Bowburn Primary School

Curriculum – English

Welcome to our English Curriculum page,  Our English lead is Mrs Middleton. Our reading and phonics lead is Mrs Foster .

Some of our pupils receiving their ‘Book Bunch’ gift!

English Intent

Writing

It is our intent at Bowburn Primary School to provide all of our children with a high- quality education in English, which develops their love of reading, writing and discussion. We aim for all children to be able to become independent and confident writers:

  • understand the importance of audience and purpose and write in a variety of genres
  • develop strategies to communicate effectively through the written word and understand the importance of writing as a means of communication
  • use spelling, punctuation and grammar accurately and with confidence
  • recognise that drafting and editing are essential parts of the writing.

Writing is planned towards a journey of work, which is creative, imaginative and engages the interests of our pupils across the school. We have mapped out a series of non-negotiable achievements for each year group from Early Years to Y6. We use high-quality texts, images, videos and our current curriculum topics, to stimulate children’s creativity and to help to develop their enthusiasm for writing. From Year 2 onwards, teachers focus on the teaching of writing through their class novel with poetry also being taught half termly. Our approach allows for the progression of skills from reception to year 6, which enables our children to progress into sophisticated and independent writers.

By the end of year 6, children are confident in writing and recognise a range of text types:

  • Narrative
  • Poetry
  • Recounts in various forms
  • Reports and information texts
  • Instructions
  • Explanations
  • Biographies
  • Discussions
  • Persuasion

Children are taught specific writing elements that not only meet their year group criteria, but also support their writing focus. Children are provided with opportunities to reflect on previous learning, study model texts to develop their understanding of the features of different genres and what they need to include to be successful writers. Through completing plans and shared writing activities, our children have the opportunity to rehearse their new skills, including relevant spelling, punctuation and grammar, which is linked to each specific genre, before applying it to their final writing process.

Our children take pride in the work they have produced; they are taught to edit, redraft and improve. We value the efforts children put into their work and it is displayed around school. Our corridors contain high-quality examples of writing which both the children and the school are proud of.

Reading

In Reception, children begin their reading journey through the teaching of phonics so they build up sounds they know in order to blend them together to read words. From September 2021 we use the ‘Little Wandle’ phonics scheme daily across Reception to Y2. More information can be found on the teaching of phonics and reading at Bowburn Primary School here.

Reading from Year 2-Year 6 is linked to the children’s reading age, interests, class novels and foundation topics. A structured ‘Whole Class Reading’ approach to the teaching of reading enables all children to develop the skills needed to become a confident reader and for all children to reach their full potential. Sessions are taught daily where children take part as a whole class. Reading is modelled and shared, vocabulary is explored and all question types are taught through paired discussion, individual thoughts and class discussion.  Curriculum coverage is ensured using the VIPERS technique. All pupils in KS2 use the online Reading Plus programme to develop reading fluency, this can be accessed at school and at home.

We have our own well stocked libraries, from which the children are encourage to borrow books. We host a yearly Book Fair; the school receives commission for holding this event, which increases our ever-growing library stock. We recently took part in a sponsored read and raised over one thousand pounds for new class and library books. Parents receive a termly reading newsletter, ‘No Shelf Control’, to keep them up-to-date on our reading developments.

As a school we are lucky enough to have an author who visits us regularly. Adam Bushnell visits each year group at least once a year to inspire and enthuse the children. We are also very lucky to have our own ‘Bowburn Bookshop’ where children can earn gold coins to spend on their favourite titles.

At Bowburn Primary we want our pupils to love reading – and to want to read for themselves. This is why we work hard to make sure children develop a love of books as well as simply learning to read.

English Policy

Our English Policy and Early Reading and Phonics Policy can be found below:

More information on the teaching of reading and phonics can be found here 

English Progression of Skills

Bowburn Writing Year Group Overview

Reading Spine

Below are the Year Group Reading Spines, which show what we are reading in each Year Group , what books we are enjoying together and also using  as basis for our writing.

At Bowburn Primary School, our staff want to share their passion and enthusiasm for sharing books and stories. Our  Nursery and Reception Reading Spines ensures our children leave EYFS having been exposed to and enjoyed quality books. Our selection of texts has been carefully considered to offer the pupils a ‘diet’ of stories which include high-quality picture books, popular authors and illustrators, repetitive refrains, books that immerse young listeners in stories, opportunities to learn new vocabulary and extend language, funny stories, inclusive stories, classics and so much more.

Most of all, we have included books that children can enjoy and fall in love with.

“Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive”. – EYFS Framework 2021

Non-fiction                                                                                                                                                                                   Although we don’t specify which Non-fiction books we will use within our book spine, non-fiction is incorporated into the Early Years Unit. In Nursery and Reception, children are given opportunities to access non-fiction texts within their play, e.g. there are various recipe books in the domestic role play area and children copy the pictures from these to bake imaginary cakes. 

Poetry and rhymes                                                                                                                                                                  Children are exposed to a widening range of rhymes and poems with increasing complexity during their time in Early Years. In EYFS, daily nursery rhymes are enjoyed by all to support language comprehension and development of vocabulary.

“Listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster children’s understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world”. – EYFS framework 2021

Please click on Y1-Y6 clouds for more detailed information.

 

Our Gallery

 

Nursery

 

Reception

Year 1

 

Year 2

 

Year 3

 

Year 4

 

Year 5

 

 

Year 6

Starbooks Book Taster Sessions – we shared books, discussed the front covers and blurbs then read the first chapter to get a ‘taste’ for the book.  This helped us make our choices so we can read for pleasure.

Our School Bookshop

Our Libraries