KS1 & KS2 English

Overview

Curriculum explainer

Our curriculum is thoughtfully designed to instil confidence and ignite a genuine passion for the language. It systematically nurtures pupils’ critical skills and knowledge until they are firmly grounded, enabling them to write with purpose and read with fluency and enjoyment. Every facet of the English domain - spoken language, reading, writing, spelling, handwriting, grammar, vocabulary development, and poetry - is meticulously addressed, both as discrete and interwoven threads. Pupils engage in repeated and diversified practice, steadily progressing through well-defined steps, ensuring that learning is applicable across various contexts. We take pride in nurturing students' sense of identity and self-esteem through a rich tapestry of diverse texts, instilling in them a dual identity as both readers and writers. All pupils emerge as exceptional communicators, regardless of their initial starting points, ready for a seamless transition to secondary education and beyond.

Subject principles

  • Pupils regularly read a range of text types as a group and independently, have frequent opportunities to develop personal responses to texts, and build their background knowledge, tier 2 vocabulary and fluency to support comprehension.
  • Writing for a range of purposes, expressing creativity and building writing stamina are developed alongside a deep understanding of grammar, sentence construction, disciplinary writing and underlying spelling patterns.
  • Frequent opportunities to develop the components of spoken language are included throughout the curriculum, and each lesson gives pupils multiple opportunities to talk and express their opinion.
  • Text choice represents a diverse range of voices, backgrounds and cultures so the curriculum provides windows and mirrors to all pupils.
  • There is a single tier of resources that is ambitious for all pupils by offering a low floor and high ceiling in each lesson.

Video guide

Here, our English subject lead Chris Fountain, explores the key thinking behind the creation of our primary English curriculum with Emma Madden from Fox Federation. They offer suggestions on what you might need to consider when exploring it for your school too.

Read more about our new curriculum
Logo for Fox Federation

Our curriculum partner

Fox Federation is a small federation of primary schools bringing a wealth of experience to the creation of our primary English curriculum. As well as having four English specialists within the federation, Fox Primary is the lead school for Initial Teacher Training for the West London Teaching Training Alliance, and key delivery partner to the Central London Teaching School Hub. The federation runs an extensive CPD programme that supports schools, locally and nationally.