Our English Curriculum:
At Corpus Christi Primary School, we are dedicated to encouraging all children to be passionate about reading and writing. We are determined that ALL children will become highly competent readers and writers by the end of their time with us. It is our intention to immerse pupils in the wonders of quality texts to instil a love for reading, a passion for discovery and the confidence to explore their imagination.During their time at Corpus Christi, all children will be exposed to a high-quality education in English. This will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others and, through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them.The English curriculum is built on the principle that skills are the product of fluency of knowledge in specific areas. Relevant knowledge is a necessary precursor to the development of skills. We tailor our curriculum for the needs of our children by ensuring the English curriculum incorporates the curriculum drivers which are the heart of the Corpus Christi Curriculum intent.
Communication curriculum driver:We articulate ideas through speaking and writing so that all our pupils are able to effectively communicate their thoughts, feelings and ambitions. The cultural capital obtained through becoming a confident and articulate user of a wide and rich range of vocabulary is one of the key drivers underpinning our wider curriculum. It is a core aim of our curriculum that our children develop as articulate communicators who are able to formulate and communicate their thoughts, ideas and feelings successfully, in a wide range of different formats and contexts. We focus on developing high levels of articulacy through the explicit teaching of vocabulary and high expectations in spoken and written language developed through opportunities to talk, listen, write and read in a wide range of formal and informal contexts, and a curriculum enriched by the use of high quality, vocabulary rich texts.
Opportunity curriculum driver: We instill within each and every pupil a love of reading and writing and the aspiration to become life-long readers and authors. Through the journey of reading children are exposed to the wider world and through this discovery their aspirations and dreams find opportunities.Children are encouraged to be the best that they can be by aiming high and having aspirational goals. In English we provide rich and varied learning experiences that are designed with great thought and care, ensuring that they are ambitious and challenging for all children. We work to broaden our children’s horizons, expanding their knowledge of the world of work by nurturing their interests. This captures the inclusive nature and high aspirations of our school.
Responsibility:We believe that it is important for our children to be responsible for their own health and mental well being and to have clear strategies that they can draw upon to help them succeed. There is clear evidence that daily physical activity has a positive impact on learning. It promotes mental and physical health and well-being, improving levels of concentration and engagement. We believe that understanding how to be healthy is a basic educational right and that involvement in active learning opportunities develops important transferable attributes such as teamwork, responsibility and leadership which are essential in the English curriculum. It is important to us that all members of our school community are healthy – physically and mentally. Throughout life, our children will face many difficult challenges and need to have the mental and physical strength to be successful and happy.
Perseverance: We believe our children need to become resilient to be able to deal with different challenges across the English curriculum and in the wider world and to have perseverance. They need to develop the ability to solve problems without giving up. Developing the skills to work independently and become resourceful will be key to this.
Understanding:Through the English curriculum children will understand the role knowledge has in learning about the world. They will understand the considerable value of knowledge and apply it to their learning across the English curriculum. They will be encouraged to work hard to remember what has been taught and use that to deepen their understanding across the English curriculum. In English we want children to have a thirst for knowledge and retain the vast majority of taught content. This means that they are able to deepen their understanding of big concepts across the wider curriculum.
Service:Through their developed communication skills we strive for our pupils to be active members of the community and enhance and change the lives of others. We believe our children need to develop a sense of community, local, national and international; to understand what it means to belong to a community and the importance of making a positive contribution, and to recognise the value of diversity and what we can learn from each other.
At Corpus Christi, the English Curriculum consists of:
- Carefully designed text-led/film-led learning journeys, with a clear starting point and end outcome.
- Tasks which are designed to challenge all learners with support in place for those moving at a slower pace.
- Grammar to be taught through systematic steps moving from decontextualized drills and moving into contextual, discreet teaching.
- Teachers use progression of skills documents to correctly identify the skills/grammatical content required. This will be taught using a series of lessons where teacher modelled examples or high-quality exemplars are used.
- Opportunities to apply taught skills in other areas of the curriculum
- Daily Phonics sessions in Reception and Key Stage 1, following the Read Write Inc programme of study.
- Spelling sessions five times a week these lessons will vary between teaching, revisiting and application following the Read Write Inc spelling programme.
- In Key Stage 2 spelling rules are taught over a one-week cycle with a test at the end of the week. Teacher discretion is implemented to ensure a review and revise process is followed.
- Handwriting is to be taught during daily sessions across school following the Twinkl handwriting scheme. Interventions will take place where necessary as per teacher’s assessment/decision.
- Presentation and handwriting will be celebrated weekly in assembly and good models/exemplars to be displayed in classes and on the Wall of Fame.
- Children in Key Stage 1 follow a reading scheme, reading texts closely linked to their phonic ability. All children in a Read Write Inc phonic group take home an extra book matched to their current learning sound. Children in Key Stage 2 follow the same scheme, until they become ‘Free Readers’.
- Guided Reading sessions take place daily from Year 1 to Year 2. In Key Stage Two Year 3 to Year 6 whole class reading is taught following a 3-day cycle. Day One- The children will echo read a text with the class teacher and complete a vocabulary check. Day Two- The children will echo read the text with the teacher and will complete a reading domain discreet teaching session answering 5 independent questions around the focus domain. Day Three- The children will reread the text and will complete a mixture of domain questions- VIPERS and two questions taken from their question level analysis. These sessions follow a progression of skills in the following areas: Vocabulary, Inference, Prediction, Explain, Retrieve and Summarise (Sequence for KS1).
Speech and Language
- Pupils are regularly given the opportunity to listen and respond to adults and their peers.
- Foundation years and Key Stage 1 will praise good interactions and speech whilst modelling correct sentence formation.
- Expert readers in school will model good ‘prosody’ when reading. Teachers will allow children the opportunity to read aloud regularly and across the Curriculum.
We strive to ensure that our children’s progress is in line with or exceeds their potential when we consider the varied starting points of all our children. We measure this using the assessment criteria outlined in our targets and STA Assessment guidelines, whilst always considering the age-related expectations for each year group. In writing we will monitor progression of skills through target setting and end of termly expectations which will form the basis of our moderation discussions. Our intentions are that our English curriculum will ensure our pupils are academically prepared for life beyond primary school and throughout their educational journey.
Please click on the links below to find out more about our English planning.
- 1. Corpus Christi Reading Journey.pdf pdf2.0 MbSep 17th, 2024
- Corpus Christi Reading Leaflet for Parents.pdf pdf186.8 KbApr 6th, 2023
- Phonics pdf74.4 KbApr 11th, 2023
- Reading Rewards.pdf pdf110.0 KbApr 24th, 2023
- Recommended-Reading-List-Reception.pdf pdf20.9 MbMar 1st, 2021
- Recommended-Reading-List-Year-1.pdf pdf19.8 MbMar 1st, 2021
- Recommended-Reading-List-Year-2.pdf pdf18.8 MbMar 1st, 2021
- Recommended-Reading-List-Year-3.pdf pdf19.3 MbMar 1st, 2021
- Recommended-Reading-List-Year-4.pdf pdf17.6 MbMar 1st, 2021
- Recommended-Reading-List-Year-5.pdf pdf16.4 MbMar 1st, 2021
- Recommended-Reading-List-Year-6.pdf pdf18.4 MbMar 1st, 2021
- Top Ten Tips For Reading With Your Child At Home!.pdf pdf1.6 MbApr 11th, 2023
Please view the additional documents in school:
- English Knowledge and Skills Progression
- English Vocabulary Progression
- English Unit Markers
Reading at Corpus Christi
Reading is at the heart of learning at Corpus Christi Academy
At school we promote a love of reading and ensure that reading is embedded throughout our curriculum. Reading at Corpus Christi is encouraged at every opportunity. At the start of each new term we engage our children with a whole school text. Our whole school text for Autumn was a book by the author Aaron Becker ‘Journey’. Please see some of our work around this text.
Sharing books and stories with children helps their learning, development, language and communication. Not only do children learn vital skills for later reading and writing, but sharing books also helps with talking, listening and communication skills. Please share some of these story time digital books with your child.
Click on the below image to access our E Library for all ages
Click to see our Reading Rewards
Please click on the below image for a link to these story time books.
Please view the additional documents in school:
- Reading Targets
- Writing Targets
- Writing Genres Skills/Grammar guide for teachers
- Grammar progression document with examples for teachers
- Grammar subject knowledge Teachers Guide
- Spellings Long Term Plans Y1 to Y6
As part of our reading journey we start each term with a whole school reading text. Every child starts the first week of the term reading the same text.
Whole School Reading Text: Journey by Aaron Becker.
All children started the Spring term by reading the text All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold. Take a look at our corridor displays.