New School Road, Mosborough, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S20 5ES

enquiries@mosborough.sheffield.sch.uk

0114 2486211

Mosborough Primary School

Through Inspired Learning We Achieve Our Dreams

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English

(including Phonics, Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar)

Curriculum Intent

English at Mosborough provides the children with a love of reading, writing and discussion. High quality texts are shared and enjoyed and play a central role to the whole English curriculum. Our English curriculum aims to equip children with the literacy skills needed to read confidently, write for a range of purposes and discuss and articulate their ideas clearly. We believe that these skills are key in enabling our children to succeed and further their learning in life beyond Primary School. This is why our wider curriculum also recognises the importance of nurturing a culture where children love to read, take pride in their writing and can clearly and accurately adapt their language and speaking style for a range of contexts. 


The national curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

  • read easily, 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, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate


Reading

A strong culture for reading is embedded at Mosborough Primary School. The teaching of reading, both the technical aspect of decoding words and understanding and appreciating literature, is one of the most important aspects of school life here at Mosborough. Reading, taught in line with the National Curriculum, places reading for pleasure at its heart. Reading for pleasure is valued and encouraged through high quality reading areas in every classroom. Books and information about books are displayed attractively and browsing, choosing and reading within them takes place regularly. Children read independently, are listened to reading aloud and are read to daily which further aims to develop them as children who love to read. Pupils are given opportunities to read independently for sustained periods, building their reading stamina and giving them the ability to immerse themselves in their reading in a quiet and calm environment. We know that children who read for pleasure have enhanced levels of comprehension, an increased knowledge of grammar and show improvement in their writing. They also have more positive attitudes towards reading than their peers:


‘Young people who enjoy reading very much are nearly five times as likely to read above the expected level for their age compared with young people who do not enjoy reading at all.’

Children’s and Young People’s Reading Today, National Literacy Trust, 2012


Phonics

At Mosborough, we have skilled teachers and teaching assistants delivering high quality phonics sessions using Letters and Sounds. Within our delivery we use Jolly Phonics actions along with ‘cued articulation’ to further support our children, particularly those with communication and language needs. We believe that phonics provides the foundations of learning to make the development into fluent reading and writing easier. Through phonics, children learn to segment words in order to spell accurately and blend the phonemes to read words. By the end of foundation, children will have a secure understanding of phases 2, 3 and 4, including being able to read and write the ‘tricky words’ associated with these phases. By the end of year 1, children will have a secure understanding of phase 5 including being able to read and write the ‘tricky words’ associated with this phase. 


Writing

At Mosborough, it is our aim that all pupils leave us able to write clearly, accurately and coherently, with the ability to adapt their language and style to a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. Pupils are supported daily to produce written work to the best of their abilities. Spelling, grammar, punctuation and other specific writing elements are taught progressively within the context of both reading and writing. We have high expectations with regard to handwriting and presentation. 


Speaking and listening

At Mosborough, we recognise the vital importance of spoken language in our pupils’ development. Therefore, oracy has a central place in our entire curriculum. Children at Mosborough are always encouraged and supported to speak in Standard English and our children can articulate their thinking and ideas clearly. Opportunities to talk come in all areas of our curriculum as this is recognised as a key tool to support children in their development and learning. In all curriculum subjects, an importance is placed upon the explicit teaching of vocabulary and language. This is built upon as children move through our school and teachers have extremely high expectations of pupils’ spoken language. Alongside this, our children are also supported to think critically in all areas of their learning which further places high expectations on their speaking and listening skills. 


Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar 

As a school, we embed the teaching of spelling, punctuation and grammar into our daily English lessons and when writing in other curriculum areas - for example history and geography - and when planning and writing evaluations in subjects such as science and DT. Specific language features are taught through our English lessons in a meaningful way, where children can apply new skills directly into their own writing outcomes.We recognise that writing is integral to us all aspects of life and we endeavour to ensure that children develop a lifelong, healthy and enthusiastic attitude towards writing. Writing skills underpin most elements of the school curriculum and are an essential life-skill. Spelling, punctuation and grammar play a fundamental role in good spoken and written communication, which is the purpose of literacy. At Mosborough, we want the children to learn to communicate, read and write accurately and effectively. Being taught the conventions of spelling, punctuation and grammar and having the skills and confidence to apply these well are an important part of being fully literate.

Spellings are organised to ensure consolidation and progression throughout the school, linked to the children’s phonetical understanding and expectations from the national curriculum.

 

Implementation

Reading

Short reading sessions focus on the key skills required to be a successful reader. Children are exposed to a range of poems, short fiction texts, fiction extracts and non-fiction texts throughout the year. They are taught to draw upon and extend their background knowledge, explore the vocabulary that they encounter, visualise what they imagine from their reading, read aloud and think aloud to become active readers; making inferences, predictions and drawing conclusions and become detectives to retrieve information and evidence from the texts that they read. In addition to these reading sessions, children are supported to develop their reading fluency and are given opportunities to increase their reading stamina by reading independently in many areas of the curriculum. 

Phonics

At Mosborough, phonics teaching is systematic, engaging, lively and interactive. Throughout foundation and year 1, children are placed in small groups according to the phase that they are working within. Based on formative assessment, children move within these groups to best meet their individual needs. Skilled teachers and teaching assistants deliver phonics daily following the revisit, teach, practise, apply approach. Children move systematically through the phonic phases until they reach phase 5. Where children require further support with their phonics knowledge additional smaller groups are planned for and delivered throughout the week. Children who continue to require further support will receive phonics teaching and boosters beyond year 1. 

English

A high quality text, from the Power of Reading developed by the CLPE (Centre for Literacy in Primary Education), is used for a sequence of English learning each half term. This allows children to enjoy reading whole texts through their English lessons and become fully immersed into the vocabulary, characters, settings, themes, information and ideas in the literature that they are exploring. A range of writing opportunities are planned for within the sequence of learning and, throughout the year, children are given opportunities to write for a variety of contexts, audiences and purposes. All grammar and punctuation objectives for each year group are taught in context during the Autumn term and then revisited and embedded during the Spring and Summer terms. 

Assessment in the form of high quality verbal feedback and developmental marking, which children respond to, as well as self and peer editing, enables children to review and improve their writing and work towards producing high quality written pieces. 

Spelling

In year 1, spelling is taught within daily phonics sessions. Children have opportunities to practise segmenting to spell words using learned phonemes and apply this to sentence writing. On a weekly basis children in year 1 also receive a dedicated spelling session where they use a range of visual and active strategies to learn words linked to current phonics phases, the year 1 common exception words and spelling patterns in line with year 1 grammar objectives.

Short, stand-alone spelling sessions are delivered from years 2-6. These sessions are underpinned by the phonic knowledge that children have already gained and teach the spelling patterns outlined in the national curriculum using the similar revisit, teach, practise, apply approach. A focus is also placed on the spelling of words from the statutory word lists. Time is given to practise spelling new words. Spelling tests are conducted weekly. Spelling words are dictated as sentences, which allows the children the opportunity to write from dictation and enables them to write spelling words in context. This also allows them to display the expected punctuation and grammar skills for their year group. In addition, spelling also has a high profile throughout our English sequences. Spelling mats and word banks are used to support children to make correct spelling choices in their writing and teachers look for opportunities to revisit previously taught spelling patterns that are pertinent to the focus text or writing outcome. 

 

Impact

At Mosborough, we pride ourselves on our children’s outcomes and their reading and writing abilities. The impact and measure of the effectiveness of our English curriculum is evident through discussions with pupils about the books they have read as well as through writing moderation. Formative assessment is used effectively and teachers have a good understanding of pupils’ strengths and areas for improvement in all areas of their English learning. 


Phonics 

Continuous and rigorous assessment, ensures pupils move systematically through the phonic phases. As a result of high quality phonics teaching, children make good progress from their starting points. 

The proportion of pupils meeting the phonics expected standard in year 1 was significantly above national in 2019 - the last year of national tests due to COVID-19. In addition, of the 5 pupils that were screened in year 2 in 2019; 4 of those met the expected standard.


Reading 

Teachers have a secure understanding of pupils’ reading fluency and comprehension abilities. Our teachers will dig deep in order to understand the set of competencies that underpin a child’s reading ability, identify where the gaps in children’s skills and knowledge lie and then plan how to close them. Throughout KS2, summative assessments are also used to identify any further emerging areas of need. 


KS2 attainment of the expected standard in reading was significantly above national in 2019. KS1 attainment of  greater depth in reading was significantly above national in 2019. 


Writing

Teacher assessment performance descriptors are utilised to assess writing at the end of KS1 and KS2. These are used to assess whether at the end of each key stage children are ‘working towards the expected standard’, have met the ‘expected standard’ or are working at ‘greater depth’ within the standard. All children will have been taught a range of strategies and skills across the breadth of the curriculum  throughout their time at Mosborough which will enable them to both meet and exceed the expected standard in English, across the written work they produce.


Both KS1 and KS2 attainment of the expected standard in writing was significantly above national in 2019. 


Spelling, punctuation and grammar

Teachers assess spelling, punctuation and grammar as part of ongoing writing assessments. 


Key stage 2 attainment of the expected standard in the English grammar, punctuation and spelling test and the high standard in the English grammar, punctuation and spelling test was significantly above national in 2019. 

 

Supporting documents and useful links: