Through a curriculum of breadth and ambition we promote high standards of language and literacy. We equip pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word and we develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. Our curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils:

• read 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
•  appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
• 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, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.

We have identified some core barriers that the children of our school face when they are accessing the curriculum, and we intend to deliver the English curriculum with an approach that addresses these:

• Vocabulary – we ensure that texts covered demonstrate a wide range of vocabulary and that lessons are planned with careful and deliberate vocabulary progression.
• Communication and team-work skills – Children are given plentiful opportunities to work as part of a team and are encouraged to actively value each other’s ideas and contributions.
• Resilience – we design challenging tasks in our English curriculum, allowing children to experience failure and errors in a safe environment, scaffolded by the implementation of growth mindset training.

Ambition

Our ambition in English for children with SEND is in line with the ambition we hold for all children. We aim to develop fluent, confident readers who enjoy reading and know their own tastes. We want all children to be good communicators, both in written, standard English, and as speakers. We would like them to develop a broad vocabulary and to develop independence and competence in reading, speaking and writing English. 

It is important to us that children who experience difficulties with one element of writing or reading do not allow this to affect their overall self-image as a writer or reader. For example, if they struggle with spelling, this does not mean they are a weak writer. Children's author, Dav Pilkey, who wrote the Captain Underpants series is known to be dyslexic as are many others, including Sally Gardner. 

Access (how we support children with SEND to thrive in this subject)

• Our initial priority will always be providing high quality first teaching

• Some children may be provided with additional resources if necessary e.g. word banks, writing scaffolds

• Verbal, 'in the moment' feedback

• Opportunities to type if handwriting is an issue

• Children are given books they can decode to build their confidence as readers

• Expose children to higher level texts through teacher voice to improve their comprehension and vocabulary

• Children have access to interventions and/ or pre and post-teaching

• Multimedia approach to all teaching ensures greater access

Reception prepares children to access the English curriculum throughout the rest of school. 

We use 'Talk Through Stories' to enhance children's vocabulary; to develop a love of reading; and to introduce children to books and how they work. 

Children are read to daily and this is a treasured and valued part of our day. 

Children are provided with stepping stones throughout the year so that by the time they move up to Year 1, they are able to write a sentence.

Children are encouraged to talk through their play and this talk is deliberately modelled and scaffolded by the adults in school.   

We want our children to become confident readers to help them to foster a love of learning. We want them to read with fluency and coherence, whilst being able to choose texts which not only allow them to develop skills, but enable them to escape to another reality as they enjoy reading for pleasure. We want our children to become engaged readers to help them to lessen any socio-economic disadvantages which they may face. With this in mind, reading is our priority. Reading skills are taught every day at St Edward’s and a range of texts are explored. Our children are also given the opportunity to read independently and be read to every day, regardless of their age. Our children are encouraged to talk about the books and texts that they have read, whilst developing new vocabulary. We want our children to give opinions about the authors’ choice of language and consider how they could adopt these skills to use in their own work. We want our children to be passionate about books and think of them as something special, sharing their love for them with adults and other children. Our children are taught using consistent approaches, and teachers model a love of reading to them. Reading is thought of as a positive experience and this is promoted to parents. Reading at home is encouraged daily to help parents to practise reading skills with their children. We set high expectations for all of our children and challenge them to comprehend different types of texts. We want our children to be brilliant readers, so that they become brilliant writers.

We want our children to be able to write confidently, accurately, at length, and within a range of genres. As a result of this, developing writing at St Edward’s is our priority. Children are given the opportunity to write in English lessons and across the curriculum, on a daily basis. The aim is to get the fundamental basics right in the early years, so that these can be built upon as the children progress through school. We do not want anything to prevent our children from being able to compose sentences, so teachers model how to do this and support the children who need more guidance, responding accordingly. We want our children to use their love of reading to inspire their writing, so that they are able to express themselves creatively on a page. Lessons include speaking and listening opportunities, enabling the children to orally rehearse what they want to write. Children are expected to answer in full sentences, and vocabulary is developed as children are challenged to improve their use of language. We want our children to write like authors, considering what effect they want to have on the reader. Children are taught to focus carefully on their spelling, handwriting, punctuation and grammar, and teachers demonstrate how to carry out the planning, drafting and editing process. We want our children to think like writers, verbalising their sentence ideas as they go. We have high expectations of all of our children, and provide scaffolds and feedback that aim to challenge their thinking. The children at St Edward’s learn how to answer questions concisely, linked to what they have read. We want our children to be proud of the written work that they produce. Writing is a positive experience for our children, and one in which we would like them to take risks. We want our children to be brilliant writers, as a result of what they have read.