All Saints’ Catholic Primary School

ENGLISH POLICY

INTENT

At All Saints’ we celebrate that mastering of the English language permeates everything we do. Our overarching aim is to promote high standards of literacy and language by equipping our pupils with a strong understanding of both spoken and written language, whilst developing their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. We aim to provide a stimulating, interactive, fun and challenging English curriculum that prepares our pupils for life beyond our school and for the ever-changing world in which they live.

We are passionate about valuing the notion that English underpins learning in every subject and work to ensure that there are significant opportunities across the wider curriculum for our pupils to embed their literacy skills. We also aim to build a life-long love of literature so that throughout their lives children can use the literary world as a means of escapism, relaxation, personal growth, and pure enjoyment.

We aim to ensure that pupils:

• Develop the skills of speaking and listening; being able to elaborate and explain fully their own understanding and ideas.

• Read confidently, fluently and with good comprehension of what they are reading.

• Develop the habit of reading widely and regularly; both for pleasure and for information.

• Acquire a wide vocabulary and an understanding of the English language.

• Write clearly, accurately and coherently; adapting their language and style for a range of purposes, audiences and contexts.

• Appreciate and develop our rich and varied literary heritage.

IMPLEMENTATION

English is taught through the framework of the 2014 National Curriculum. The principles and content of its requirements have been carefully placed at the heart of the school’s English curriculum. Texts and topics covered in English lessons are in keeping with our creative curriculum and quality children’s texts are carefully selected to engage and challenge the children in their literacy learning.

EARLY YEARS

At All Saints’ Catholic Primary School, we recognise that the Early Years Foundation Stage is crucial in laying the foundations for future success in English. We aim to foster a love of language, books, reading, and writing from the very beginning of a child's educational journey, nurturing the potential in every child.

English teaching in the EYFS is embedded across all areas of learning, with a strong focus on Communication and Language, and Literacy. Daily story times, rhyme sessions, and language-rich conversations underpin our approach. High-quality texts are used to inspire curiosity, imagination, and a love of storytelling.

Early writing is encouraged through a range of meaningful, playful opportunities both indoors and outdoors.

Phonics is taught daily through a systematic, structured programme, ensuring that all children develop the early reading skills necessary for decoding, blending, and segmenting. Children are supported to develop the physical skills necessary for writing through fine motor activities and early mark-making opportunities.

By the end of EYFS, our children have developed a solid foundation in phonics, reading and writing skills, alongside a love of books and confidence in communicating their thoughts and ideas. They are well-prepared to meet the expectations of Key Stage 1.

READING

We instil a love of reading in pupils through daily reading skills lessons, author visits, allocated reading time, and whole-class reading books. Our library, funded by our amazing Friends of All Saints’, provides a well-stocked, welcoming space for the enjoyment of books for all. Pupils’ reading skills are developed through engaging with a wide range of reading material and media, with a focus on the use of questioning to challenge thinking at all levels.

WRITING

At All Saints’ Catholic Primary School, we are passionate about developing articulate, imaginative, and skilled communicators. Our ultimate aim is that by the time our children leave us, they are able to communicate confidently and creatively about the world around them. They are inspired by real authors, understand the importance of audience and purpose, and are equipped with the tools to write effectively across a range of contexts. Our Writing Curriculum ensures that children leave us with a secure understanding of the full writing process: planning, drafting, editing, and publishing. Children learn to see writing as a craft, refining their ideas and structures with clarity and purpose. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar are explicitly taught and embedded through imaginative, stimulating activities and are consistently applied in their independent writing.

Children at All Saints’ leave us passionate about expressing themselves clearly and meaningfully. They understand that grammatical devices are not rules for the sake of rules, but powerful tools that allow them to communicate precisely what they mean. Through real-life experiences and authentic writing opportunities, our pupils recognise the value of their words and the impact they can have on others. Ultimately, we aim for every child to know that their writing can be used to make the world a better place. At All Saints’, from Nursery upwards, pupils are immersed in a rich range of writing opportunities. From their earliest mark-making to crafting sophisticated pieces in Year 6, children are guided through a structured writing process: generating ideas, planning, composing, drafting, editing, and publishing. Our bespoke All Saints’ Writing Process supports this journey. Throughout the curriculum, writing is embedded in a broad range of experiences and curriculum subjects. Children write for a variety of real audiences and purposes, ensuring they see themselves as genuine writers with something important to say.

ORACY

Developing strong speaking and listening skills is fundamental to the teaching of English at Teachers place All Saints’, a high emphasis on spoken language and we plan for the discrete teaching of skills as well as incidental learning opportunities.  Our approach is firmly based on teaching how language changes in different contexts. We believe children need to develop strong oracy skills to enable them to internalise language patterns and understand how language changes in different situations. This enables our children to understand and manipulate language for different purposes and audiences. To do this, teachers provide authentic contexts, giving children opportunities to use a range of spoken language. Teachers provide a range of purposeful opportunities through role play, drama, discussions and debates.

The strong emphasis on spoken language is evident in the Early Years and continues throughout the school. All staff members endeavour to model the use of Standard English, increasing children’s repertoire of vocabulary and sophistication of spoken English. The progression map sets out the skills covered in each year group.  

PHONICS

Phonics is all about sounds. There are 44 sounds in the English language, which we put together to form words. Some sounds are represented by 1 letter, like ‘t’ and some by two or more, like ‘ck’ in duck. Children are taught these sounds and how to match them to letters. Phonics is the building block of reading and writing and equips children with the skills needed to become independent readers and writers.

At All Saints’, we implement a structured approach to the teaching of phonics which begins on entry to the Nursery and continues throughout the school, incorporating spelling strategies and rules. There are two elements of teaching phonics: segmenting and blending, which are taught in parallel. Throughout the teaching of phonics, children are also introduced to tricky words—words which do not follow the conventions taught, like ‘the’ and ‘said’.

PROVISION FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS AND DISABILITIES (SEND)

At All Saints’ Catholic Primary School, we are committed to providing an inclusive English curriculum that enables all children, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), to achieve their full potential. We believe that every child is made in the image of God and has unique talents to be nurtured and celebrated. Provision for children with SEND in English lessons is personalised and flexible to meet individual needs. Teachers adapt their teaching strategies, resources, and learning environments to remove barriers and ensure accessibility. Examples include:

• Carefully scaffolded tasks and activities.
• Use of visual aids, writing frames, and adapted texts.
• Focused small group or 1:1 support for reading, writing, or phonics.
• Targeted interventions designed to build core English skills.
• The use of technology where appropriate.

Class teachers work closely with the SENCO, support staff, and families to develop individualised support plans, setting ambitious but achievable targets. Staff receive regular training to ensure they are equipped with strategies to support a wide range of needs. Children with SEND make progress from their individual starting points in English. They develop confidence, independence, and a sense of achievement. Through our nurturing and inclusive approach, all pupils, regardless of their needs, are supported to participate fully in English learning and to celebrate their successes, fulfilling their potential.

ASSESSMENT

Pupils are assessed against the 2014 National Curriculum Programmes of Study for each subject taught. Pupils are expected to attain the ‘Age Related Expectations’ (ARE) by the end of each school year. We use a combination of formal methods of assessment, statutory assessments, and teacher assessed learning to gain an overall picture of our pupil’s progress and attainment.

Nationally Standardised Summative Assessment:

These are statutory tests in Reading, Writing and SPaG sat by the pupils at the end of Year 2 and at the end of Year 6. In Year 1, the phonics screening check is a statutory assessment to confirm whether individual children have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard.

Writing Assessments:

Teachers base their judgement on a broad range of evidence, which comes from day-to-day work in the classroom; this includes work in curriculum subjects other than English. As in other areas of the English curriculum, writing is assessed throughout the year and a judgement given as to whether a pupil is Working Towards (WT), Working At (WA) or Working Beyond (GD) the expected standard.

IMPACT

The impact and measure of our curriculum is to ensure children acquire the appropriate age-related knowledge linked to the curriculum and skills that will prepare them for the next stage of their education and their adult life.

Our children will:

• Through reading, develop a lifelong love of literature, widen their horizons and be introduced to the world beyond school.

• Become creative thinkers who can think for themselves.

• Read confidently, fluently and with good comprehension of what they are reading.

• Develop the habit of reading widely and regularly; both for pleasure and for information.

• Recognise the importance of spoken language; develop the skills of speaking and listening; being able to elaborate and explain fully their own understanding and ideas.

• Acquire a wide vocabulary and use it to express themselves in spoken and written form.

• Write clearly, accurately and coherently; adapting their language and style for a range of purposes, audiences, and contexts.

• Apply their learning in different contexts and make decisions as to when to use their learning in English to solve problems.

• Appreciate and develop our rich and varied literary heritage.