English

In the Curriculum Overview document (link below) you will see a basic outline of the knowledge, understanding and skills to be covered. How teachers organise, interpret and teach this may vary and is subject to change.

Curriculum overview Year 1 Curriculum overview Year 2
Curriculum overview Year 3/4 Curriculum overview Year 5/6

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. National Curriculum, July 2014

Reading

Pupils should be taught to read fluently, understand extended prose (both fiction and non-fiction) and be encouraged to read for pleasure.
National Curriculum, July 2014

At Joy Lane, we believe that reading fluently is the key that unlocks the door to all learning, providing children with the tools for successful lives in the wider world. If pupils are not able to read fluently at an age-appropriate level, this will impact their ability 20211016 102555 to access the rest of the curriculum and they will rapidly fall behind. Because we understand how vitally important reading is, we ensure that we engage with the most current research and continuously use this knowledge to inform our reading culture and ethos.

“The will to read influences the skill and vice versa” (OECD, 2010).

Research carried out by Teresa Cremin at the Open University heavily informs our understanding of the crucial balance between reading for pleasure and reading instruction, and we know that without embedding a strong foundation of reading for pleasure, we cannot effectively instil the knowledge and skills required for reading comprehension. We aspire for our children to become lifelong readers who choose to pick up a book and read because they enjoy it!

As a result, our curriculum has been designed with reading for pleasure at its core so that we can truly promote our culture of reading and a genuine love of books. By providing a range of text types and genres in our well-stocked reading nooks and library areas, and engaging in informal book talk sessions, our children are able to identify literature that they enjoy reading. In addition, we use a variety of high-quality texts across the curriculum to promote research and reading for meaning in order to build on the children’s existing knowledge and understanding. Our English curriculum is further extended by the use of rich and exciting texts, which act as models to inspire our children’s growing skillset in writing. Our teachers carefully select appropriately challenging and diverse texts as whole class reading books which expose our children to rich vocabulary and provide an opportunity for interesting text-based discussions.

For more detailed information about our reading curriculum, read our Reading Policy here.

KS2 Reading Books - A Guide for Parents/Carers
FAQs Lexile Guide for Parents

Please visit https://www.booksfortopics.com

Recommended Books for Each Year Group - BooksForTopics: Best Books by Year Group

Writing

Pupils should develop the stamina and skills to write at length, with accurate spelling and punctuation.
National Curriculum, July 2014

Our text-based approach to teaching writing puts quality, language-rich books at the centre in order to hook the children, further embed reading within our curriculum and inspire their writing. How children ‘read’ the world around them is constantly changing, and as a result, we also include film and other mixed-media texts as a basis for writing, as well as making meaningful cross-curricular links. Each chosen text acts as an ‘umbrella’ under which the children are taught to write a range of fiction and non-fiction genres. Each unit of writing develops progressively with children developing their speaking and listening skills, vocabulary, sentence structure, punctuation, grammar, organisational skills and sense of audience. Within this, there is an emphasis on drafting, editing and redrafting using a range of tools, including our JLPS writing ladders, to aid this process and to encourage independence in their learning. These tools also ensure that children transfer their English skills to all lessons across the curriculum.

Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation

Throughout the programmes of study, teachers should teach pupils the vocabulary they need to discuss their reading, writing and spoken language. It is important that pupils learn the correct grammatical terms in English and that these terms are integrated within teaching.
National Curriculum, July 2014

The explicit teaching of Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation (VGP) is essential to the development of grammar children’s speech and writing. Through Joy Lane’s own progressive grammar programme, Sentence World, children from Year 1 to Year 6 learn key grammar and punctuation concepts in the context of writing sentences. Having a firm understanding of these allow children to be confident in building and manipulating interesting and varied sentences. Furthermore, they can then discuss and analyse their own language and grammar choices, as well as those of others, using the appropriate terminology. While this knowledge prepares the children for the end of KS1 and KS2 SATs tests, it also helps them to write with improved accuracy and confidence.

Phonics

At Joy Lane, we aim to develop confident, fluent and passionate readers and writers from an early stage. We follow the Government validated systematic synthetic phonics programme (SSP) called ‘Little Wandle: Letters and Sounds Revised’. This is a fully comprehensive programme designed to teach children to read from Reception to Year 2, using the skill of decoding and blending sounds together to form words. Children are introduced to Phonics in Nursery through rhyming and word games. Children then access daily explicit daily Phonics sessions from Year R to Year 2, with further support being provided in KS2 if necessary. Little Wandle ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through the school. As a result, the children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read.

Spelling

In KS1, Year 1 continue to follow the Little Wandle phonic programme while Year 2 children transition to learning simple spelling rules and patterns from the National Curriculum. In KS2, Spelling is taught daily through short interactive games and investigations of spelling rules and patterns from the National Curriculum. Children are encouraged to learn their spellings at home via Spelling Shed (powered by EdShed), where teachers create assignments linked to the rules they are learning in class.