Tranmere Park Primary School

Intent – What is the purpose of our English curriculum?

At Tranmere Park Primary, we aim to develop a love for the English language in its written and spoken forms. We have a rigorous and well-organised curriculum that provides purposeful opportunities for reading, writing and the development of oracy skills. By making these experiences meaningful and exciting, we foster a love of the subject and encourage our children to develop the skills necessary to succeed.

They are taught to: communicate effectively through spoken language and writing, to listen with understanding, and to be enthusiastic, knowledgeable readers. We recognise English as an essential core subject and as a pre-requisite for social and academic progress. We aim to provide an environment which promotes language development, which is stimulating and characterised by high expectations of success for every child.

Through a clear pathway of progression from EYFS to Y6, we aim to ensure all children reach their full potential in English and acquire a secure knowledge-base in preparation for KS3 and beyond. Children’s individual needs and abilities are recognised and developed in a caring and supportive environment, in partnership with parents.

Our Children will:

Our Teachers will:

Read easily, fluently and with good understanding
Develop a habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
Develop their oracy skills through the development of spoken language, vocabulary, questioning and collaboration with their peers
Possess highly positive attitudes towards reading, writing and oracy
Write clearly, accurately and coherently
Adapt their language and style for writing in a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
Have high expectations of their own handwriting and presentation of their work

Provide a progressive and challenging curriculum- Expose pupils to a wide range of literature/texts that both challenge and inspire the pupils beyond the classroom
Provide regular opportunities for children to enhance their spoken language skills across the curriculum
Use a range of different question techniques to allow pupils to expand on their own ideas and develop their vocabulary
Provide the children with a rich curriculum of carefully crafted lessons that ensures time for practise and consolidation
Provide opportunities for our children to develop their writing, think creatively, structure their work and use vocabulary in a way that is appropriate to the audience, increase their confidence when presenting work orally, and develop a love of reading beyond the classroom
Model accurate letter formation

Implementation – How do we do it?

The Learning Journey

Reading

At Tranmere Park Primary, we recognise that reading is at the heart of a great curriculum, so we ensure our children have many opportunities for reading in school. We follow the Fisher Family Trust (FFT) Success for All Phonics programme, a complete Systematic Synthetic Phonics programme validated by the DFE. This programme is taught daily from the beginning of Reception to the end of KS1. The daily lesson plans follow the ‘review, teach, practise, apply’ approach, and cover all the main Grapheme-Phoneme Correspondences (GPCs) and Common Exception Words (CEWs) to provide children with the phonics knowledge and skills required for success.

Daily reading lessons, from ‘Success for All Phonics’ also take place across Reception and KS1 to enable our children to apply their phonic knowledge to the skill of reading. These ‘shared reader lessons’ have been carefully aligned to be used alongside the phonics scheme and allow children to practise new phonics learning as well as the consolidation of previous learning. These texts are sent home on a weekly basis to enable children to consolidate and celebrate their phonics learning at home.

In addition to our phonics teachings, EYFS, KS1 and LKS2, children read independently on a regular basis to an adult in school. In UKS2, children who need more individual reading support will receive help on a one-to-one or small group basis. In EYFS and KS1, children access a wide range of books from the Oxford University Press. These include Floppy’s Phonics, Traditional Tales and Project X. These books are finely levelled and phonetically matched, building reading confidence and stamina. The Tree Tops reading scheme is used in KS2 to support their reading journey, as well as a wide range of chapter books for the children to choose from.

Whole class reading in Year 1 to Year 6 is taught through weekly reading lessons, also known as RIC sessions (Retrieve, Inference, and Choice). These lessons are linked to a class reading text or the English unit the children are currently working on. In KS1, these lessons will be linked to the weekly ‘Success for All’ shared reader text. RIC lessons may also be linked to other areas of the curriculum such as Topic or Science. The stimulus for the RIC lesson may be taken from a variety of sources including text extracts, film clips and songs. Through RIC lessons, key skills of retrieval, inference and identifying the writer’s use of language are modelled and misconceptions addressed.

Each classroom is equipped with a reading area containing a broad range of carefully selected texts. These texts are age appropriate, incorporate a range of genres and have been purposely chosen to engage and inspire children’s love of reading. Alongside this, we have invested greatly in reading resources to support and supplement our teaching. These include Pie Corbett reading spine sets, KS2 class sets of books, high quality texts (based on the work of Mary Myatt) to support our Topic teaching, and specific year group books for daily shared class reading from Doug Lemov and ‘The 5 Plagues of a Developing Reader’. This ensures that we are exposing our children to: archaic language, non-linear time sequences, narrative complexity, figurative and symbolic texts and resistant texts. Leeds Library Service also supplement our reading stock; providing us with a broad range of texts that help to foster and develop a love of reading as well as supporting and extending learning across the curriculum.

We feel passionately that developing a love of reading from an early age will benefit our children hugely: personally, socially and educationally.

“Reading gives us an ocean of knowledge and knowledge is
our source of strength”

Oracy

We want our children to be confident and articulate speakers. In order to develop this, the children have frequent access to a broad range of speaking and listening opportunities. To ensure progression, each year group teaches objectives set out in our Oracy knowledge progression document.

Cross-curricular links are also made within our Topic learning, where each half-term, classes identify a key speaking and listening focus as part of their unit’s work. Performances are a big part of life at Tranmere Park Primary school and the children are frequently afforded opportunities to present in front of an audience. Throughout their time at Tranmere Park, the children are offered a broad range of activities and experiences to enhance and develop their spoken language skills. From trips to visits, class assemblies to productions, residentials and so much more!

“Effective reading and writing floats on a sea of oracy”

Writing

We ensure that there is a clear and consistent approach to the planning and teaching of writing across our school. Our aim is to provide children with a coherent and progressive writing curriculum that develops their confidence, creativity and technical accuracy, while allowing them to write for a wide range of purposes and audiences. To support this, we use a shared composition framework plan in KS1 and KS2, which provides a consistent structure for planning writing across the school while allowing teachers to select high-quality texts and stimuli that meet the needs and interests of their classes.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), writing is developed through a broad range of meaningful and engaging experiences, both within adult-led activities and through child-initiated learning. Planning is recorded on a specific long term overview and short term unit overviews informed by the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile and the EYFS Development Matters guidance. Children are given regular opportunities to develop the foundations of writing, including fine motor skills, mark-making, oral language, vocabulary and early composition.

Writing opportunities are carefully planned within a language-rich environment and are linked to children's interests, experiences and learning across the curriculum. Adults model writing, encourage children to communicate their ideas and support them as they begin to understand the purpose and meaning of written language. As children develop, they are supported to build the confidence and skills needed to communicate their ideas independently through writing.

Throughout Key Stages 1 and 2, teachers use a range of high-quality and engaging stimuli as the starting point for writing. These may include quality texts, picture books, film clips, real-life contexts and other carefully selected resources. We also draw upon materials from Hamilton Trust and Literacy Shed, adapting and developing these resources to meet the needs of our pupils and the requirements of our curriculum.

Rather than following published schemes in isolation, teachers identify the most relevant ideas, teaching opportunities and key objectives from these materials and incorporate them into our own school composition framework. This enables us to maintain a consistent approach to writing while ensuring that planning remains flexible, responsive and appropriate for each cohort.

Our composition framework is designed around the writing process and supports children to develop their understanding and skills gradually before producing an independent piece of writing. The framework follows the sequence:

Read, Review, Analyse, Practise, Write and Edit.

Through this process, children are given opportunities to:

Read and explore high-quality examples of the text type or genre they are learning about, developing an understanding of purpose, audience and language.
Review prior learning and revisit relevant knowledge and skills, ensuring that new learning builds securely on what children already know.
Analyse model texts and examples to identify the features, vocabulary, sentence structures and organisational choices that make writing effective.
Practise key skills and objectives in a focused way before applying them independently within a longer piece of writing.
Write for a clear purpose and audience, drawing together the knowledge and skills developed throughout the sequence.
Edit and improve their work, reflecting on the effectiveness of their writing and making purposeful changes to enhance content, vocabulary, grammar and accuracy.

The composition framework also supports teachers to ensure that key learning objectives are explicitly identified and taught. Each writing sequence is carefully planned so that children have sufficient opportunities to learn, practise and apply the skills they need, rather than being expected to use new learning immediately in an extended piece of writing.

By using a shared approach to planning, we ensure consistency and progression across year groups while recognising that every class and cohort is different. Our approach provides a clear structure for teachers and pupils, supports the development of a shared language around writing and enables children to build the knowledge, confidence and independence they need to become effective and enthusiastic writers.

Grammar

At Tranmere, we believe that grammar should be taught intrinsically as part of our writing lessons, with children understanding how grammatical choices can be used effectively and purposefully in their writing. We teach grammar for a purpose, ensuring that grammar is meaningful and applied within relevant contexts rather than taught in isolation.

To ensure clear progression across the school, each year group has a set of non-negotiable grammar expectations that we expect to see evidenced in children's writing. These are located in the front of each child's writing book, allowing children to refer to them regularly and take increasing responsibility for their own learning.

We also ensure that all key grammar objectives are explicitly covered and revisited throughout our writing units, giving children regular opportunities to practise, apply and consolidate their knowledge. From Key Stage 1 onwards, children are given fortnightly grammar homework to help secure their understanding and reinforce the grammar skills taught in school.

Handwriting

At Tranmere Park, we recognise that handwriting is a key foundational skill that supports children's confidence, communication and overall learning. We place a strong emphasis on developing high-quality handwriting throughout our curriculum and timetable, using the Letter-join scheme as the basis for our handwriting provision.

Our handwriting journey begins in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), where children develop the essential gross and fine motor skills needed for writing. They then progress to learning the correct pencil grip, practising pre-writing patterns and shapes and forming letters accurately. As children move into Key Stage 1, the focus remains on accurate letter formation before progressing to joined handwriting in Year 2. We teach a cursive handwriting style, as we have found this approach best supports the needs of our pupils and promotes fluency in writing.

Children in Reception and Key Stage 1 take part in daily handwriting sessions to ensure regular practice and secure progression. In Key Stage 2, handwriting is taught weekly using the Letter-join scheme, with pupils continuing to refine their fluency, consistency and presentation. In addition to these dedicated lessons, handwriting is reinforced across the curriculum. Children who struggle with handwritign will be prioritised for additional support and targeted interventions to secure this formative skill. By prioritising handwriting throughout school, we aim to ensure that every child develops a neat, fluent and legible handwriting style that enables them to write with confidence and independence.

Spelling

We follow the National Curriculum statutory requirements for spelling from Y1 to Y6. In KS1 we have devised our own spelling scheme for both Y1 and Y2. This provides children with a weekly spelling list to learn, comprising of the specific spelling patterns and high frequency words that children should know by the end of KS1.

Children in KS2 also have weekly spellings to revise at home. These spellings may contain specific suffixes, prefixes, high frequency words or topic related words. These spelling words may also link to a specific grammar point being taught during the week.

Teachers keep records of children’s progress in their weekly spelling tests and monitor children’s spelling in independent writing.

Vocabulary

Effective vocabulary teaching is paramount in order for our children to become proficient speakers, readers and writers of the future. At Tranmere Park Primary School, pupils are given frequent opportunities to extend their vocabulary across the curriculum. Carefully selected high-quality texts enhance children’s vocabulary across a broad range of subjects. Vocabulary pre-teaching also takes places in topic, science lessons and maths lessons, where for each new unit the children are exposed to key terminology that will be used in subsequent lessons. This provides the children with the foundations for their learning, and enables them to develop a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

Assessment

Short term assessments aim to assess the children’s learning informally on a lesson by lesson basis and are key to our curriculum. These could include observations of groups, analysis of whole class feedback, or the marking of work or short tests either in written or oral form.
The regular assessment cycle in Success for All Phonics facilitates the early identification of those who are not ‘keeping up’ and require additional support. For these children, support will be provided in a small group setting.
Each term, children complete pieces of assessed writing (EYFS x 2, KS1 and LKS2 x 3 and UKS2 x 4). Each piece assesses the children’s attainment against key learning objectives addressed throughout the term. Three assessed writes per year (Y1-Y6) should be topic based to evidence cross curricular writing.
Throughout the academic year, each of the key objectives will be assessed using our Writing Assessment Framework. Following assessed writes, teachers work with specific groups on key areas. This should include extending greater depth writers. Assessed Writing folders are used to file work, evidencing year on year progression.
Over the course of the year, each pupil in Y1-Y6 will submit an independent piece of writing to the ‘No More Marking’ scheme. This is independently assessed and a report is forwarded to school. Results are used to inform future planning and ensures the credibility of our own assessments.
Medium term assessments are completed at the end of a term and individual pupil results are placed on Sonar (a data management system). In EYFS, the class teacher also keeps a highlighted grid to show progress within the age bands outlined in ‘Development Matters.’
GAPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) tests are taken by children in KS2 termly.
PIRA (Progress in Reading Assessment) tests are taken by the children termly. These reinforce our own assessment judgements and feed in to future planning.
Our own Reading trackers are used half termly in Year 1 to Year 4, to track children’s progress towards the expected book band/level.
Long term assessments track our children against national expectations. These are also used to provide extra information about individual children’s attainment and progress so that the teacher can report to the next teacher and the child’s parent. Furthermore, data will be used by SLT to brief the governing body, the staff and the LEA on overall progress towards the school’s end of year targets.
Every child across school is assessed using Wellcomm at least once annually. Wellcomm focuses on assessing a child's understanding of language - their vocabulary, use of grammar, social communication skills and their ability to use narrative language. These assessments help us to identify children who are not currently working at age related expectations in this area so that we can provide further support and intervention.

Monitoring

The English subject leaders will use their expertise to support other teachers. A regular programme of monitoring will take place throughout the academic year, enabling the subject leaders to monitor the subject effectively. Monitoring will take the form of book scrutinies, pupil and teacher interviews, data analysis and learning walks. In Writing, staff also take part in the ‘No More Marking’ scheme across year groups. This reaffirms our judgements and enables staff to see the children’s prior and post learning, in addition to the learning of their own year group. Staff can also evidence progression across year groups and phases. The monitoring cycle will evaluate current practices and the subject leader will be responsible for providing timely feedback, coaching and support.

Impact – What knowledge and skills are obtained?

Our children become fluent and confident readers, who display a love of literature and a desire to expand their vocabulary. Having been exposed to a broad range of performance opportunities, both in class and in front of larger audiences, our children leave Tranmere Park as proficient speakers; able to communicate effectively as they continue their educational journey. Our progressive writing curriculum also results in a community of highly accomplished writers, who are able to adapt their writing to suit different audiences and purposes. Cross-curricular writing opportunities ensure that our children are transferring these skills into other subjects; this enables them to develop a deeper understanding of grammar, punctuation and vocabulary. As a result, our attainment in English is above the national expectation at each key stage. It is our aim that children at Tranmere Park Primary School move on from us with highly developed English skills and a passion for literature, enabling them to access the next chapter in their learning journey.

Further to the above, our Curriculum, at Tranmere Park, is designed to ensure that each and every child achieves or demonstrates the following:

The Team Tranmere Way
Be Yourself		Be Your Best		Be Team Tranmere
Our children will learn to like who they are; they respect themselves and live their lives in their own way, regardless of the opinions of others.		Our children ‘give it everything they have got’ to achieve their full potential across the curriculum.		Our children are a part of a community and have respect for the resources and people in it and that surround it.
Our Learning Values and Behaviours
Self-Manager	Effective Participator	Independent Enquirer	Team Worker	Resourceful Thinker	Reflective Learner
Our children set their own goals and manage their own time, motivation and concentration.	Our children participate in lessons and persuade and encourage others to do so.	Our children set goals for their research with clear success criteria.	Our children understand that we are stronger together and implement this.	Our children are problem-solvers who can adapt to new or difficult situations.	Our children critically analyse their work ensuring future improvements.