English

At St Mary and St Joseph developing a love of reading is at the centre of our curriculum. We believe that the ability to read is fundamental to our children succeeding, enabling them to access the next stage of their education and beyond. Our curriculum has been designed to ensure that pupils are taught the skills required for reading and also develop a love of reading. We aim to ensure that all pupils read a range of genres and participate in discussions about texts; exploring the language used by different authors and the impact the written words have on the reader. Our curriculum has also been designed to ensure that pupils not only read for pleasure but use books and technology to research and gather new knowledge to extend their comprehension and use of inference skills. We want children at St. Mary and St Joseph to read with confidence, fluency and understanding, explore vocabulary, grammar, spelling and punctuation. Our reading journey begins in EYFS through the teaching and learning of phonics. We aim to have children that are enthused by reading and use this passion to be inspired as writers.

We believe that the ability to write is fundamental to our children succeeding, enabling them to access the next stage of their education and beyond. Our curriculum has been designed to ensure that pupils enjoy writing and have a range of opportunities to express this. Our aim is to ensure that pupils write clearly, accurately and coherently; write in different styles and for different purposes and audiences; develop a wide vocabulary and a solid understanding of the grammar, spelling, punctuation, presentation and terminology appropriate for their age group. Our spiral curriculum revisits genres to ensure retrieval of previous learning building on their knowledge as writers to ensure progression.