English
English at St Pancras allows all children to become effective communicators and we recognise that speaking, listening and reading is of as equal importance as writing. We strive to teach the children to speak and write fluently so they can communicate their ideas creatively to others and through reading and listening, others can communicate with them.
Through our English curriculum we are exposing the children to more sophisticated vocabulary through high quality texts which gives the children opportunities to think and to develop their language and ideas creatively. We want the children to develop a positive attitude and a love of reading so they read for pleasure, as well as read with confidence, fluency and understanding. Through the use of high quality texts we want the children to learn about their writing from their reading and be able to write imaginatively and with purpose. Immersing the children in a text will allow them to verbalise ideas and become more inventive with the range of writing opportunities. English is cross-curricular so is essential in all areas of the curriculum.
Curriculum overview
English at St Pancras
Intent:
At St Pancras, our English curriculum is driven by the use of high quality literature that is often linked to our topics in History, Geography or Science. Our key text is supplemented by additional high quality texts that the children have access to in our reading areas. We ensure that the children are able to study a range of text types throughout the year and that these are revisited. By immersing the children in quality texts, they are able to explore the sophisticated vocabulary used and produce their own pieces of quality writing. We ensure the children are taught specific SPaG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) skills that are required for the text type studied.
We aim to develop the children’s speaking and listening skills through a wide range of teaching strategies and actively encourage the use of explicitly taught vocabulary to aid their communication, both spoken and written.
We are passionate about children becoming life-long readers and strive to develop a love of reading by sharing books daily with the children. We have devised our Core Literature Spine to ensure there is breadth and range as well as ensuring that it is diverse and inclusive. The children are taught specific reading skills in their reading lessons to enable them to access texts across the whole curriculum and further enhance their love of reading.
Implementation:
Using the high quality text as the basis of our English curriculum, we make sure that we promote the use of sophisticated vocabulary used within the texts, displaying it in the classroom and encourage its use both verbally and in written form. Modelling and studying the use of high quality vocabulary enables the children to become better readers and writers. Displaying and reading other quality books linked to the original text will also support this.
Our writing curriculum has been carefully planned to ensure each text type is revisited throughout the year therefore giving the children many opportunities to reinforce and further develop what has been previously taught. Re-visiting the text types also enables the children to consolidate the relevant SPaG skills taught. We use quality model examples to support their editing skills and improve their written work.
Our reading lessons focus on a particular reading skill. For the early reading lessons, we focus on decoding, prosody and comprehension ensuring a range of questions are being asked. As the children progress through the school, we ensure that the children are taught a specific reading skill – retrieval, inference, summarising, language, predicting, authorial intent, and again use a range of questions to enable the skills to be practised and embedded. Reading is cross-curricular so we give the children plenty of opportunities in other areas of the curriculum to practise their reading skills.
To further develop the children’s speaking and listening skills, they take part in a range of activities. These include performances, class and whole school masses, liturgies, assemblies, Mini Vinnies, fundraising council, road safety council, anti-bullying ambassadors. The activities are planned and delivered by the children, supported by staff, which develops both their collaborative skills and their speaking and listening skills.
Impact:
The children will make good progress from their starting points, as well as the number who leave achieving at least expected standard. They will have the knowledge and skills to write for a range of purposes and audience and that these skills can be transferred to any piece of writing in any subject. The children enjoy writing and can respond to feedback from both peers and teachers. Every half term, teachers will assess at least one piece of writing against the National Curriculum expected standards and use this to inform progress, plan future lessons and interventions.
Children will read a wide range of books and extracts and develop a love of reading. They will enjoy listening to adults read and success in reading will be celebrated each week in the celebration assembly and in the newsletter. Impact on reading can be measured by children accessing Accelerated Reader to complete quizzes on a reading book and through Y2-6 Reading Assessment data from PiXL. Reading speed tests from PiXL are also used to monitor and inform interventions for children.
The English Subject Lead will monitor the children’s work and the quality of teaching in English. This will ensure that there is consistency across the school and that improvements are made. This will also inform any CPD that is needed.
Core Literature Spine
As a school, we have devised our own Core Literature Spine using the CLPE core books list as a basis. We have carefully selected a range of books, chosen not only because they are quality books, poems and extracts but because they also promote cultural capital, diversity, inclusivity and develop the children’s knowledge of the world. We have ensured that there is a strong female voice present and that a range of heritage texts are also read.
We want reading to become part of the children’s daily lives and strive to develop a love of reading in them by offering high quality books at every opportunity. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, in fact, it is a starting point. But this is our promise to the children of St Pancras, that these are just some of the books that will be studied in their English lessons, read for pleasure and re-read to them throughout their years here with us.
Core Literature Spine |
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Contemporary |
Heritage |
World |
Builds cultural capital |
Diverse/inclusive representation |
Female voice |
Poetry |
Non-narrative |
High quality extracts |
EYFS/ |
The Everywhere Bear - Julia Donaldson |
When I was a child - Andy Stanton |
A story about Afiya - James Berry |
Lighting a lamp |
The leopard’s drum - Jessica Souhami |
Splash, Anna Hibiscus - Atinuke |
A great big cuddle – Michael Rosen |
The world around me - Charlotte Guillain |
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Y1 |
The snail and the whale – Julia Donaldson, Traction Man – Mini Grey |
Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter |
Here we are – Oliver Jeffers, Dear Greenpeace – Simon James
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The secret sky garden – Linda Sarah and Fiona Lumbers |
I am whole – Shola Oz Through the eyes of me – Jon Roberts Beegu – Alexis Deacon |
An engineer like me - Dr Shini Somara |
Out and About – Shirley Hughes
The Puffin Book of First Poems edited by June Crebbin |
One day on our blue planet - Ella Bailey |
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Y2 |
Man on the Moon- Simon Bartram
Diary of a killer cat- Anne Fine
The Boy who grew dragons- Andy Shepherd |
Where the wild things are- Maurice Sendak
The Hodgeheg- Dick King Smith
The Enchanted Wood- Enid Blyton
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Ten things I can do to help my World- Melanie Walsh
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My green day- 10 things I can do today- Melanie Walsh
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Anna Hibiscus- Atinuke
Pattan’s pumpkin- Chitra Soundar
The Christmasaurus- Tom Fletcher |
Grace and family- Mary Hoffman/Caroline Binch
Jamela’s dress- Niki Daly |
Poems to Perform- Julia Donaldson |
The emperor’s egg- Martin Jenkins
A planet full of plastic- Neal Layton
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Treasures (poetry)- Clare Bevan |
Y3 |
Leon and the place between by Angela McAllister |
Iron man by Ted Hughes |
This Is Our World: From Alaska to the Amazon by Tracey Turner |
Same, Same but Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw |
The color of home by Mary Hoffman The great Kapok tree by Lynne Cherry |
A river by Marc Martin Malala's Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai |
Hot like fire by Valerie Bloom |
Greta Thunberg – Little people big dreams THE VIKINGS Raiders, traders and adventurers by Marcia Williams |
Duel of the Scrapbots (poem) |
Y4 |
Belonging - Jeannie Baker |
Beowulf: Version: Michael Morpurgo Aesop’s Fables Michael Rosen Charlotte’s Webb E.B. White |
Pippi Longstocking Astrid Lindgren |
The Vanishing Rainforest
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Varjak Paw & additionally The Outlaw Varjak Paw SF Said 13 British Artists Children Should Know Alison Baverstock |
Little People Big Dreams Mother Teresa Isabel Sanchez Vegara |
Singular poems in Haiku style: J W Hackett Takahama Kyoshi (1874-1959 Sugita Hisajo (1890-1946) Cat Haiku Deborah Coates The Willow Pattern Tony Mitton Young Brother Trevor Millum 10 things fund in a Wizard’s pocket Ian McMillan
Poetry Pie - Roger McGough |
One Plastic Bag Miranda Paul |
A Bear Called Paddington Michael Bond Tooth By Tooth: Comparing Fangs, Tusks and Chompers by Sara C Levine Marie Curie: Twinkl
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Y5 |
Cosmic by Frank Cotterll-Boyce Good Night Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian Wolf Brother by Micelle Paver
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Mr William Shakespeare's plays by Marcia Williams
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Speak up! by Adora Svitak |
The Journey by Francesca Sanna Who are refugees and migrants? What makes people leave their homes? and other big questions by Michael Rosen and Annemarie Young |
Coming to England by Floella Benjamin How to be extra-ordinary by Rashmi Sirdeshpande |
The lost words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris |
Shackelton's Journey by William Grill |
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Y6 |
Pig Heart Boy by Malorie Blackman The nowhere emporium - Ross Mackenzie
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Collection of Shakespearean sonnets
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Good news - why the world is not as bad as you think Rashmi Sirdeshpande |
The arrival - Shaun Tan |
The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd The Other side of Truth by Beverly Naidoo |
Journey to the river sea - (POR) Eva Ibbotson |
Dark sky park - poems from the edge of nature - Philip Gross |
The History of everything in 32 pages - Anne Claybourne
Big questions from little people...answered by some very big people - Gemma Elwin Harris
Good news - why the world is not as bad as you think |
Holes, Northern Lights The Graveyard book Swallows and amazons oliver twist Treasure island, Phoenix, The Star spun web Orphans of the tide Mortal engines, Who Let the God's out? The Goldfish boy |