Intent:
At Mevagissey Primary School, we offer children an English Curriculum that is designed to inspire a life-long love of reading; a curriculum that ensures all children are taught the necessary skills to become confident and accomplished writers.
We recognise that each child requires a solid foundation of literacy skills in order to access the wider curriculum. We have therefore introduced a novel study curriculum, centred on the teaching of high-quality texts, capable of capturing children’s imagination whilst providing writing opportunities to excite and enthuse.
Implementation:
We believe that books are the perfect tool for immersing children in language. With a novel study approach, we are able to introduce children to mysterious characters and transport them to weird and wonderful worlds. As a class, we share in the thrill of an exciting scene and gasp as a collective when we hit an unexpected plot twist.
All of our novels have been carefully selected. They are stories from which children can study and learn the craft of writing. They also provide the perfect stimulus for the childrens’ own independent writing. Over a series of lessons, children will analyse an author’s choice of vocabulary and the grammatical features used, as well as exploring techniques for building suspense and describing characters/settings. Crucially, we select stories that children can fall in love with.
Before completing an independent write, children spend time building their writer’s toolkit, honing their skills and familiarising themselves with the ‘key ingredients’ required for each genre of writing. Throughout this process, children partake in class shared writes and have the opportunity to discuss and evaluate their work collaboratively.
Once the block of teaching is complete, children apply what they have learnt in an independent write. We teach children the importance of drafting, evaluating, editing and revising their work; ensuring they understand that a great piece of writing cannot be achieved in a single sitting. Presentation is valued highly and children are encouraged to feel proud of their written outcomes.
Each classroom has a working wall (linked to their novel study book) which reinforce the key elements of the text type being studied. Both teachers and children add to the working walls throughout the unit of work so that the learning journey is on display for the children to refer to.
Oracy:
Developing Oracy and providing the opportunities for children to share ideas, listen to one another, and work collaboratively, are features of English lessons in our school. Through talk, children are able to consolidate and expand ideas. We create an environment where children are free to express themselves and broaden their vocabulary, while developing confidence in speaking and listening.
Impact:
Children will be able to write clearly and accurately and adapt their language/writing style for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
Children will develop a broad and varied vocabulary.
Writing attainment at the end of EYFS, KS1 and KS2 is above that of the National Average. Children also achieve highly in the phonics screening check.
Most importantly, children will enjoy writing and write for pleasure.