English at Stocksfield Avenue Primary School (SAP)

At Stocksfield Avenue, our English Curriculum is at the heart of all our work. English unites the skills of reading, writing and oracy which we view as a fundamental entitlement for all our children.  

There are three key aims of our English Curriculum: 

1. We are determined that every child will leave SAP as a reader. Each pupil, regardless of background, will be supported and challenged to acquire both the decoding and the comprehension skills necessary to succeed in secondary school and beyond. We believe that being a fluent and confident reader is at the core of our curriculum and is the key that unlocks future learning. 

2. Our children will love literature. Pupils will be excited by and immersed in a wide variety of stories and different texts over the course of their 7 years at SAP. They will have the chance to discuss and explore books, all different types of stories and their magic.  

3. Our children will leave us as confident communicators. Pupils will be able to communicate confidently and eloquently, using both written and spoken language for a wide variety of audiences and purposes.  

Phonics 

Phonics is taught systematically across Early Years and Key Stage 1, with fidelity to Little Wandle Letters and Sounds programme. This is a rigorous systematic scheme which teaches children how to decipher the alphabetical code alongside key blending, segmenting and letter formation skills. Fluency and confidence in decoding are practiced at school and this practice continues at home through books that are matched to each child’s current phonic and reading ability. Our phonics scheme continues into KS2 in the form of rapid catch up to ensure all children are secure phonetically to support their reading. Once the children have completed the Little Wandle programme, they develop their reading fluency further and progress onto colour banded reading books which correspond to a child’s ability level.  

You can find out more information in our phonics section of the website.  

Reading 

From Year 2, the teaching of reading is carried out in whole class guided reading sessions and is based on high quality extracts on a weekly basis (often which come from books in our own library). Children are encouraged to find the evidence and explain their answers using a full range of skills (vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval and summarising).  

Wider reading for enjoyment is endorsed from the earliest days in school to the very end of Key Stage 2. We use a broad range of high-quality texts to open the rich world of literature up for our pupils. This is achieved through guided reading, whole class reading, class novels, well stocked book corners and a library that we are incredible proud of.  

Library 

Our library was newly renovated in 2023. Using a forest theme, we’ve created a beautiful, calm space but most importantly the stock of books we’ve cultivated is something we are incredibly proud of. We have a diverse range of picture books, easy access chapter books and novels to delight our youngest to our oldest readers. The library supports our reading for pleasure culture from EYFS to Year 6.  

Writing 

At SAP, we want every child to enjoy writing. We believe that writing is a key skill for life, both inside and outside of education. Writing happens regularly across the curriculum and is inspired by real experiences, and we write for purpose as often as possible. We follow Pie Corbett’s Talk for Writing framework to support our children with language and vocabulary. Our long-term overview for the year groups details how our children’s writing progresses both across the year and through the year groups from EYFS right up to Year 6.  Embedding a strong shared writing framework means our teachers model the writing process from start to finish and ensure that our children become successful skilled writers in both fiction and non-fiction.  

Oracy 

Our intention is for all children at Stocksfield Avenue to be confident, articulate speakers and effective listeners. We hold high expectations for these skills, which are essential for now and in children’s future lives. The ability to speak eloquently, articulate ideas and thoughts, collaborate with peers and have the confidence to express your views are all vital life skills that support success in learning and life in general. Our aim in spoken language is to provide a sound foundation for the development of oracy skills from debate to poetry and verbal feedback, to talk for presentational purposes. At the heart of good oracy is a dialogic classroom. Our classrooms will be rich in talk; from effective questioning to constructive peer discussions, and teachers will use talk skillfully to develop and encourage critical thinking. Using Voice 21 to underpin our practice, our intent is for oracy to be embedded in all year groups and that all children are exposed to talk rich environments. We see Oracy as part of the school's pedagogy, not a standalone lesson or subject and we expect it to be threaded through all of our curriculum offer.