English
Intent
At Barford Primary School, our English curriculum is ambitious, inclusive and designed to develop confident, articulate readers and writers. Through the CUSP English curriculum, we provide a carefully sequenced journey that builds the knowledge, vocabulary and skills pupils need to become successful communicators.
We believe that every child can succeed in English through high-quality teaching, carefully sequenced learning and high expectations for all, regardless of their starting point. Our curriculum develops pupils' ability to read, write, speak and listen with confidence, while providing meaningful opportunities to apply these skills across a wide range of contexts.
We recognise that strong foundations are essential. Our approach reflects the importance placed on foundational knowledge and skills within the renewed Ofsted inspection framework, including secure foundations in communication, reading, spelling and handwriting.
We place particular importance on the Early Years and Key Stage 1, ensuring that children develop the essential knowledge and skills they need to access the wider curriculum successfully. We understand that children cannot be expected to complete increasingly complex reading and writing tasks without first being taught and given sufficient opportunities to practise the underlying knowledge and skills.
Our curriculum therefore ensures that nothing is left to chance. From the earliest stages, children are explicitly taught the knowledge, vocabulary, transcription skills and structures they need to become increasingly independent and successful readers and writers.
Implementation
Our English curriculum follows the CUSP English scheme, providing a carefully sequenced progression of knowledge and skills from Reception through to Year 6. Learning builds systematically, allowing pupils to revisit, connect and deepen their understanding over time.
Strong Starts and Secure Foundations
Our Strong Starts ensure that foundational skills are prioritised from the beginning of each year group. In Early Years, we focus on developing the essential communication, language, reading, writing, phonics, vocabulary and fine-motor skills that children need to become successful learners.
Early Years is particularly important in ensuring that key skills are secure before children enter the National Curriculum. Teachers identify gaps quickly and provide additional teaching and practice where necessary, ensuring children are ready for the next stage of their learning.
In Year 1, bridging modules from Reception are used to revisit and secure foundational knowledge before pupils move fully into the next stage of the curriculum. This ensures that previous learning is not assumed and that children have the necessary foundations in place before new knowledge is introduced.
This approach aligns closely with Ofsted's current emphasis on ensuring pupils develop secure foundational knowledge and skills, particularly in the early stages of education.
Reading and Writing
CUSP provides rich, ambitious and carefully selected texts that expose pupils to high-quality vocabulary, varied sentence structures, different genres and diverse experiences.
Pupils encounter a wide range of writing opportunities, including autobiographies, poems, narratives, recounts, news reports, explanations, persuasive writing and non-fiction. These opportunities enable children to develop their own authorial voice while applying the knowledge and vocabulary they have been explicitly taught.
Writing is carefully modelled by teachers, with pupils given opportunities to explore examples, identify key features, rehearse language and apply their understanding independently.
Vocabulary and Oracy
Vocabulary development is central to our English curriculum. Through CUSP, pupils encounter ambitious vocabulary within high-quality texts and are explicitly taught the meaning, pronunciation and application of new words.
We recognise that spoken language is fundamental to successful reading and writing. Pupils are encouraged to discuss ideas, rehearse sentences, explain their thinking and use new vocabulary before applying it independently in their writing.
Dictated Sentences
Dictated sentences are an important part of our English provision, particularly in the early stages of writing development. They allow pupils to practise spelling, handwriting, sentence construction, punctuation and transcription without the additional cognitive demands of generating ideas independently.
By reducing the cognitive load, teachers can focus explicitly on the accuracy and fluency of foundational writing skills before gradually increasing the complexity and independence expected from pupils.
Adaptation and Inclusion
Our curriculum is designed to meet the needs of every learner while maintaining high expectations for all.
Teachers use our Scaffolding Toolkit and EAL templates to provide carefully considered support where required. Scaffolds are used purposefully to enable pupils to access ambitious learning rather than reducing the ambition of the curriculum.
Teachers continually assess pupils' understanding and adapt teaching accordingly. Misconceptions and gaps are identified quickly so that pupils receive the additional teaching, practice and support they need.
Feedback and Marking
At Barford, feedback is primarily given in the moment. Teachers and teaching staff provide immediate verbal feedback while pupils are working, allowing misconceptions to be addressed before they become embedded.
Our 'Go Green' and 'Think Pink' approach provides pupils with a clear visual indication of what they have achieved and where they need to reflect, improve or make changes. This is complemented by verbal feedback from teachers, ensuring that pupils understand how to improve their work.
This responsive approach means that nothing is left to chance. Teachers know what pupils understand, identify where further teaching is required and respond immediately to support progress.
Impact
By the time pupils leave Barford Primary School, they are confident, articulate readers, writers and communicators.
They have developed secure foundational knowledge in reading, spelling, handwriting, vocabulary and sentence construction, alongside the ability to apply these skills independently across a range of increasingly complex contexts.
Pupils can write for a range of purposes and audiences, selecting appropriate vocabulary, sentence structures and organisational features. They can communicate their ideas clearly, respond to texts thoughtfully and use increasingly sophisticated vocabulary in both spoken and written language.
Pupils leave Barford with the knowledge, skills, confidence and resilience needed for secondary education and beyond, recognising the importance of English in their everyday lives, future learning and employment.
Enrichment
At Barford Primary School, we believe that English should extend beyond the classroom. We provide pupils with opportunities to experience the power of books, authors, storytelling and writing in authentic and memorable ways.
Our enrichment opportunities include:
- Dudley Children's Book Club, providing pupils with opportunities to engage directly with authors and discover new books. Pupils have had the opportunity to meet authors such as Jessica Townsend, gaining a signed copy of her work and developing an understanding of the people behind the books they read.
- Author and book experiences, inspiring pupils to become enthusiastic readers and writers by connecting them with authors, stories and the wider literary world.
- Trips and visits linked to learning, providing authentic experiences that enrich pupils' vocabulary, knowledge and understanding. These experiences are written up in our topic books, ensuring that the experience becomes part of the children's learning journey and provides meaningful opportunities for reading, discussion and writing.
- Diverse writing opportunities, enabling pupils to apply their English skills across the curriculum and in real-life contexts, including writing news reports, poems, autobiographies, recounts, explanations and persuasive texts.
These opportunities help pupils understand that English is not simply a subject taught in a lesson; it is a fundamental tool for communicating, understanding the world, expressing ideas and connecting with others.
Curriculum End Goals
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
By the end of Reception, children will have developed the foundational communication, language, reading and writing skills needed for the next stage of their education. They will listen attentively, communicate their ideas, develop an increasingly rich vocabulary and demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between spoken and written language.
Children will develop secure early writing skills, including letter formation, phonics, spelling and sentence construction, alongside the confidence to communicate their ideas through drawing, writing and talk.
Key Stage 1
By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils will have developed secure foundations in reading, spelling, handwriting, sentence construction and composition.
They will read accurately and with increasing fluency, develop a growing vocabulary and demonstrate understanding of a range of texts. Pupils will write for different purposes, using appropriate sentence structures, punctuation, spelling and vocabulary.
They will be able to articulate their ideas clearly, discuss texts confidently and apply their knowledge independently across different contexts.
Key Stage 2
By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils will be confident, fluent and increasingly sophisticated readers and writers.
They will read widely across a range of genres, critically engage with texts and use an increasingly ambitious vocabulary. Pupils will write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences, making deliberate choices about vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure and organisation.
They will demonstrate secure knowledge of spelling, punctuation, grammar and handwriting and will be able to independently plan, draft, edit and improve their writing.
Pupils leave Barford Primary School able to communicate confidently and effectively through spoken and written English, equipped with the foundational knowledge, skills and confidence required for secondary education and the wider world.