Throughout their journey at St Edward’s, we believe that every child should:
- Have the opportunity and support to become fluent, confident and skilled communicators, irrespective of their context or starting point;
- Be exposed to a rich and diverse range of experiences, in both reading and writing, and be challenged to deepen and apply their English skills and knowledge throughout the curriculum;
- Enjoy a curriculum that places emphasis on evidence-led research: cognitive load theory, principles of instruction and explicit vocabulary instruction.
English in EYFS
In EYFS, reading is at the heart of our curriculum and our aim is to encourage a love of reading right from the start. In EYFS, we have ‘Fab Four’ in Nursery and ‘Fab Five’ in Reception which compromises of books being read over and over again, throughout the half term. The aim is to expose children to a range of books that not only develop a love of reading, but have been chosen specifically to develop their spoken language, vocabulary and comprehension.
These books will be embedded in our provision through enhancements, story sessions and on display for children to access independently. Through this, children begin to internalise new vocabulary, language patterns and begin to retell stories. Our curriculum is carefully constructed to prepare children and ensure that there is cohesion and consistency with our approach through:
- The inclusion of high-quality texts which are age and stage appropriate
- Modelled reading and re-telling opportunities across each session
- A focus on Tier 1, 2 and 3 Vocabulary
- Dedicated phonics sessions following the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds progression.
Children are encouraged to apply their phonics in independent and supported writing opportunities across the curriculum.
English in Key Stage 1 and 2
In Key Stage 1 and 2 we teach Reading and Writing using Curriculum by Unity Schools Partnership (CUSP).
CUSP is an evidence informed, carefully sequenced English curriculum, which maps core content in Reading and Writing across the primary journey, ensuring that learning is taught and revisited over time so that pupils commit their understanding to the long-term memory.
Handwriting is taught using a strategic, systematic and progressive approach. Pupils learn the ‘ball and stick’ method of handwriting in Reception. In KS1, handwriting is taught through frequent, discrete and direct teaching to enable pupils to form letters correctly and confidently. Pupils will revise and practise correct letter formation frequently and will be taught to write with a joined style as soon as they can form letters securely with the correct orientation.
In KS2, pupils begin to use joined handwriting throughout their independent writing. Handwriting is continued to be taught, with the aim of increasing the fluency with which pupils are able to write down what they want to say. This, in turn, supports their composition and spelling. Pupils continue to practise handwriting and are encouraged to increase the speed of it. They are taught to use an unjoined style, for example, for labelling a diagram or data, writing an email address, or for algebra and capital letters, for example, for filling in a form.
