About Our English Curriculum

It is the intent of the curriculum to:

build confident and capable readers to aid in current and future learning in all areas
build skills in comprehension including retrieval, sequencing, inference and authorial intent
create articulate writers in an array of text types which will stem from articulate speakers

English, as a core subject, will be taught daily. We recognise the need for English to maintain a core time every morning as learning to read will be the basis for all future learning.

Phonics

Phonics will build a large part of the focus in the EYFS and KS1. We believe that excellent phonics teaching is the foundation to reading and future learning for all children. Daily phonics lessons will be taught using a consistent approach, Soundswrite, throughout the school. Phonics lessons will provide an opportunity to:

Revisit past learning
Teach new phoneme/grapheme
Practise
Apply

Ongoing monitoring of phonics will be completed through Phonics Tracker. Spelling rules will be expected to be integrated into phonics and then extend beyond phonics. Children will be provided timely intervention to allow them the opportunity to keep up rather than catch up at a later time.

Spelling

Spelling lessons follow the CUSP curriculum and are taught 3x per week in KS2 and in Y2 from Summer term.

Spelling is phonics-led and we ensure that our careful Phonics teaching feeds into our spelling lessons. Children are taught a rule that is regularly revisited within English lessons.

Spelling is assessed through CUSP termly assessments.

Reading

Reading is built upon the CUSP curriculum which provides a literacy spine for reading with additional texts and extracts to aid in a range of reading opportunities. Staff are adapting the reading with scaffolded resources for children that may require this support (e.g., SEND or EAL). In KS1, the reading is planned for 5 days of 45 minute lessons over a two week period. In KS2, the planned curriculum has a 30 minute reading lesson daily. Assessment of reading will be completed with fluency/prosody termly assessment and reading comprehension.

Please view the Reading Curriculum document below for more information and to see what our pupils will be covering this academic year.’

Reading Download

Writing

Writing follows the CUSP curriculum. In KS1, writing is taught for 5 sessions of 45 minutes over a 2 week period. Writing in KS2 is taught for 45 minutes daily. Grammar lessons will be taught explicitly through the carefully planned writing lessons of CUSP. The sequence of writing has been carefully planned and mapped out in the CUSP curriculum to ensure there are opportunities to revisit key text types and skills.

At Tollgate Primary, writing will be assessed against national curriculum expectations for each year through internal and external moderation sessions.

Please view the Writing Curriculum document below for more information and to see what our pupils will be covering this academic year.