Curriculum Intent
Our Curriculum Intent outlines the knowledge, skills and characteristics we want children to develop and learn throughout their time with us.
At Watling Primary School, our Literacy curriculum incorporates writing, reading, spelling and spoken language.
Our writing curriculum is based on exciting, high quality core texts which have been chosen specifically to expose our children to a diverse range of authors, characters, genres and topics, some of which are linked to our school’s STEAM and sustainability focuses.
Our writing opportunities are linked to these core texts and enable the children to plan and write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences. We have high aspirations and want all our pupils to achieve ambitious writing goals.
At Watling Primary School, we recognise the intrinsic part that reading plays in the ability of our children to access learning across all other curriculum areas. In reading lessons, children are taught to develop their reading fluency, comprehension and inference strategies by reading books carefully matched to their individual reading ability. By encouraging experimentation, individuality and personal expression, we aim to nurture a lifelong love of reading. To learn more about our reading approach, please read our Phonics and Early Reading Statement.
Spelling is explicitly taught through spelling sessions once our children have completed the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised phonics scheme. We encourage our children to problem solve when writing in any subject, by recalling spelling rules that they have learned.
We believe in developing effective communicators, and therefore use and develop speaking and listening skills in a wide range of activities. We encourage our children to be ambitious in their choice of vocabulary, and encourage lots of oracy before pen is put to paper.
Curriculum Implementation
Our Curriculum Implementation explains what we will do and how we will do it, to ensure that children learn and achieve what we intend them to.
Our approach to the teaching and learning of Literacy includes the following:
- Distinct units taught during the academic year, following the Literacy Tree scheme.
- Timetabled lessons for Literacy, Phonics and Reading each day.
- Lessons planned using progression maps and curriculum end points.
- Lesson objectives linked to Watling Way values and CAPTAIN Learning Characteristics.
- High-quality resources used to enhance lessons.
- Separate exercise book for Literacy for each child to record their learning over time as they progress through the school.
- Access to Literacy Knowledge Organisers.
- Children’s Literacy work is celebrated on Wonderful Watling Work classroom displays and around the school.
- Literacy themed assemblies linked to national awareness days.
- Extra-curricular events (trips and/or visitors) linked to learning in Literacy as part of our wider enrichment offer.
Curriculum Impact
The impact of the implementation of our Literacy curriculum on outcomes for our children is monitored and evaluated at key points in the learning journey through the following methods:
- Formative and summative assessment strategies in line with our Feedback and Marking statement, including questioning and verbal feedback, ‘on the spot’ highlighting or annotations in line with our marking code, mini Connect 2 (Key Stage 1) or Connect 4 (Key Stage 2) reviews of learning at the start of lessons, and end of unit mini assessments
- Book looks
- Pupil voice
- Learning walks and lesson visits
- Termly Subject Lead monitoring meetings
- Analysis of Little Wandle Phonics Assessment Trackers
- Phonics screening checks
- Analysis of Literacy (Reading and Writing) MAPs (Monitoring Attainment and Progress spreadsheets)
The National Curriculum Programmes of Study for English for Key Stage 1 and 2 provide further information.