English

Text

Intent

It is my intention as English Leader at St. Anne’s to facilitate the delivery of:

• a curriculum that is ambitious for all pupils:

  • a curriculum that is ambitious for all pupils: standards at St. Anne’s are already excellent, putting us in the top few % of schools nationally for children leaving school at and above the expected standard in Reading and Grammar.

  • As English leader, my intent is that these high standards continue to be maintained in spite of any changes in cohorts that enter the school in the forthcoming years. Our ambition for English is that standards in writing at Greater Depth (which currently lag behind those percentages at GDS in reading and grammar) improve to be more in line with other aspects of English.

  • we aim to design and implement a curriculum at St. Anne’s that is at least as ambitious as the national curriculum – my intent is that the English curriculum here will demonstrate greater levels of ambition for our children, particularly the more able, at every year group.

• a curriculum that is coherently planned and sequenced:

  • by looking at curriculum maps, coverage and sequence, I intend to ensure that our curriculum is coherent across the school ensuring that the best possible opportunities are afforded to our children in order that they make accelerated progress in all aspects of English.

  • Long and Medium Term plans will be scrutinised in order that key skills in grammar, reading and writing are taught, revised and built upon across a child’s life in the school.

  • A particular emphasis will be placed on the planning and sequencing of those skills required for children to attain at greater depth, demonstrating our ambition through our planning and sequencing of lessons 

• a curriculum that is successfully adapted, designed and developed for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities:

  • despite having a fairly low percentage of children with special educational needs compared with national averages, we have children who have a range of different needs in school

  • our standards for children with SEND leaving the school are high compared to national figures and I intend that this level of attainment is maintained 

  • it is my intention that our curriculum design will ensure that each and every child with SEND in the school has access to an English curriculum which has been tailored to meet their needs and that all staff are working together to not only meet the needs of these learners but also to have the same levels of ambition that we have for all of the children in our school

• a curriculum that is broad and balanced for all pupils:

  • with the changes in the Ofsted framework and the greater levels of freedom afforded to school leadership and class teachers in curriculum planning, I intend to ensure that our curriculum is not only coherently planned and sequenced across the school but that opportunities are afforded for the children to learn above and beyond the National Curriculum

  • I intend that links are made with other subjects in the curriculum, most notably History, Geography and Computing 

  • I intend that children are afforded the time to produce written work which they can be proud of

  • I intend that children in the school are immersed in good quality reading activities and that the vast majority develop a love of reading, which will be life-long

  • I intend to ensure that we continue to provide children with a curriculum that is not solely focused on the teaching and learning of facts and methods to be used in end of year or key stage tests but which provide them with the necessary skills and passion, which they will take forward into the rest of their academic and adult lives

Implementation

What will this look like?

• a curriculum that is ambitious for all pupils:

  • work on improving standards in writing will ensure that teachers are planning and teaching ambitious writing activities for the more-able pupils in their classes

  • teacher paired-support sessions will give opportunities for teachers in all year groups to share good practice through team teaching, observing and support with next step marking and setting ambitious targets. The focus will initially be on improving writing levels for all pupils but specifically the more-able pupils

  • there will be a focus on ensuring that quality texts are used throughout the curriculum and that independent activities are aimed to develop greater depth reading and writing skills

  • Moderation at SLT level – through lesson observations, book trawls, pupil voice interviews and planning trawls –sessions will have the additional focus of writing standards at greater depth: are teachers affording children enough opportunity to write at GDS?

  • Moderation with other schools through Billies Group moderation and Catholic Cluster will provide teachers with feedback on attainment of their children as well as ideas and targets to improve practice

  • Moderation with external advisors will focus on standards of the more able pupils and will be aimed at improving challenge in English for all of our pupils

• a curriculum that is coherently planned and sequenced:

  • work on curriculum mapping and coverage will ensure that our curriculum is planned and sequenced to meet the needs of the learners at the school. High quality, interesting texts will be selected for all year groups and they will be at the heart of all teaching and learning in English and will be the stimulus for high quality writing

  • a particular focus will be on planning and delivering a curriculum with activities which go ‘above and beyond’ the national curriculum and that children’s cultural capital is enriched. This will be a real focus for the academic year 2021-22

  • curriculum planning will ensure that the vast majority of lessons will be taught ‘to the greater depth standard’ with support for those pupils who are working towards the expected standard

  • Grammar, Reading and Writing will be planned and taught coherently in all year groups and the children will see these not as independent lessons but as ‘English’ teaching as a whole

• a curriculum that is successfully adapted, designed and developed for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities:

  • work with SEND team to consider adaptations to the curriculum to cater for those pupils with additional needs

  • support staff in designing interventions for pupils with SEND

  • monitor the progress of these pupils through data analysis, moderation and lesson observations

• a curriculum that is broad and balanced for all pupils:

  • work with SLT to provide opportunities for pupils which go above and beyond the National Curriculum – visitors and trips

  • Make links between the different subject areas within English but also across other curriculum areas

  • Use Guided Reading as a driver to ensure a broad curriculum is being taught and promote a love of reading throughout the school with reading interventions and well organised, high-quality and well-pitched texts to meet the needs of all learners in the school

  • Work alongside subject leaders to ensure that quality texts are being used across the curriculum for research in different subject areas

Intended Impact

How will I know I have been successful?

• a curriculum that is ambitious for all pupils:

  • outstanding standards are maintained at St. Anne’s in KS1 and 2 end of year assessments, as well as in Year 1 phonics check, EYFS data and end of year assessment data for Years 1, 3, 4 and 5

  • through answers to staff questionnaire and informal discussions, teachers feel well supported in the teaching of English at St. Anne’s – especially the teaching of writing to more able pupils

  • staff and children will be enthused by the texts that they are using in English lessons and this will be reflected in the standard of written work and reading journal activities

  • pupil voice questionnaires and interviews will demonstrate that the pupils are challenged by English lessons and they enjoy this challenge

  • moderation exercises all demonstrate at least good standards of teaching and learning in English at St. Anne’s

• a curriculum that is coherently planned and sequenced:

  • curriculum mapping across school demonstrates well-sequenced units of work which draw on high-quality texts as the stimulus

  • English lessons and activities in school ensure that pupils have opportunities to learn above and beyond the National Curriculum and teachers are marking links with cross-curricular activities in their English lessons

• a curriculum that is successfully adapted, designed and developed for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities:

  • pupils with SEND feel supported in English lessons and they are able to access lessons at their level

  • staff (teachers and TAs) feel well-supported to deliver lessons and interventions to pupils with SEND

  • these pupils are making at least good progress in line with expectations for their age groups

• a curriculum that is broad and balanced for all pupils:

  • children have opportunities to extend their learning in English through trips and visitors

  • teachers are finding opportunities to make links between Reading and Writing and other subject areas

  • teaching and learning in Guided Reading is at least good and teachers have the confidence to adapt their practice to ensure that pupils experience high quality teaching and learning of reading across all curriculum areas

  • staff feel that they have access to the appropriate resources to teach good or outstanding lessons in English