English

English Intent

At Highfield, it is our intention that children should develop a love of reading, writing and discussion, which equips them to be lifelong learners. At the heart of our strategy is a drive to foster a love of reading from an early age. We know that if children are equipped with the key English skills at an early age, it enables them to access the wider curriculum with confidence.

We aim to introduce a wide range of texts to our children that reflect and celebrate the diversity of our school community. This allows children to develop empathy and see themselves reflected in the stories they read. In addition, we aim to inspire an appreciation of our rich and varied language through the immersion of high-quality texts and a confidence to use their imagination through our book-led curriculum. We strive for these creative ideas to be applied to their writing within a variety of genres and to be discussed effectively and with confidence.

We believe that secure foundations in English skills are crucial to a high-quality education, providing our children with the tools they need for success in future lines of study and employment.

Implementation

The development of early speaking and listening skills is essential to the successful acquisition of language and knowledge, and this is a particular focus for children upon entry to Reception. From this strong foundation, the progression of skills taught in English build upon prior knowledge. This is carefully matched to each individual child and is designed to challenge and extend all learners.

In the infants, phonics is systematically taught through the Read Write Inc programme, where explicit links are made between developing phonetic knowledge, reading and writing, spoken language, vocabulary, grammar and spelling. To develop reading comprehension skills, we use the VIPERS model, which continues progressively throughout the schools from Year 2. In the juniors, children unsecure with their phonics continue to follow a RWI intervention programme building on from the strong programme delivered in KS1. This is further supported through appropriate banded reading books, until the children become independent readers when challenging, well matched texts continue to be provided. 

We use a core spine of texts that include a wide range of authors from different backgrounds and nationalities, providing our children with access to high-quality age-appropriate texts which include fiction, non-fiction and poetry. 

In class we use elements of Pie Corbett’s ‘Talk for Writing’ to model and scaffold the language, grammar and structure of different text types. Each class provides a language rich environment with vocabulary clearly displayed to support children. Teachers encourage children to be ambitious in their choice of vocabulary both in written work and oral discussions. Fluent cursive script is taught following the letter-join programme from Year One to develop writing stamina.

Impact

The intended impact of our English curriculum is to enable our children to become enthusiastic and confident readers, writers and speakers.  They can debate their ideas, read widely for pleasure, and take pride in their written work.  Children have the skills to draft, edit and improve their writing, understanding the importance of each stage of this process.