English

English Curriculum at CWJS

At CWJS we recognise the important place that English holds in education and in life. If we teach our children to speak well and write fluently, they will be offered the best chance to communicate their ideas and emotions with others. If we teach them to listen carefully and to read widely, then others can communicate effectively with them.

We place a strong emphasis on securing the understanding of phonics in order to give all children a solid foundation upon which to build. English, however, is not just a series of daily, discrete lessons but is at the cornerstone of our entire curriculum. Exposure to high quality texts and immersion in vocabulary-rich learning opportunities and environments, will not only enable our children to become literate and knowledgeable but will also develop their love of language and their understanding of speaking, reading and writing with purpose.

The life skill of reading is one of the most important that we teach our children; it exposes them to worlds of wonder, curiosity and joy and enables them to independently gather information for further learning. The sharing of carefully chosen texts, helps children in our school to develop an appreciation of our rich literary heritage and exposes them to the best that children’s literature has to offer in terms of a fiction, non-fiction and poetry diet. Through reading, our pupils have the chance to grow emotionally, intellectually and socially. Our aim is for them to develop reading for pleasure habits that extend far beyond their primary years.

At CWJS, children are inspired to write to share their thinking. They are taught to write coherently, adapting their language and style for a variety of genres and wherever possible, writing has a real purpose and audience. This motivates our children to produce beautiful work and to communicate their ideas with pride. We acknowledge that writing is hard and that for many, learning in this area will need to be underpinned with opportunities to talk and shape ideas, internalise stories and examine the features of model texts. The study of spelling, punctuation and grammatical conventions in meaningful ways, helps our pupils to make their writing make sense and teaches them how to engage with and entertain their audience. A progressive scheme for handwriting ensures that children develop the technical skills needed to write clearly, freeing the cognitive space for them to focus on the content of their work. Being able to proofread, revise and edit are fundamental to our children making improvements in their own and others’ work and time is dedicated to the development of these skills.

To speak and to be heard is an entitlement for all children.  Having their voices heard, builds confidence, fosters a sense of belonging and encourages affirmation and respectful challenge of their ideas. It is through listening to each other that our pupils will expand their knowledge, refine their own ideas and develop a sense of respect for those around them. Through poetry, drama and debate, children at CWJS will build a strong understanding of the English language and be given opportunities to test its use in many different scenarios. Experiences such as these will allow them to explore the characters and settings they read about and prepare content for their writing.

By placing English at the heart of our curriculum, we strive for our children to understand that through literacy, in all its forms, they learn to make both sense of the world and shape their own place within it.

Our Aims for English

In support of our curriculum vision and aims, we have crafted our own CWJS way for English. This has been carefully planned, with our children in mind, to ensure that they leave us not only able to speak, read and write effectively, but with passion, pleasure and purpose.

At CWJS, we aim to ensure:

• Our children are immersed in vocabulary-rich learning environments that foster a love of language and encourage them to be ‘word curious’
• Our children learn not only to read, but to fall in love with reading and develop reading skills and habits that they will carry with them far beyond their primary years
• Our children are exposed to high-quality texts across the curriculum that have been chosen with thought and care
• Our children are inspired to write to capture their thinking and are taught to write coherently
• Our children take pride in producing beautiful work and, wherever possible, they are provided with a genuine audience and purpose for their writing
• Our children are given meaningful opportunities to develop speaking and listening skills – using drama, discussion and debate as a means to generate ideas, explain and challenge thinking

Our English curriculum has also been designed and developed using the National Curriculum which aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Read easily, fluently and with good understanding
• Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
• Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
• Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
• Use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
• Are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.