. Nicholas, we aim to develop a child’s love of reading, writing and discussion. We want to inspire a love of reading for pleasure, where children develop a passion and enjoyment of quality books and texts. We recognise the importance of nurturing children’s willingness to ‘have a go’ and take pride in the writing they do. We want children to be able to write clearly and accurately with the ability to adapt their writing style for a range of contexts. For children of all ages, we want them to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and to be articulate in expressing their ideas and learning in various discussion forums.
At St. Nicholas, children follow a clear pathway of progression in skills in reading and writing which is planned for carefully and thoughtfully. We want all our children to gain lifelong skills in all areas of English and to give them the tools they need to support their continued development in becoming lifelong learners.
Children across the school engage in daily English lessons and skills taught are transferred to the wider curriculum. Children also participate in regular Guided Reading sessions and Phonic lessons based on the Read, Write Inc programme.
We believe that ‘reading for pleasure’ is at the heart of teaching children to read. Across the whole school, classes are engaged in reading competitions, trips the local libraries, visiting authors and a range of pleasurable, reading activities.
Within school, children are exposed to reading on a daily basis through a combination of modelled, shared, guided, individual and independent reading. Children learn to understand, analyse and thoughtfully respond to a wider range of texts. Within these reading contexts, and as children become increasingly fluent with reading, they develop the reading skills and strategies to read both for pleasure and to support their work in all areas of the curriculum.
Our English curriculum provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and discussion through our ‘Talk for Writing’ approach which support all learners through the model of imitation to innovation to independent application. Writing is purposeful and we ensure that within each year group there is the explicit teaching of grammar, punctuation and spelling objectives which are required for that age group.
Writing is taught through the use of quality text and each class teacher plans a half term around a class read. These books have been carefully selected with the support of outside agencies to ensure a range of high quality literature from a range of authors which include classic texts alongside more recent stories. These stories are also the starting point for non-fiction writing and poetry works.
Within our English curriculum there are lots of opportunities for speaking and listening and for children to discuss their ideas and learning in a safe and meaningful way. As a high proportion of our children are EAL, there is a huge emphasis on modelling standard English and giving children the opportunity to engage in a variety of speaking activities which include partner work, role play, drama, storytelling and class assemblies.
As a result of our English curriculum, we have children who are developing their confidence and enthusiasm as readers and writers who enjoy showcasing their developing English knowledge and skills. They are confident to ‘have a go’ and love to discuss and share their ideas both in class and to a wider audience.
