At Sledmere and Wetwang Federation our intent for English is that fluency in the English language is an essential foundation for success in all subjects as well as the means by which we encourage self – expression, creativity and insights into our culture and the cultures of others.

Our intent is that all children:

• Achieve their potential.
• Experience high quality teaching and learning at all times.
• At our school we believe that spoken language, reading, writing and vocabulary are fundamental to the overall development of each child and their access to the curriculum in all its aspects. We aim to deliver quality teaching of reading, writing and listening skills to promote high standards of literacy and to enable children to become confident and successful.
• Develop a wide vocabulary, a secure understanding of grammar and an appreciation of our rich literary heritage.
• We will also encourage children to become competent in speaking in a range of settings, from formal presentations to taking part in discussions and debates.
• Write clearly, accurately and coherently in a wide range of different contexts.

We implement our English curriculum through:

• A high-quality text-led curriculum where a unit of work is planned around a specific text. The texts are chosen to work alongside the current topic as well as the needs of the class e.g. ability, interests etc.
• Units are planned to last two to three weeks at a time and result in a published piece of work. The outcome is planned onto a long term plan to ensure children are familiar with a range of text types and writing for different purposes. The sequence of lessons leading up to this are planned to study the structure, contents and purpose of the text type.
• Lessons begin with a Grammar starter (GPS) that allows Grammar objectives for the year group to be taught. The text is then used to embed this further through finding of examples where the grammar skill has been applied in the text.
• We understand that children learn in a variety of ways, so teachers employ a range of teaching strategies appropriate to English. These include:

• Quick –fire recap of previously learned knowledge;

• Regular quizzing of learning;

• Accelerated learning – to address individual learning styles within classes;

• Open-ended tasks which can have a variety of responses;

• Providing resources of different complexity depending on the ability of the child.

The impact of our English approach is that our children make clear progress, sustained learning and transferrable skills. With the implementation of the writing journey being well established and taught thoroughly in both key stages, children become 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.

Year on year increasing numbers of our pupils attain at national expectations or at greater depth with the expected standard. This is mirrored in Reading and Writing. Our pupils also achieve very well in Phonics screening in Year 1 from their starting points.

Our English curriculum utilises best practice in all areas of the subject.