English Long Term Plan

Intent, Implementation, Impact

The national curriculum ensures that all children are provided a high-quality education in English, where their writing, reading, listening and speaking skills are developed to enable them to communicate effectively.

Intent

At Mill Hill Primary School, we recognise the importance of English and believe that literacy and communication are key life skills; we are nurturing and preparing the children for today and for tomorrow. We intend for all of our children to be committed learners so that they reach their goals and be successful.

Through a rich curriculum, we intend for the children to develop a love of reading, writing as well as the skills and knowledge that will enable them to communicate effectively and creatively through spoken language and equip them with the skills to become lifelong learners. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts. We want to inspire children to be confident and fluent in the art of speaking and listening and who can use discussion to communicate and further their learning.

We believe that children need to develop a secure knowledge-base in English, which follows a clear pathway of progression as they advance through the primary curriculum. We intend to enable our children to confidently and successfully take away the tools that they need beyond their primary education. 

Implementation

Our aims are embedded across our English lessons and wider curriculum. We have created a well though out and well organised English curriculum and framework, that provides many purposeful opportunities for reading, writing, speaking and listening. We use a wide range of high, quality texts and resources to motivate and engage our children. Teachers also ensure that cross-curricular links are also woven into the programme of study.

The national curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils can develop a range of skills:

● 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.

At Mill Hill Primary, we have reviewed and revised our literacy resources, making sure that the children have a wide range of texts that are relevant and purposeful for their learning. We have recently invested in the Monster Phonics scheme where we are able to provide the children in Key Stage 1 with clear lessons which develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information.

Reading is taught through a guided session, where all children spend at least one focused session with the the teacher to develop their fluency, decoding and comprehension skills. Through these sessions, key texts are used for the the differing abilities of the children.

To promote reading for pleasure, each year group has been provided with a recommended reading list, which provides the children with rich and engaging texts that cover a range of genres. We also have implemented a reading mentor scheme, where some of the older children offer support across the school, by listening and reading to their fellow pupils. 

Through the main English session, lessons are planned to focus on key skills that need to be developed through each year group. Through these sessions, the teachers plan enjoyable and engaging lessons which include a hook, drama, vocabulary games and many more creative ways to captivate the children. We follow a structure of revisit - teach - skill practice - apply. This is the structure we also use for Key Stage 2 spelling lessons.

At Mill Hill Primary School, we we identify children who need support and provide intervention in the most effective and efficient way that we can. We run intervention groups where targets are revised and updated on a regular basis. The children on the SEND register have targets that are carefully thought our for their own individual needs. Teachers plan and teach English lessons which are differentiated to the particular needs of each child.  We help each child maximise their potential by providing help, support and feedback where necessary whilst striving to make children independent workers once we have helped to equip them with the confidence, tools and strategies that they need.

To ensure that children make the intended progress, marking is rigorous in English and across the curriculum, with regular ‘Response Times’ and spelling corrections to help children correct and consolidate their work. Regular English book scrutinies are carried out to check all teachers are following our marking policy rigorously and that they are teaching a clear English journey which helps to develop the key skills and key literacy areas.

Impact

The impact of the school's curriculum can be seen through the work produced in the books for each year group. With the implementation of the writing journey being well established and taught thoroughly in both key stages, children are becoming more confident writers and by the time they are in upper Key Stage 2, most genres of writing are familiar to them and the teaching can focus on creativity, writer’s craft, sustained writing and manipulation of grammar and punctuation skills.

At the end of each session, teachers carry out rigorous marking and with the support of a marking book, they record any misconceptions and strategies of how to overcome these in the next lesson. Through this marking book, we are able to identify when children are on track or need a catch up session.

Termly assessment, informs us of whether the children are on track and if they are not, it gives us a clear picture of the next steps that we need to take for individual children.  Each year we have children achieving at a greater depth in reading and writing at the end of KS1 and we have been working hard to emulate that at the end of KS2. 

As all aspects of English are an integral part of the curriculum, cross curricular writing standards have also improved and skills taught in the English lesson are transferred into other subjects; this shows consolidation of skills, progression and a deeper understanding of how and when to use specific grammar, punctuation and grammar objectives.  We hope that as children move on from us to further their education and learning that their creativity, passion for English and high aspirations travel with them and continue to grow and develop as they do.