Culmstock Primary School

English 

Intent 

At Culmstock, we understand how important it is for children to be able to speak, read and write confidently and with enjoyment. Our provision is to provide a wealth of opportunities for children to write about and to ensure that we are providing stimuli that are both engaging and inspiring. We recognise the importance of a culture where children take pride in their work and also want our children to be excited about their writing, finding opportunities both inside and outside of school to discuss and share. 

We want to inspire children to be articulate in the art of speaking and listening and to promote discussions that further their learning opportunities. Through our exciting book corners and literacy sequences, we intend to promote a love of reading and to explore new authors that capture our children’s imaginations. 

We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge-base in Literacy, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum. We feel that a secure basis in literacy skills is crucial to a high quality education and will give our children the tools they need to participate fully as a member of society. 

Our Drivers 

1. Speaking and listening skills which promote discussion.

2. A love of reading and an appreciation of different authors and genres.

3. A wealth of opportunities to write for different purposes. 

4. To develop transferable literacy skills.

5. To celebrate literacy across our school events. 

Our Focuses

1. To improve pupil's independent editing skills. 

2. For pupil's to transfer their spelling skills and knowledge into written work.

3. To generate further discussions about authors across the curriculum. 

Implementation 

We follow the aims and objectives of the National Curriculum and ensure that we regularly recap previous learning, as well as challenging our more able writers and readers. We use book and film sequences from Literacy Shed and Babcock which ensure that our children are experiencing different types of texts, authors and themes when writing. We have made sure that the sequences we choose offer the full breadth of text types that the National Curriculum sets out for each key stage. 

At Culmstock, we identify children who need additional support and provide intervention in the most effective and efficient way that we can. We run phonic, reading and writing intervention groups and ensure that our lessons are effectively differentiated to maximise each child’s potential. 

The children take part in daily whole class reading sessions where texts are explored and discussed with a focus on both comprehension skills and reading with fluency and expression. All children’s reading records are checked weekly to ensure they are being listened to.  

Marking is thorough in Literacy and across the curriculum, with regular opportunities for feedback. We follow a marking policy so that our children understand the marking in their books and can use it as an opportunity to learn and develop. Children are regularly set targets for them to work towards achieving and we have regular discussions with them about what it is they should be including in each piece of writing. 

We love to celebrate the successes of all our learners and strive to help our children achieve their goals. Our reading displays in class celebrate our children’s love for books and they are able to recommend their favourites for other children in class to see. We further promote our literacy through whole school celebrations of Remembrance, through Remembrance poetry, World Book Day and theatre trips and visits. 

Impact 

Children leave our school having grown in ability and confidence with their reading, speaking and writing through their time here. Our pupils have experienced a wealth of authors and genres which has opened up their imaginations and desires to read more. They have made excellent progress in their learning and developed their transferable skills, so that by the time they are in upper Key Stage 2, most genres of writing are familiar to them and we can focus on creativity, writer’s craft, sustained writing and manipulation of grammar and punctuation skills. 

As all aspects of Literacy are an integral part of the curriculum, cross-curricular writing standards have also improved and skills taught in the Literacy lessons are being transferred into other subjects. This shows skills being consolidated and a deeper understanding of punctuation and grammar objectives. 

We hope that as children move on from Culmstock, that their creativity and passion stays with them and continues to grow and develop as they do.