Coppice Primary

Planting the seeds of
Knowledge,
growth and
success

 

English Curriculum

INTENT

 At Coppice Primary School and Nursery we believe that literacy and communication are key life skills.  We strive to give children the necessary tools to be able to communicate effectively and creatively through spoken and written language and to equip them with the skills to become lifelong learners.   We encourage children to develop a love of reading by using quality texts and topics which inspire and excite young readers and writers.

Writing intent, implementation and impact statement

Reading intent, implementation and impact statement

Literacy policy

Handwriting policy

Spelling policy

 

 IMPLEMENTATION

At Coppice Primary School we believe that literacy and communication are key life skills. Through the English curriculum, we will help children to develop the skills and knowledge that will enable them to communicate effectively and creatively through spoken and written language and equip them with the skills to become lifelong learners. We want children to enjoy and appreciate literature and its rich variety.

The English curriculum at Coppice Primary School is delivered using the National Curriculum English Document (2014).  The Reception children work towards achieving the Early Learning Goals at the end of the EYFS, as outlined in The Foundation Stage Framework 2021.  In Nursery the children work towards our Nursery goals.   Teachers group children according to their abilities and work should be differentiated accordingly using effective methods such as support, outcome and task. A whole school overview is followed which ensures texts linked with topics are used where appropriate.

 

Reading

Reading is an important part of the English curriculum in our School.  We use Collins Big Cat phonically decodable books from Reception onwards to ensure children are reading books which closely match their phonic ability.  These books go up to Turquoise book band. 

For children in Year 2 who have finished the phonically decodable book scheme and pupils in KS2, reading books are organized into Year group books and split into sub-levels; below, emerging, expected and exceeding the year group.  This system helps to ensure the children read books appropriate for their age and understanding.  They are suitable for their ability whilst still providing a challenge. (The children’s reading should be 99% accurate in these books).  New books have been purchased to support the implementation of this system and expectations are high across the school.

 Each parent is given the opportunity to liaise with teachers through our online reading diary 'Boom reader' which records when the children have been listened to in School by a member of staff or a volunteer, and at home, and any issues or positives there may be.  Children who have moved on from the reading scheme have access to the school’s free reader book selection. 

Shared reading takes place within English lessons through the whole class reading element, to provide enriching experiences through more challenging texts.  Teachers also share stories with the class displaying an enthusiasm for reading and setting a positive example as a reader. 

Phonics is taught daily in Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage One following the Twinkl phonics scheme. This will involve a 30 minute daily whole class session of planned systematic phonics delivery, with a wide opportunity for application of skills through the environment and other lessons.

 Whole class reading sessions form part of the daily literacy lesson.  During these sessions essential reading comprehension skills are taught, practised and consolidated.  Children in KS1 use the Twinkl Reading Dogs to help them understand each of the different skills, children in lower KS2 use the KS2 reading dogs and children in upper KS2 use VIPERS.

Reading for pleasure is promoted across the school.  Pupils from Nursery to Year 6 are able to borrow books from the school library, we have a reading shed on the playground for the children to access at lunchtime and the reading champions offer opportunities for stories and support with reading in the library during lunchtimes.  Every class has a dedicated reading for pleasure slot within their reading timetable and classrooms have attractive and comfortable reading areas with a range of appealing texts.  

 

Writing

Shared and modelled writing, takes place within English lessons. This allows the teacher to demonstrate good writing practice to the children whilst using their ideas.  Teachers ensure that the writing demonstrated shows high expectations and covers the success criteria they would expect to see in the children’s writing.  

Talk for writing is used successfully across the school to help children to gather ideas and structure their writing.

Children are expected to write frequently in a range of forms.  This may be responses to a text, filling in text feature grids, short writing tasks such as writing as a character or writing a whole story or report as an extended piece of writing.

In the English curriculum, grammar, punctuation and spelling play a key role in the children’s writing.  In KS2 the children have discrete daily SPaG lessons and in KS1 they have a dedicated SPaG lesson once per week.  At the beginning of each literacy lesson we have a 10 minute SPaG starter to reinforce key skills.  We follow the Grammarsaurus Place Value of SPaG overview for teaching our grammar curriculum.

 Early morning sessions provide additional time for children to be taught and practise their weekly spellings using strategies from the No-Nonsense spelling scheme.

Literacy overviews

We have worked hard to try and make exciting links between the topics in each year group and the texts that they are focussing on in their literacy lessons.  Below you can view the literacy overviews for each year group for the 2024/2025 academic year.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

 Impact

Reading curriculum impact is evaluated through:

  • Analysis of phonics assessment information
  • analysis of reading data
  • book scrutiny, pupil voice and staff discussion
  • AFL
  • Data collection through statutory tests and teacher assessment

 

Writing curriculum impact is evaluated through:

  • Book scrutiny, observations, pupil voice
  • summative assessment
  • external moderation (EYFS, KS1, KS2)
  • Moderation activities

 

End of year expectations

Reception reading

Reception writing

Year 1 reading

Year 1 writing

Year 2 reading

Year 2 writing

Year 3 reading

Year 3 writing

Year 4 reading

Year 4 writing

Year 5 reading

Year 5 writing

Year 6 reading

Year 6 writing

 

Handwriting formation guide

Year 1 and 2 common exception words for reading and spelling

Year 3 and 4 statutory spellings

Year 5 and 6 statutory spellings