- Home
- Curriculum
- Subject Information
- English
English
English at St Mary's
At St Mary’s, our vision for English is to inspire every student as a lifelong learner, equipping them with essential language skills. Our curriculum is designed to help pupils communicate effectively and creatively, empowering them to thrive in a diverse world. We foster a love of reading and writing, encouraging students to explore literature with curiosity and joy, and to develop as confident, insightful readers and expressive, creative writers.
Through a rich array of texts, our curriculum nurtures articulate speakers who engage thoughtfully and think critically, preparing them to express their ideas clearly and responsibly. At St Mary’s, we believe language is not just an academic skill but a vital tool for self-expression and connection. Our goal is to cultivate pupils who, through a love of English, gain confidence and skills that will support them as communicators and thinkers throughout their lives.
Intent
Our intent is to enable children to:
- Read easily, fluently, and with good understanding.
- Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
- Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences.
- Develop a love of writing and to be able to express their thoughts and ideas clearly and creatively through the written word.
- Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language.
- Use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and clearly explain their understanding and ideas
- Become competent in speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate
Implementation
We implement our English curriculum through the study of high-quality texts, selecting one core text each half term to fully engage our pupils. This approach allows students to immerse themselves deeply in the material, with reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities that are closely linked to the themes and language of the text.
Our curriculum is structured to ensure a clear progression of skills across year groups, allowing students to build and refine their abilities year by year. We emphasise a vocabulary-rich learning environment, where students are continually exposed to new words and encouraged to expand their language skills.
In addition to dedicated English lessons, pupils apply their reading and writing skills across all curriculum subjects, reinforcing their learning and strengthening their confidence. Through this approach, we create a cohesive and dynamic English curriculum that inspires students to communicate and think critically.
Impact
Our pupils:
- Make progress and develop sustained and transferable skills
- Become more confident, fluent readers and they realise the importance of reading for pleasure along with reading for information and knowledge.
- Are confident writers and enjoy writing and view it as relevant and purposeful, and as a vehicle to communicate their ideas across a range of subjects.
- Enjoy talking about their writing and show enthusiasm in wanting to improve the effect of their writing on their reading audience.
- Are proud of their writing and have the opportunity to see it on display and shared with others in the school and with their families.
- Have high aspirations, which will see them through to further study, work and a successful adult life.
What a typical lesson looks like
Grammar Skill Starter: The lesson begins with a short grammar-focused activity, such as a sentence-editing task, a quick quiz, or a game to reinforce key grammar rules. This helps build pupils' accuracy and confidence in writing.
Reading from a Text: Pupils engage with a shared text, which could be a story, poem, or non-fiction extract. The teacher models fluent reading, and pupils may read aloud or follow along, focusing on comprehension, vocabulary, and authorial techniques.
Discussion: A class discussion follows, encouraging pupils to explore themes, characters, and language choices. They answer comprehension questions, make predictions, and share personal interpretations, developing their analytical and speaking skills.
Text-Based Activity: Pupils complete a wide variety of tasks linked to the text. This could include summarising, answering inference questions, writing from a character’s perspective, or crafting a creative response. The lesson ends with reflection and feedback to consolidate learning.