At St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, we believe that English lies at the heart of the curriculum. The ability to speak confidently, read fluently and write effectively enables children to communicate, understand the world around them and successfully access learning across every subject.

Drawing upon the Grammarsaurus Primary English curriculum, alongside the National Curriculum and our chosen phonics programme, we provide an ambitious, progressive and carefully sequenced English curriculum that develops confident speakers, enthusiastic readers and purposeful writers.

Our curriculum is built around high-quality, engaging texts that expose children to rich vocabulary, varied sentence structures, diverse authors and a broad range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. We want children to experience texts that act as both mirrors and windows: allowing them to recognise their own experiences while encountering lives, cultures, places and perspectives beyond their immediate world.

Oracy is fundamental to our approach. We recognise that children's ability to articulate ideas, explain their thinking, listen attentively and participate in purposeful discussion directly supports their development as readers and writers. We therefore aim to develop confident communicators who can adapt their spoken language appropriately for different audiences and purposes.

In reading, our intention is that pupils become accurate, fluent and thoughtful readers who can retrieve information, infer meaning, make connections, evaluate texts and discuss authors' choices. Alongside these skills, we place significant importance on developing a genuine love of books and reading for pleasure.

In writing, we want children to understand that writing is a craft. Pupils learn how vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, sentence construction and text organisation work together to communicate meaning. They are taught to make deliberate choices according to purpose, audience and effect, progressively developing their own confident authorial voice.

Our curriculum is ambitious for every pupil. Appropriate scaffolding, explicit teaching, modelling and intervention ensure that pupils with SEND and those who have gaps in prior learning can successfully participate, while maintaining high expectations for what every child can achieve.

English is taught through a carefully sequenced curriculum drawing upon Grammarsaurus, ensuring that knowledge and skills progressively develop from the Early Years through to Year 6.

High-quality texts provide meaningful contexts for learning and enable children to encounter increasingly sophisticated vocabulary, themes, structures and authorial techniques. Teachers explicitly model the thinking involved in reading and writing, gradually moving children from supported practice towards confident independence.

Reading

Early reading is underpinned by our systematic approach to phonics through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised. Children learn the decoding skills necessary to become accurate readers before increasingly developing automaticity and fluency.

As pupils progress through school, reading instruction develops fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Children are explicitly taught to retrieve and summarise information, make and justify inferences, predict, make connections, explore vocabulary, identify themes and consider the impact of authors' language and structural choices.

Teachers model fluent and expressive reading, and pupils have regular opportunities to discuss texts collaboratively. Questioning encourages children not simply to locate answers but to think deeply about what they have read and justify their interpretations using evidence.

Reading for pleasure is promoted throughout school through class texts, independent reading, teacher read-alouds, attractive reading environments and opportunities to recommend and discuss books.

Writing

Writing is taught through purposeful and engaging units which expose pupils to a wide variety of genres, purposes and audiences.

Children explore high-quality model texts and identify the features, vocabulary and grammatical structures that make them effective. Teachers use explicit instruction, modelling, shared writing and guided practice to demonstrate how successful writers plan, construct, review and refine their work.

Grammar and punctuation are taught both explicitly and within meaningful writing contexts. Children learn not simply to identify grammatical features but to understand how writers use them deliberately to create meaning and effect.

Pupils are given regular opportunities to plan, draft, revise, edit and publish their writing. As children progress through school, scaffolding is gradually reduced and they are expected to draw increasingly independently upon their accumulated knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, text structure and authorial technique.

Spelling and Handwriting

Spelling is taught systematically and progressively, enabling pupils to understand spelling patterns, rules, morphology and word origins alongside the accurate spelling of statutory words.

Children are encouraged to apply spelling knowledge independently within their writing and develop strategies for checking and correcting unfamiliar words.

Handwriting and presentation are explicitly taught so that pupils develop an increasingly fluent, legible and efficient handwriting style, enabling transcription to become increasingly automatic and allowing greater attention to be directed towards composition.

Oracy and Vocabulary

Oracy is woven throughout English and the wider curriculum. Pupils regularly participate in discussion, partner talk, presentations, storytelling, performance, debate and collaborative learning.

Teachers explicitly model ambitious spoken language and encourage children to speak in complete, well-structured responses. Pupils learn to listen actively, build upon the contributions of others, respectfully challenge ideas and explain and justify their thinking.

Vocabulary development is prioritised. New vocabulary is explicitly introduced, explored and revisited so that pupils increasingly understand and confidently use a rich and precise vocabulary in both spoken and written communication.

Assessment is used formatively to identify pupils' strengths, misconceptions and next steps. Teachers use this information to adapt teaching, provide additional scaffolding or intervention and ensure that pupils continue to make progress through the curriculum.

 

By the end of their time at St Joseph’s, pupils will be confident and effective communicators who can speak, read and write successfully for a range of purposes and audiences.

Children will read with increasing accuracy, fluency, expression and understanding. They will confidently approach unfamiliar texts, draw upon a range of comprehension strategies and use evidence to explain and justify their interpretations. They will have encountered a rich range of literature and developed preferences, opinions and enthusiasm as readers.

As writers, pupils will be able to communicate ideas clearly, coherently and creatively. They will confidently select vocabulary, grammatical structures, punctuation and organisational features according to purpose and audience. Children will understand writing as a process and will independently plan, draft, evaluate, edit and improve their work.

Pupils will demonstrate increasingly secure spelling and fluent handwriting, allowing them to focus their attention upon the quality and effectiveness of their composition.

Children will also leave St Joseph’s as confident speakers and attentive listeners. They will be able to articulate ideas, ask thoughtful questions, participate constructively in discussion and respectfully consider different perspectives.

The impact of our English curriculum will extend far beyond English lessons. Pupils will use their literacy and communication skills confidently across the curriculum, enabling them to explain mathematical reasoning, interpret historical sources, communicate scientific understanding, discuss faith and express their ideas across the full breadth of their learning.

Most importantly, we want children to leave St Joseph’s understanding the power of language. They will recognise that reading can transport them beyond their own experiences, that speaking enables their voice to be heard and that writing gives them the power to communicate ideas, influence others and express who they are.

Through these foundations, pupils will be equipped with the knowledge, confidence and curiosity necessary for the next stage of their education and for life beyond our school.