Our Vision

At St Margaret’s CE Primary School, we believe every child is Created to Shine. In English, we nurture each child’s curiosity so they grow in confidence and understanding within reading, writing and spelling. Our curriculum is rooted in our values of Love and Aspire- love for learning and for one another, and the aspiration to reach their full potential. Our children demonstrate these values, for example, by exploring a variety of genres and learning to appreciate the breadth that comes within these.

Our Aims

Our English curriculum aims to help pupils build knowledge, develop key skills, and find joy in learning. We encourage curiosity, creativity, and confidence so that every child can love learning and aspire to achieve their best. Through high aspirations and encouragement, we aim for the children to become confident, literate young people who can communicate effectively and enjoy reading and writing for pleasure, alongside the acquisition of knowledge and technical skills.

How We Teach

Our curriculum is carefully sequenced from Early Years to Year 6 to ensure learning builds step by step. Lessons are practical, engaging and inclusive, allowing all pupils to access the subject and succeed. We focus on developing key vocabulary, understanding and meaningful application of knowledge within reading, writing and spelling.

In reading, Early Years and KS1 children receive daily phonics lessons following the Monster Phonics scheme where they are taught the sounds needed to begin to segment and blend phonemes. Children are then able to apply this learning in Monster Phonics books specifically linked to taught sounds. This is built upon in KS2 where children are able to choose an appropriately levelled book from our school library and take part in whole class Guided Reading sessions where their comprehension skills are developed. All classrooms have an inviting book corner where children are encouraged to explore a wider variety of books and text styles.

In writing, Early Years focus on letter formation and composing simple sentences towards the end of the year. In KS1, children continue to focus on letter formation alongside daily writing activities. Writing tasks within class time link to National Curriculum objectives and are based around a different text genre each week. Children are encouraged to make phonetically plausible attempts at spellings using the sounds they have learnt.

In KS2, children have daily English activities based on a focus text covering a variety of skills and techniques which cover the breadth of the National Curriculum. KS2 children have discrete spelling sessions using the Superhero Spelling scheme (a follow on from Monster Phonics), which they are encouraged to use within their writing. We ensure that texts explored across a year group cover a range of themes and include non-fiction writing.

The Difference It Makes

We know our curriculum is successful when pupils can talk confidently about their learning, show pride in their work, and demonstrate progress over time. Pupils enjoy English and understand its importance in everyday life.

Through our carefully devised English curriculum, which offers a broad and balanced approach, we support the children to achieve the very best they can as readers, writers, speakers and listeners. Children are able to flourish in their writing creativity and progress is demonstrated through their individual Once-A-Term writing book, which follows their writing journey from Early Years to the end of Year 6. Our library is the heart of our school, where children enjoy exploring a wide range of different authors and books and develop a lifelong love of reading.

Enrichment Opportunities

We enrich learning through experiences that bring English to life- such as trips, workshops, clubs and visitors. These opportunities help children love learning and aspire to new challenges. We have had visits from various authors including: Nick Sharratt (author of Shark in the Park amongst others) and Chrissie Sains (author of Alien in the Jam Factory). Children also have the opportunity to take part in live lessons or video calls throughout the year with a variety of authors. We annually celebrate World Book Day and National Poetry Day across our school.

Useful links

Monster Phonics - https://monsterphonics.com/ 

Superhero Spelling - https://superherospelling.com/about/