English Curriculum at Holy Family Catholic Primary School

English at Holy Family involves the important skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. English contributes to the emotional, aesthetic and intellectual development of the child.  It is the medium through which all learning takes place.  All our pupils, therefore, will be given the full range of opportunities necessary to enable them to develop competence in Standard English through a creative and meaningful curriculum.

 

Our curriculum has been carefully planned using the Dfe National Curriculum statutory guidance. Please click here to view the English programme of study for Key stage 1 and Key stage 2.

 

We follow guidance from DFE in the Reading Framework and the Writing Framework.

 

Our English Objectives

  1. To develop, in children, an enjoyment of literature.
  2. To develop, in children, the ability to talk and listen in a variety of contexts, to express ideas and feelings, and to give and respond to information and instructions.
  3. To foster early reading skills and develop accuracy, fluency, understanding and independence in reading.
  4. To enable children to know, understand and be able to write in a range of genres in fiction, non-fiction and poetry. 
  5. To develop skills of grammar, punctuation and spelling.
  6. To develop skills of handwriting and thus a high standard of presentation.
  7. To recognise individual rates of progress and provide opportunities to monitor and assess the language development of each child.
  8. To ensure continuity, progression and coherence of language activities.
  9. To enable children to receive constructive guidance about how to improve their work.

 

Long term English plan

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Reading at Holy Family

At Holy Family, reading is at the heart of everything we do. We know that to be the best we can be, we need to be the best readers we can be. We believe that learning to read is the most essential of the basic skills that need to be acquired during the Primary School years. Reading and communication are both key life skills. The ability to fluently read enables children to decode and understand written messages in and beyond school. It allows children to access the wider curriculum and to enjoy a wealth of literature. Through the enjoyment of stories, poetry, drama and non-fiction texts children are able to discover for themselves a love of reading and a world of ideas and experiences. 

Vision

Through the Reading curriculum, we aim to help children to develop the skills and knowledge that will enable them to fully decode words leading to an understanding of written messages.

We aim for all children to develop a love of and enthusiasm for reading. Our vision is that all children become confident, fluent readers, with an understanding of a variety of texts and genres. We aim for all children to develop an interest in books and to read for enjoyment.

 

Our Reading Objectives 

  1. To achieve high standards in reading.
  2. To apply a rigorous and sequential approach to developing speaking and listening and teaching reading, writing and spelling.
  3. To have an effective programme for phonics teaching based on a high-quality synthetic phonics scheme.
  4. To have in place diligent, concentrated and systematic teaching of phonics so that it is central to children’s success in learning to read.
  5. To use high-quality and expert teaching that follows the carefully planned and tightly structured approach to teaching phonic knowledge and other essential reading skills.
  6. To adopt a consistent approach and make every minute of every lesson count.
  7. The quality of formative assessment and the interaction that stems from will make an important contribution to learning.

Reading Scheme

Our school follows the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Programme and this reading journey begins as soon as children start with us in Nursery. 

Please look at our Phonics page for more information about phonics and reading in our school.

In Year 3, our children continue with the Little Wandle fluency books. They read these until they can confidently read 120 wpm. We assess the children on their reading speed to track their progress. Once our children can read our fluency books at a rate of 120wpm, they can then become 'free readers' and choose books from our school or class libraries.

Reading at Home

At Holy Family we actively encourage reading at home. Asking your child questions while reading their book will give them a greater understanding of what they are reading. 

Please see below our reading expectations for each year group.

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Reading Focuses

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is completed throughout all reading lessons through 'on the spot' marking and feedback from the teacher with the children. Please click on the following links to see our year group expectations and reading focuses.

EYFS Reading Comprehension expectations

Year 1 Reading Comprehension expectations

Year 2 Reading Comprehension expectations

Years 3 & 4 Reading Comprehension expectations

Years 5 & 6 Reading Comprehension expectations

 

Summative Assessment for Reading

Nursery/Reception/Year 1

In Nursery/Reception/Year 1, we follow the Little Wandle assessments for phonics. 

Year 1

Our Year 1 children complete the phonics screening check in June.

Following the phonics screening check in Year 1, the children also complete a fluency assessment during the Summer term.

Fluency has 3 interconnected components:

- Accuracy

- Automaticity

- Prosody

 

Accuracy

Accuracy means recognising and pronouncing words correctly. A child reading with 95% accuracy makes roughly one error every 20 words. Below 90% accuracy, comprehension (the understanding of the text) suffers because too much mental energy goes toward figuring out individual words.

Automaticity

Automaticity means recognising words instantly, without conscious effort. When reading is automatic, children don’t need to sound out every word. This matters because working memory has limited capacity. If a child uses more of their mental resources decoding words, little remains for understanding meaning. Automatic word recognition frees up cognitive space for comprehension.

We measure automaticity through reading speed, typically expressed as Words Per Minute (WPM).

Prosody

Prosody refers to the melodic aspects of language:stress, pitch, rhythm and phrasing. Fluent readers don’t read in a flat monotone; they pause at commas, raise their voice for questions, slow down for dramatic moments and group words into meaningful phrases.

Prosody signals comprehension. When a child reads with appropriate expression, it indicates they understand the text well enough to interpret it.

Reading fluency is the ability to read text accurately, at an age appropriate pace, and with proper expression. It bridges the gap between decoding (sounding out words) and comprehension (understanding meaning). At our school we recognise the important that fluency plays in helping a child to be strong in their reading comprehension.

Year 2

In Year 2, we assess the fluency of our children. We understand the importance of children being fluent in their reading in order to be able comprehend what they are reading. Towards the end of the Summer Term, our Year 2 children also complete a reading comprehension assessment to help us identify any gaps in preparation for improving reading comprehension in Year 3. Once children have a reading speed of 60wpm, they start to read our Little Wandle Fluency books.

Year 3

In Year 3, we continue to assess the fluency of our children to ensure they are able to access our reading comprehension lessons. Children reading below 120wpm read our Little Wandle Fluency books.

KS2

In Years 3-6, NFER reading tests are completed at the end of every term assessing reading comprehension. These tests provide us with reliable standardised scores so that we can confidently monitor attainment and progress enabling us to identify specific pupil targets and ensure all children continue to make at least very good progress.

End of KS2 reading papers are also completed in Year 6 during SATs week.

Children who are reading our Little Wandle Fluency books continue to be assessed on fluency so we can carefully monitor their progress on fluency.

Writing at Holy Family

Writing is split into 2 key areas:

Transcription

Composition

 

What is transcription?

Transcription includes both handwriting and spelling. Transcription is crucial according to the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), as it enables pupils to transfer ideas onto paper fluently, freeing up working memory for complex composition. Developing automaticity early reduces cognitive load, allowing children to focus on content rather than mechanics. A DFE document called Strong Foundations in the First Years of School emphasises the importance of transcription and spelling and how these skills should be explicitly taught.

 

What is composition?

Composition refers to the creative and cognitive process of gernerating, organising and articulating ideas coherently for a reader. 

Transcription

The following information is about progression in handwriting and spelling at our school.

Transcription refers to 2 key areas: Handwriting and Spelling.

Handwriting at Holy Family

Please see our Handwriting Policy below for information about handwriting progression in our school.

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 Spelling at Holy Family

Our aims at Holy Family Catholic Primary School

  • To ensure all pupils have the knowledge to spell words efficiently and accurately whilst drawing on knowledge of phonics and spelling patterns.
  • To ensure that all pupils are able to react to punctuation when reading, be aware of all parts of punctuation and where/where not to apply them and to be able to write using these devices accurately.
  • To ensure that all children are aware of correct English grammar in terms of subjects, tenses and plurals whilst having a secure grasp of these linguistic skills both orally and in any form of written work.
  • To develop accurate oracy for all children in the form of being effective and confident public speakers and story tellers who practise precise grammar and diction.
  • To ensure that all pupils are equipped and ready for the Y6 GPaS tests.

EYFS / KS1

Nursery-Year 2 follow the Little Wandle scheme for phonics and spelling lessons. 

Our Nursery children follow the Foundations for Phonics sessions.

 

KS2

At our school, we use CUSP Spelling as this is an evidence-led, systematic, and progressive curriculum that we use with Years 3-6. 

It focuses on the following areas rather than memorising a list of spellings:

- Pattern-seeking - Pupils are taught to recognise spelling patterns, rules, and common misconceptions rather than remembering a list.

- Etymology - Looking at word origins

- Morphology - Looking at the root words, prefixes, suffixes

A prefix is a letter or group of letters attached to the beginning of a root word to change its meaning or create a new word.

A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a root word to alter its meaning, grammatical function, or tense. 

This diagram below shows an example of a root word in the middle of the grid. The prefixes are on the left hand side of the grid and the suffixes are on the right hand side.

We teach the spelling concepts, root words, and exceptions through explicit instruction and frequent retrieval practice.

Classroom Learning & Provision

  • In Nursery/Reception and Year 1 spelling objectives are delivered through the Little Wandle phonics programme and activities linked to the statutory NC objectives. 
  • In Year 2 the children follow the Little Wandle Spelling Units. Each week, the children learn a set of spelling words linked to the spelling patterns taught in class. They also practise “prickly spellings” — words that are more difficult to remember. Children complete dictated sentences in class to help them apply their spelling knowledge in context. These short dictations focus on accurate spelling and sounding out words carefully. Teachers will assess spelling progress at the end of each half term.

    Regular spelling practice at home will make a big difference and help children move their learning into their long-term memory. We encourage short, fun practice sessions throughout the week. Children may practise by:

    • Reading and writing their spelling words

    • Sounding out and segmenting words

    • Identifying tricky or “prickly” parts of words

    • Practising dictated sentences that are given

  • In KS2, we follow CUSP spellings. There are 2 weekly, discreet spelling lessons and then a third spelling lesson which is integrated into an English writing lesson. Children also take home a weekly spelling task linked to the objectives.
  • Spelling, punctuation and grammar objectives are also covered during our daily English lessons using a range of strategies. 

Composition

The Writing Process

Each week, your child's class teacher will plan lessons which will include the following components:

 

  1. Word Level - Vocabulary focus / spellings

  2. Sentence Level - grammar and punctuation

  3. Text Level - this is where fluency strategies, comprehension and writing composition happens

 

Text Progression and Genres

Our Long Term Planning ensures progression in genre coverage at the appropriate age group levels. Our planning also links with the National Curriculum for each year group. 

Editing and improving our writing

To help us edit and improve our writing, we use the terms 'correct, improve, add'. Please see below our editing writing progression for Year 2 - 6

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Assessment of Writing

Both formative and summative assessment of writing is completed by teachers. Summative judgements are given based on assessment across a number of pieces of writing. Please see highlighted text genres on our long term plan for pieces of independent writing completed every half term. Our children have a vast range of opportunities in writing linked to our creative curriculum and ongoing formative assessment of writing linked to our text genres is completed weekly through peer, self and teacher assessment. These formative assessments are completed through 'on the spot' marking and feedback in class and from writing marking grids completed linked to the text genres success criteria. Pupils are aware of the targets they have met and those which they are aiming to achieve next. Teachers advise pupils how to meet targets and this joint involvement by children writing their own stars and next steps helps move pupils' writing on.

Please click on the following links below to download our year group expectations and assessments.

Year 1 writing assessment 

Year 2 writing assessment 

Year 3 writing assessment

Year 4 writing assessment

Year 5 writing assessment

End of KS2 Year 6 writing assessment

 

Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPAG) Assessments

We also have termly assessments FOR spag

  • In years 2-6, SPAG.com will be administered during ‘Assessment Weeks.’ Progress will be monitored from term to term.

GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION ASSESSMENTS

  • Formative assessments completed through weekly spelling lessons. 
  • In years 2-6, SPAG.com will be administered during ‘Assessment Weeks.’ Progress will be monitored from term to term.
  • In Years 3-6, termly spelling assessments take place using CUSP spelling assessments.
  • Assessments will be completed termly.