English

Intent

At Keevil C of E Academy, English and the teaching of English is the foundation of our curriculum. Our aim is to ensure every child becomes primary literate and progresses in speaking and listening, reading and writing. We have high expectations and ambition for all our children, and want them all to achieve their full potential in English during their time at Keevil Academy. We recognise that each child has a different starting point in each year group on their journey in English, and therefore celebrate effort and individual progress as well as attainment to ensure every child can celebrate success.

English is not only a daily discrete lesson; it is the cornerstone to all learning at Keevil by being embedded in each area of learning. We place high importance on children speaking in clear, full sentences and emphasise the importance of listening to others.  It is through mastering the skills of English that children can communicate their ideas and feelings with others.

The National Curriculum (2014) forms the basis for all subject teaching, ensuring continuity and progression in an age-related curriculum.  In addition, teachers make sure content is relevant, stimulating and all aspects of the English curriculum are delivered in an interwoven manner.  Our English curriculum has been developed to recognise the importance of English in every aspect of daily life and to develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children love to read, take pride in their writing and can clearly and accurately adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and to be able to use discussion to communicate and further their learning.

Our use of high-quality texts, vocabulary-rich learning environments and a varied and engaging curriculum ensure the English progression of skills are met whilst developing a love of reading, creative writing and purposeful speaking and listening.

Implementation

As a school, we have planned a robust, creative and engaging curriculum to deliver the National Curriculum English objectives.  Both reading and writing teaching and learning is delivered through the study of a key, high-quality text each half term.  For more details please see the Curriculum Overview documents below.

To ensure accurate assessment we use a range of approaches, from teacher assessment of children's work in class to the use of formal tests such as SATS and NFER.  We also use specific diagnostic tests if we feel a child's knowledge and understanding needs to be explored in more depth.  This rigorous and robust approach allows teachers to plan the next steps for individuals effectively to promote progress and attainment.

Teachers have high expectations through teaching to the appropriate yearly objectives and set work appropriate to the needs of the children in their class. The structure of the lessons is carefully considered, including opportunities for returning to, and expanding on prior knowledge, teaching, modelling and discussion to aid understanding and support children in their independent tasks.

During 'English lessons’, the use of quality differentiated texts is used to teach the core skills in-line with the expectations of the National Curriculum through a combination of approaches/opportunities. For more details please see the Curriculum Overview documents below.

Impact

The impact on our children is clear: progress, sustained learning and transferrable skills. Using a well thought-out, engaging curriculum, children at Keevil are becoming more confident and creative readers and  writers.

We aim for children to leave Keevil with a love of reading and writing and high aspirations to develop in the further education.

For further information about our English Curriculum please follow these links to our Phonics, Reading and Writing pages.