English
Our Vision & Intent for English:
Learning to express ideas through speaking, reading and writing are fundamental skills for children and young people's success in education and beyond. At Totley All Saints, it is our aim that all children at our school will be able to articulate themselves and their learning as a result of language rich opportunities and experience with a wide bank of vocabulary and subject specific terminology. We want children to be creative and innovative in their speech and writing and we aim to inspire our children to become fluent, confident life-long readers who can discuss the joy of literature as well as develop their own style and expression through wide opportunities for writing.
Our Curriculum reflects the ethos and aims of the school as well as the context from which our children derive. This means that our curriculum provides the necessary building blocks to develop the fundamental knowledge and skills, whilst also promoting British Values, healthy lifestyles and mental well being, plus excellent behaviour and attitudes. It is underpinned with a large emphasis on SMSC development, a strong practical outworking for others in line with our Christian ethos, whilst also building character and readiness for the next stages of education and the learning journey beyond.
Mastery of language and talk are essential for developing children's communication skills, but this also underpins their development of writing and reading. Interactions with adults, back-and-forth talk where ideas can be arituclated, shared and collaborated, structured discussions and debates, and exposure to high quality stories all enable children to develop control over their spoken language which is essential prerequisite for learning about written language structures.
To find out more about how we teach Early Reading and Phonics, please visit our Phonics & Early Reading page.
Our Writing Curriculum:
Learning to write is complex. It "involves developing control of language in a way that, increasingly, is different from everyday, conversational speech and must be taught explicitly. The structures of writing are generally both longer and more complex; writing draws on a vocabulary which often requires a repertoire which extends beyond that of spoken vocabulary and requires mastery of a whole set of spelling and punctuation conventions which do not exist in talk." The Writing Framework, 2025 Further to this, the demands of transcribing ideas, automatically, requires fluent handwriting.
Our curriculum, organised to support the Simple View of Writing and the Writing Rope, shows the progression of skills and small steps of learning at Totley All Saints.
The Simple View of Writing Shows balance of skills required to be a good writer
To find out how Writing is planned and sequenced, please find the following documents:
English Long-Term Overview for Writing
Progression of Writing Strands
Transcription - Handwriting
Fluent handwriting enables children to think more about the content of their writing and, crucially, is a predictor of positive writing outcomes.
We use the scheme Pen Pals (supported by our phonics scheme 'Little Wandle Letters & Sounds'), to teach handwriting explicitly, with cumulative skills and in an engaging way. Handwriting is taught precisely, using a clearly sequenced progression and dedicated lessons, starting from reception to support the gradual acqusition of skills including the physical demands of writing (developing finger and hand strength, holding and manoeuvering the pencil, posture and positioning of paper). These 'ready to write' routines are embedded not just in handwriting lessons but in all areas of the curriculum where children are expected to write.
Handwriting joins and style by year group
Pencil Grip Stages of Development
Letter formation practice sheets
Ready to Write Routines at Totley All Saints
Transcription - Spelling
For children to write fluently, they need a sound understanding of the rules and conventions of spelling. Automaticity with spelling frees cognitive load so that children can think more easily about the ideas they want to write, including the sentence structures and language choices they wish to make. At Totley All Saints we use our SSP 'Little Wandle' in reception, year 1 and into year 2 teach spelling in a structured and well-sequenced way. From year 2 onwards, we use 'Read, Write, Inc Spelling' to teach spelling explicitly and cumulatively.
RWI spelling curriculum matching chart Y2
RWI spelling curriculum matching chart Y3Y4
RWI spelling curriculum matching chart Y5Y6
To find out more about how Reading is planned and sequenced for children to become fluent and confident readers, please find the following documents:
Reading Progression of skills and texts
Aims of the National Curriculum in English:
The overarching aim for English in the national curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, 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.
To find out more information about the National Curriculum for this subject & others, please click here.
Learning Experience: What is the breadth of experience provided for our children?
- Quality First teaching: variety of teaching styles, varied stimulus
- Quality Resources: Books, texts, online resources & programmes
- Visits: Totley Library & the theatre
- Visitors: authors
- Experiences: Book Club (daily), Phonics sessions, Home Reading, World Book Week, Speed Read Events, Wild Reads in the Woodland Workshop, weekly sessions for parent & child in the school library plus links to other curriculum areas.
Resources: What resources are used to support the teaching & learning of this subject?
- A wide variety of books (fiction, non-fiction, varied authors, genres, schemes, etc.)
- Varied texts
- Online resources & programmes
- Published schemes
- Phonics resources
- Comprehension activities
- Grammar activities
- Self & peer assessment materials
- Tests.
- Links with other Subject Areas: What links are made between this & other subject areas?
Links are made with other subject areas wherever possible and English skills are often taught via other subject areas through Reading and Writing based outcomes.
IMPACT of our English Curriculum:
We aim for our teaching of English to have a great impact on the lives of our children not only academically, but also in laying the foundations for social mobility through the promotion of British Values and SMSC and getting them ready for the next stages of their education.
Readiness for Next Stage of Education: How does this subject prepare our children for the next stage of their educational journey at secondary school & beyond?
We endeavour to ensure that the sequence of content enables our children to progress whilst they are with us but also to provide the building blocks necessary to build on at secondary school and their learning journey beyond. Underlying all of this is our emphasis on Leaning Culture which provides the underlying principles of attitude, resilience and character.
Promotion of Social Mobility: How does this subject promote social mobility?
Our aim is that no child is disadvantaged by their background situation and that, as a school, we provide everything that a child needs so that there is no cumulative dysfluency or gaps in learning. As a result, we ensure that children have a broad range of curriculum experiences, free access to a wide variety of books, multiple opportunities to speak as well as listen, plus our curriculum is designed in order to boost general as well as subject specific vocabulary.
Promotion of British Values & SMSC: How does this subject promote British Values & SMSC?
Through our rich and varied curriculum, we ensure that our children are well equipped for life in modern Britain and, through subject linkage have an excellent understanding of Democracy, the Rule of Law, Responsibility and Liberty, Mutual Respect plus Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs. Our Curriculum is driven by SMSC Development and, as a result, pupils thrive – enjoying their lives, learning and want to make a difference for others.
Assessment: How is English assessed?
- Teacher assessment
- Formal assessment – termly / SATs
- Book Club records
- Marking
Monitoring & Evaluation: How do we know we have been successful?
- Lesson observations
- Results / Data Analysis
- Work scrutiny
- Discussions
- Monitoring of timetables for coverage
Long Term Memory: How English impact on long term memory?
- Revision & recapping
- Success Criteria
- Feedback / reflection from marking
- Repeated recall
- Curriculum Mats
- Links & connections with other subject areas plus old & new knowledge
- Learning Journal
- Quizzes
- Discussions
