English at St Mary & St John

 

At St Mary and St John, we aim to provide a high-quality education in English which will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that our pupils can share their ideas and emotions with others, and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Through reading in particular, pupils will have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development and therefore we aim to ensure that our curriculum introduces children to a range of diverse voices in terms of gender, ethnicity and culture through rich texts and poetry. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society and we believe that our school English curriculum should prepare children for the modern world whilst fostering empathy, curiosity and inspiration. 

 

English Long Term Plan

 

English Progression of Skills

 

English Intent, Implementation and Impact

 

Reading Strategy

 

Systematic Synthetic Phonics

Intent, Implementation and Impact

 

Systematic Synthetic Phonics & Reading

At St Mary and St John, we use the Rocket Phonics scheme to teach high quality phonics throughout Key Stage 1. To support early reading, we use a range of high-quality resources that the children enjoy during reading sessions and enable them to make good progress. In KS2, children take part in daily whole class reading sessions which focus on a novel. Children throughout the school are encouraged to read daily and use a reading record to keep a track of their reading.

Reading for pleasure is incredibly important at St Mary and John. We have a fantastic new library for the children to explore and have a number of exciting reading events that take place throughout the year. Class teachers read to their class regularly and everyone in the school is encouraged to share their enthusiasm for their favourite books and authors.

 

The teachers at our school use a rich text as a stimulus for creative and engaging English lessons. Please click on the link (The use of rich texts at St Mary and St John) for more information and view our story and poetry matrix below.

Story and Poetry Matrix