At IQRA, we believe English is at the heart of the curriculum. Our engaging curriculum ensures we inspire and support learners to develop high quality oracy skills and learn to communicate their ideas through reading and writing fluently. Through our well-planned curriculum, we ensure children are exposed to a wide range of high-quality texts and use these to drive our writing units. We strongly believe in promoting English skills across the curriculum and provide children with a vocabulary-rich learning environment. Our challenging and inspiring English curriculum nurtures children’s creative thinking whilst promoting independence, whilst allowing children to apply their knowledge and skills to a range of age-appropriate texts.
National Curriculum: spelling (all year groups)
National Curriculum: vocabulary, grammar and punctuation (all year groups)
READING
Intent: Our reading intent at Iqra is to ensure that by the end of Year 6 all children are confident, fluent readers and have a positive attitude towards reading for pleasure. Through developing this ethos, we hope that children can confidently talk about their reading journey and can express their favourite authors and genres with reasons. During their time at Iqra, they are exposed to a wide variety of genres through different medias. Through this exposure, they will develop a good understanding of the vocabulary that they read, and can infer meaning from what they have read.
Implementation: Reading for pleasure is developed throughout school by children having access to our library, which has recently been renovated and stocked with high quality texts which engage the children. Our children are exposed to high quality texts within their classroom in reading areas and during lessons using the CLPE, power of reading approach. At Iqra, we ensure reading is taught consistently across the curriculum, through a wide variety of text types.
Early reading begins in EYFS where staff promote a love for reading, with regular story sessions planned alongside use of Read, Write, Inc to develop children’s phonics skills. Through RWI phonics children learn a simple alphabetic code followed by more complex code. This continues into Key Stage 1, where children continue to develop good levels of fluency and begin both oral and written comprehension. All reading books progress cumulatively, matched to the sounds children are learning and already know, As the children progress into Key Stage 2, reading is taught as part of the English curriculum and is driven by our core texts. Their knowledge of text types, understanding and skills are applied regularly to develop children’s confidence.
In KS2 pupils are taught reading through the reciprocal reading approach. This is a whole class and small group approach to the teaching of reading where pupils are actively involved in the teaching and learning of reading. It encourages all pupils to become independent learners and gain confidence in their own abilities.
Teachers model, then help students to guide group discussions independently using four strategies: summarising, questioning, clarifying and predicting. Once the pupils have learned the strategies, they take turns assuming the role of teacher (Leader) in leading a dialogue about what has been read.
This approach to reading is aimed at KS2 but is also introduced to any children in Year 2 who no longer require RWI phonics.
WRITING
Intent: At IQRA, we aim for all children to have opportunities to write for pleasure and have a purpose and audience for their writing. Our curriculum is driven by high quality texts which encourage children to communicate and express their ideas and imagination through a range of writing genres. Language is at the forefront of our curriculum, developing children’s use of a rich and varied vocabulary and ensuring clear progression of skills throughout school.
Implementation: At IQRA, English lessons are taught daily which teach a variety of skills and support children in organising their writing appropriately. We have recently implemented CLPE, The Power of Reading. The aim is to create a more coherent link between reading and writing. This provides teachers with guidance of how to plan well-structured lessons using high quality texts to drive the units and provide opportunities for children to write for a range of purposes. Each unit begins with ‘immersing’ the children in their new text and allowing children to make predictions and trigger their interest in their writing.
Across the school, staff promote high expectations ensuring that our English curriculum is challenging and inspiring. Grammar and punctuation skills are embedded within English lessons following a clear progression of skills throughout school and an expectation that these are applied across the curriculum. Use of assessment and targets ensure that the curriculum is planned in response to the children’s needs.
We have recently moved to the use of LetterJoin across school to improve presentation. The expectation is that by the end of early years, children are forming their letters in the correct orientation and beginning to use pre-cursive. Throughout Key Stage 1, children continue to practice letter orientation and become secure in the use of pre-cursive before moving onto cursive handwriting. Our aim is for all children to write fluently and legibly, by the time they leave IQRA at the end of Key Stage 2. (see Presentation Policy).