At Story Wood we follow the National Curriculum for English. The overarching aim for English is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. 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

The programmes of study for writing at key stages 1 and 2 are as follows:

• transcription (spelling and handwriting)
• composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing)

It is essential our teaching develops pupils’ competence in these 2 dimensions. In addition, pupils should be taught how to plan, revise and evaluate their writing. A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others. 

It is our aim that, by the end of their primary education at Story Wood, all pupils have an established understanding of word structure, spelling structure and sentence structure, which can be applied in any subject with confidence. We refer to the English appendices 1 and 2 for SPaG contents and rules.

Robust vocabulary pedagogy is implemented as part of our approach to closing the word gap. The use of academic language is encouraged. Vocabulary is taught discretely to develop understanding before children are expected to contextualise it. Children are encouraged to expand their tier 2 vocabulary through reading and the use of thesauruses.

Click on the icon to go directly to the P4C page.

Philosophy 4 Children (P4C) is an enquiry-based pedagogy, it develops multi-modal thinking and is applied as a strategy to close the word gap by developing children’s understanding of words. Like the National Curriculum, we recognise that good comprehension draws from linguistic knowledge. P4C starts in EYFS, lessons are facilitated in all year groups to support language development and contextualise vocabulary.