St Francis Catholic Primary School, Morley

English

Intent

At St Francis Primary School, we strive to offer the best provision and teaching of English that we can, for all our pupils. We believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and discussion. We believe that all children can achieve in English and therefore it is vital that the curriculum follows a clear pathway of progression and is delivered in such a way that all children are included, stimulated and encouraged to achieve their full potential.

We believe that a secure basis in literacy skills is crucial to a high quality education and will give our children the tools they need to participate fully as  members of society.

Our ultimate aim is that all pupils will leave St Francis Primary School as children who enjoy all elements of English and have the skills and confidence to apply their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills across all areas of the curriculum.

• Reading: We aim to inspire an appreciation of our rich and varied literary heritage and a habit of reading widely and often. We strive to nurture a love of literature and language and to provide our children with the confidence to continue reading throughout their lives. 
• Writing: We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children can write clearly, accurately and coherently and adapt their language and style for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. We believe that all pupils should be able to confidently communicate their knowledge, ideas and emotions through their writing. We believe that all pupils should be encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their writing, in part by developing a good, joined, handwriting style by the time they move to secondary school. We believe that all good writers refine and edit their writing over time, so we want children to develop independence in being able to identify their own areas for improvement in all pieces of writing, editing their work effectively during and after the writing process.
• Vocabulary: We aim to expose our children to a rich diet of vocabulary across the curriculum so that they build the language they can draw upon to communicate within both verbal and written forms.  
• Spelling and grammar:  We aim to provide a solid understanding of the grammar rules and recognise the importance of being able to spell new words by effectively applying the spelling patterns and rules. 
• Speaking and listening: We want to inspire children to be confident in the art of speaking and listening and to use discussion to communicate and further their learning. 

Parents and Carers

We value the importance of parents and carers in supporting children to develop their English skills, and so we want to encourage a home-school partnership which enables parents and carers to understand how to enhance the skills being taught in school.

With the support of parents we aim for our children to:

• Speak clearly and confidently in all situations
• Listen actively, and respond appropriately, developing their own knowledge and opinions
• Read fluently for both pleasure and information
• Write clearly, with confidence, in any given genre
• Use spelling rules, phonics skills and grammar knowledge accurately
• Be able to proof read their work and make appropriate amendments and improvements  

For a range of resources and websites please see the relevant section of the English page. 

As a member of the National Literacy Trust we are able to keep up to date with current developments to support and inspire all of our pupils.

Impact

We are proud of the achievements of all of our pupils.

• Key stage 2 progress in reading (2.4) was significantly above national and in the highest 20% of all schools in 2019.
• Key stage 2 attainment of the expected standard (100+) in reading (92%) was significantly above national and in the highest 20% of all schools in 2019. 
• The key stage 2 three-year average reading attainment score (107.2) was in the highest 20% of all schools in  2019.
• Key stage 2 attainment of the expected standard (100+) in reading, writing and mathematics (84%) was significantly above national and in the highest 20% of all schools in 2019, as well as in 2018. 
• Key stage 2 attainment of the expected standard (100+) in the English grammar, punctuation and spelling test (96%) and the high standard (110+) in the English grammar, punctuation and spelling test (60%) was significantly above national and in the highest 20% of all schools in 2019, as well as in 2018 and 2017.

Validated EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Phonics Screening Results 

Validated Key Stage 2  Results 

2023 headline data 

2022 headline data

KS2 Meet the author Tom Palmer