English Intent and Progression
At St John’s we provide a high-quality education in English which teaches our pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others. Through reading in particular, we ensure that all children develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually.
Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils to acquire both a wealth of knowledge about the world around them and see the true pleasure in ‘reading to learn’.
The skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society, and in equipping children with a strong command of the spoken language, grammar and a knowledge of linguistic conventions, they are then able to communicate their learning, aspirations, beliefs and emotions fluently in both the spoken and written word.
St John’s promotes a love a reading and writing in its richness of language and in the impact such forms can have on others, as well as their own personal enjoyment; we provide every opportunity for our children develop their love of reading and provide varied contextual opportunities for them to see the impact of their written work.
At St John’s we want our children to have the skills and the confidence to flourish as they move on to the next stage of their education with the confidence and skills to access the whole curriculum, in its fullest.
Christian Values, Cultural Capital and Pupil Premium enhancements
At St John’s we ensure every learning opportunity places the teaching of the English curriculum at the heart, further embedding children’s reading, writing and speaking skills within relevant and purposeful contexts across the whole curriculum. We spend a significant amount of time choosing our core texts carefully, not only for their richness of language and reading experience but the impact such texts will have on them in the future, showing our children the world that’s at their feet and the vast opportunities which lay ahead of them.
We recognise the impact of cultural capital experiences; a visit to the Toy Museum will not only focus on the historical learning but the opportunity to learn new vocabulary within the context of new experiences. Language such as cabinet, display case, lobby and exhibition, learned in context addresses the ever-growing word gap highlighted in The Oxford Language Report. At St John’s we endeavour to provide such experiences throughout each school year, maximising opportunities to show our children the importance of reading and writing no matter what career path they choose to take.
Through our English curriculum we foster the children’s core Christian value of Compassion. We hone their passion to change the world for the better and their compassion for those who are in need of kindness. We model and teach how our passions and beliefs can be expressed through their written and spoken word and further understood through their reading. We teach our children that such skills are imperative in spreading such important messages whilst learning about the world around them.
The specific skills and knowledge taught in English are detailed in our Skill Progression and Knowledge Progression documents. If you wish to see these, please ask your child's class teacher.
